Dubai Malayalee dies hours before Ramadan reunion flight home
AN Indian expat in the UAE died on Sunday evening, just hours before he was due to board a flight home, a trip he planned to reunite with his family for Ramadan and Eid after securing a new job, reports the Gulf News.
The deceased is Favaz Chambantagath House, an accountant from Kerala, who turned 39 on February 1. He is survived by his parents, wife and a four-year-old son, all of whom were waiting for him back home.
Favaz collapsed suddenly while packing his bags shortly after iftar on Sunday, according to his relative and Dubai-based Indian advocate Hashik Thayikandy, who spoke to Gulf News about the tragedy.
Sudden collapse
He said Favaz had been due to fly out on a 3 am Monday flight.
“After having iftar, he started feeling uncomfortable while packing. Then he began sweating profusely and collapsed. His friends immediately called an ambulance and followed instructions to perform CPR, but unfortunately, he was gone by the time help arrived,” said Hashik.
Favaz had no known health conditions and was known to walk regularly, he said. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.
Between two lives
Hashik said Favaz had been on a visit visa at the time of his death, in the middle of a job transition. He had previously worked with a supermarket chain in Dubai. When that job ended, he took his wife and son back to Kerala while he returned to find new work.
Hashik said Favaz had found a new position and was in the process of transferring to an employment visa. But with his mother unwell, he had decided to fly home, spend Ramadan and Eid with his family, and return afterwards to start the new role. It was a plan that never got the chance to unfold.
"He shared a very close bond with his little son. He was a loving man, deeply attached to his family," said Hashik.
Pathemari echo
The body of Favaz was repatriated on a 1.50 am flight on Tuesday, almost a day after he had been meant to fly home alive.
The cruel timing has left many in the community shaken, not least because of its haunting resemblance to the climax of Pathemari, a celebrated Malayalam film co-produced by Hashik himself along with Dubai-based businessman Sudeesh TP and National Award-winning director and producer Salim Ahmad.
In the 2015 movie, Malayalam megastar Mammootty plays Pallikkal Narayanan, a long-time Kerala expat in a Gulf country who dies just as he is finally preparing to return home for good to the house he built for his family.
It is widely regarded as one of Malayalam cinema's most heartbreaking endings and a tribute to the sacrifices of many Malayali expats in the Gulf countries, especially those who arrived decades ago.
While the circumstances are not identical, the grief cuts just as deep.
"Everyone has been telling me what an irony it is…that something so similar to the climax of Pathemari has happened in my extended family," said Hashik.
