Even on the toughest days, she lifted everyone around her

Tearful mourners gathered at Sewri cemetery to pay their last respects to AI 171 co-pilot Clive Kunder

- Niraj Pandit

MUMBAI: At the Sewri Christian Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, under grey skies and swaying trees, God was a palpable presence at the funeral of Clive Kunder, the 32-year-old co-pilot of the ill-fated Ahmedabad-London flight. Rain whispered across the leaves and gravestones as mourners gathered beneath a gazebo to remember a man who was, by all accounts, as devoted to his family and faith as he was to the skies he flew.

"Seventeen years ago, we met Clive for the first time. Since then, we watched him grow, evolve, and soar," said Steffi Miranda, a close friend from Wilson College, addressing an emotional gathering that included Kunder's parents and younger sister, Camille. "But today, we are here first and foremost for his family—because for Clive, family always came first."

From the early years in Kalina to the cockpit of a Dreamliner, Kunder's life was marked by quiet determination and deep affection. Arun Balachandran, a fellow Air India pilot and long-time friend, offered a glimpse into their shared past.

"I first knew Clive not as a colleague, but as a schoolboy," he said. "We used to wait at the same bus stop when he was just 10 or 12. We played football together. To see him grow into the 6-foot man he became—and then to fly beside him—was an honour I will carry with me forever."