Goa, June 17 -- A profound silence enveloped Jal Vayu Vihar in Powai, Mumbai, as the body of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal returned home on Tuesday morning. The Air India pilot, who perished in last week's AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, was brought back to the neighborhood where he grew up and was deeply cherished.

Family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues gathered in solemn reverence to bid their final farewell. At the building's temple, a prayer ritual echoed with soft chants, heavy with grief. The most heart-wrenching moment came as Captain Sabharwal's 88-year-old father, visibly shattered, performed the prayer beside his son's coffin. Hundreds queued silently, many inconsolable, to pay their respects.

Veteran industrialist Niranjan Hiranand...