Late NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s parents K Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi will be off to Mumbai today to partake in the memorial service at the Taj Mahal Hotel. Before boarding the flight, they will attend a function at Ramamurthy Nagar underpass, where a statue of Sandeep will be unveiled. Since the hanging of Ajmal Kasab, their No 46 residence in Yelahanka has been flooded with visitors. “This has been the case in the last four years,” said Unnikrishnan, inviting his wife too for an interview with Express. It was Unnikrishnan’s turn first.
Tired of interviews?
Not really. You have a job to do, so do I. Life goes on.
Will the Mumbai trip be special this time?
No. Just because Kasab was hanged nothing has changed. We have not missed our annual trip to Taj after 26/11. On November 27 night, around 11 pm, we both will be present at the exact spot where he was killed. We will have his presence. His memories. A 26/11 survivor too joins us there and he wouldn’t speak to anyone.
With Kasab gone, is the chapter closed?
Definitely not. The masterminds are still at large. Hanging of Kasab became a non-issue for us because it took four long years. We didn’t achieve anything by hanging him.
Are you not happy?
It’s not happiness. It’s a kind of legal satisfaction.
What’s your book going to be on?
It will have my interactions with Sandeep. What I have learnt from him. It will reveal the influence Sandeep had on my personality. He was a man of principles. He was a teetotaler. His letters while at NDA and IMA are inspiring ones and the book will have them too.
What role will his mother have in the book?
Dhanalakshmi: He loved me so much. On November 11 (2008) he wrote the Will (a mandatory rule in Army) in my name. He loved all his relatives and used to buy sarees for all his aunts. He never wanted to die. He wanted to always help others. After his divorce, he told me not to talk ill about his ex-wife. Such was his mentality. I miss him every moment. I miss dancing with him. We used to dance together a lot whenever he came home. I still listen to a cassette which has a song by Sandeep, when he was in nursery.