Survivor's guilt, scorn: How Vishwaskumar Ramesh is dealing with life and loss after Air India crash
The gift of life may turn into a curse if you are the only survivor of a plane crash that claimed 271 lives, including 241 co-passengers—one of them your brother. British national of Indian origin Vishwaskumar Ramesh, 40, who miraculously escaped when Air India Flight AI171 plunged into an Ahmedabad medical college compound shortly after take-off on June 12, appears to have battled severe survivor's guilt.Ramesh has been unable to sleep. His survival came at a profound cost—the loss of brother Ajay, 45, who was seated just across the aisle on seat 11J. Ramesh was the occupant of 11A. Besides the heavy burden of survivor's guilt, his ordeal was compounded by a baseless rumour.advertisementThe businessman from Leicester, UK, described the crash as a blur of terror. 'Thirty seconds into take-off, there was a loud noise and the plane crashed. It was sudden. When I woke up, I found bodies all around me,' Ramesh has told DD News channel from his hospital bed.His seat, it seems, detached during the crash, landing in a narrow gap between buildings where loose soil cushioned the fall, saving him from the fireball that the aircraft turned into. 'The plane broke and my seat came off,' Ramesh told doctors, recounting how he had unbuckled himself and crawled through a shattered fuselage, his left hand burned by flames.
The brothers, natives of Diu, were returning to the UK after visiting family in their ancestral village of Bucharwada. Ramesh has returned to his village, where he is refusing to interact with anyone except family.advertisementVideo footage of the air tragedy had captured him stumbling barefoot through the plane's debris, shouting, 'Plane fatyo che! (The plane exploded!)', even as he tried to return to the wreckage to find Ajay, only to be restrained by first responders.Survivor's guilt, a well-documented psychological phenomenon, likely gripped Ramesh in the days that followed. Clinical studies describe it as a profound sense of remorse or unworthiness experienced by those who survive a tragedy while others, especially loved ones, do not.Psychologically, survivor's guilt can manifest as intrusive thoughts, depression or a fixation on 'why me?'. Ramesh's repeated statements—'I don't know how I survived' and 'I still can't believe I'm alive'—suggest a struggle to process it all. His proximity to Ajay during the crash likely amplified his sense of responsibility, as if he could have done something to save his brother.The public nature of his suffering, amplified by viral videos, may have further complicated his ability to grieve privately, as the world watched his every move. The heart-wrenching visuals of Ramesh, bandaged and limping, carrying Ajay's coffin during the funeral procession in Diu on June 18, underscored his grief. Ramesh broke down multiple times, shouldering his brother's bier alongside their father, Ramesh Bhalia, as the family mourned.advertisementAs Ramesh grappled with his loss, a disturbing rumour surfaced on social media. It suggested he had fabricated his presence on the flight. The rumour spread rapidly, fuelled by the sensational nature of the crash and the public's fascination with his survival. The origins of it are unclear, possibly stemming from misinformation or scepticism about how someone could survive such a catastrophic event unscathed.One June 20, actor and singer Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, in her now-deleted post, said: 'So this #vishwaskumarramesh lied about being a passenger on the plane & the only survivor? This is seriously weird. Didn't his family in the UK corroborate his story? What about his brother's funeral that he was seen giving kandha to? Deserve not only some serious punishment but some mental asylum time if this is true, uff.'Within hours, several independent social media influencers and users circulated reels and posts, joining the bandwagon of scepticism against Ramesh, and a rumour that he was arrested by police caught on.But the backlash was also swift. Social media users condemned Krishnamoorthi for her insensitivity, pointing to overwhelming evidence of Ramesh's survival: hospital records, police confirmation, Air India's passenger manifest listing him on seat 11A, and video footage of him emerging from the wreckage. However, videos and posts continue to circulate.advertisementAhmedabad police commissioner G.S. Malik and Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, confirmed his identity and injuries, noting he was 'disoriented with multiple injuries' but out of danger. Ramesh's survival was not only verified but celebrated by authorities, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah visiting him in hospital. And yet, the rumour's brief traction reveals how quickly public perception can shift from empathy to scepticism, particularly in high-profile tragedies.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InTrending Reel
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