JOIN USA laundryman is paying respect to Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in his own way.
Kushalappa Poojary, 40, a laundryman, will name his dream house at Sunnaje near Barya village in Belthangady taluk after Abhinandan in honour of the latter’s heroism. In addition, Poojary has the photograph of the wing commander engraved on the marble nameplate.
Poojary was in media glare recently when the invitation cards for the house warming ceremony – planned for April 10 – with the picture of Abhinandan, went viral on social networking platforms. “There is no other motive behind the decision. It is a symbolic expression of gratitude to Abhinandan,” clarified Poojary, who runs two laundry units in Uppinangady and Kakkabettu.
He recollected that when Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan after his F-16 fighter plane was shot down, many people, including Poojary himself, had never expected the pilot to return home safe within two day. “For the next two days, I was glued to the television and to my android cell phone at workplace, keenly following the developments,” he said.
“When I read in the newspapers that Abhinandan had swallowed important documents before Pakistan could lay their hands on them, there was a lump in my throat,” he reminisced.
Dream
Poojary’s fondness for people in the armed forces rises from his own unrealised dream of becoming a soldier and serving the country.
“After seeing how Abhinandan risked his own life for the country, I expressed my desire with my wife Devika, parents Annu Poojary, Sundari and my two kids,” he said.
“They were all happy with my decision,” said Poojary, who also has a dream of enrolling one of his kids – either Bukshitha, who is studying in the 10th standard, or Navith, studying in the 8th standard – into the armed forces.