For the family and friends of Major Akshay Girish Kumar, the reality that he is not around is yet to sink in. Until Tuesday, they were eagerly waiting for Major Akshay to reach Bengaluru to celebrate his 32nd birthday.
"It is a sad day that I am sitting here and making a statement about Akshay instead of picking the phone and speaking with him," Amulya Kashyap, one of Akshay's close friends from college said.?
Akshay is survived by his wife Sangeeta Ravindran and their three-year-old daughter who were at the army camp when the attack happened.
Even at the face of the biggest loss of her life, Akshay's mother Meghana Girish, had an emotional yet inspiring message - for her three year old granddaughter. She wanted Akshay's daughter Naina to be inspired ?by by eight-year-old Tajamul Islam, the young Kashmiri kickboxer.
"Heard her (Islam) speaking on TV after a fantastic medal and so proud of this young girl! When Naina is old enough to understand, hope she will be inspired by real achievers like Tajamul," Meghna's post on Facebook read, referring to Islam, who won a gold medal at the world Kickboxing Championship of under-eight players in Italy held in April this year.
PTI
Akshay, the son of an ex-IAF pilot, along with another officer,?Major Gosavi Kunal Mannadir and five jawans were killed on the ambush on Tuesday, the second biggest attack on the troops since Uri.