Recently, I watched a biographical film about Neerja Bhanot, a flight attendant who risked her life to save 359 passengers on board a hijacked plane. Prior to that day, I had never heard of Neerja Bhanot, but I watched her bravery unfold before me within the span of a 2-hour movie. It was incredible. To see someone so young, put her life at risk for people she didn't even know.
Bhanot protected the people on board the hijacked plane, Pan Am Flight 73, with her last, dying breath. It's terrible how I have never heard of her before today. She is an inspiration. There are so many strong, independent brown women that I look up to, and Neerja Bhanot has become one of them. I think that all brown girls should know who Neerja is. They should know what she did. They should know that a brown girl has the power to be dauntless, to be brave, to be a hero.
It upsets me really how she did everything she could to protect the passengers and ensure their safety, only to be met with death. It angers me how some of the terrorists that day lived, and how Neerja was the one that died. Neerja Bhanot died, at the expense of unsympathetic terrorists with a vendetta to kill and hurt people. The people whose intentions were to kill were the ones that lived, and the woman whose intention was to save was the one that died. It's really not fair whatsoever.
She had her whole life ahead of her, yet she risked it all to save anyone she could. Even as the terrorists went on a rampage, shooting and killing everyone they could, Neerja looked for passengers she could help escape. She put the passenger's life before her own life. It didn't matter whether it was only one or two passengers left, she wanted to get them all out. She didn't care that thanks to her a majority of them were already saved, she wanted whoever she could get out to be safe. And thanks to her 359 lives were saved. Her soul lives on in the 359 passengers alive today.
I am happy that Neerja Bhanot didn't become just another statistic. I am happy that she was awarded posthumously numerous awards for her heroic and selfless acts. But what I want is for more people to know who Neerja was. For more people to know her story and what she did on September 5th, 1986. It's a shame really how I haven't heard of her until today. Her story should be known and her life should be honored.
She will be known as a selfless, young woman, who did not care that her life was in danger, who did not want to escape easily, who put the lives of 359 people before her own. Neerja Bhanot is a hero.
