KOCHI: A Maharashtra-based couple, who had arrived in Kochi from Muscat amid Covid-19 fears, returned to their state with their newborn daughter Aradhya on Saturday. Chandrasekhar Mohite, a civil draftsman from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, and his wife Gayathri, a human resources executive, arrived at Kochi in a special flight on June 4. Gayathri, who was nine months pregnant and was hoping to give birth to her child in Muscat, was forced to change her plans owing to the Covid-19 crisis.
In their hurry to reach home amid the lockdown, the couple boarded the first possible flight to India and landed in Kochi. As travelling back to Maharashtra was risky and difficult at the same time, they contacted a social worker from Ernakulam, whose number they received from a stranger, after which things started to look up for the couple. After completing their quarantine period on June 18, the couple consulted gynaecologist Ramani Philip at the Sree Sudheendra Medical Mission Hospital in Ernakulam. A week later, on June 26, Gayathri gave birth to her second child.
They named her Aradhya and got her birth certificate from Kochi. The couple’s seven-year-old son Sainesh is studying at a school in Thane, Mumbai, and is staying with Chandrasekhar’s brother Amol Mohite. Under the guidance of medical director Dr M I Junaid Rahman and with the help of the management, the doctors and nurses at the hospital had provided special care and counselling to the couple.
When a stranger came to the couple’s rescue
In their hurry to reach home amid the lockdown, the couple boarded the first possible flight to India from Muscat and landed in Kochi. As travelling back to Maharashtra was risky and difficult at the same time, they contacted a social worker from Ernakulam, whose number they received from a stranger, after which things started to look up for the couple.