A day after the unveiling of the Air India Memorial on the waterfront in Toronto, Lata Pada, who lost her husband Vishnu and daughters Arti and Brenda in the Kanishka tragedy, says, "I have overwhelming feelings of gratitude now; Saturday was one of those days when I put aside all the pain, anger and disappointment that I have felt over the past 22 years."
Flight 182, flying from Canada to India, blew up over the Atlantic Ocean in 1985, killing all 329 people aboard.
To her, "It was such a serene, beautiful day and somehow it felt that this is a moment of thanksgiving as we finally have a place in Canada that the families of the Kanishka victims can go to, to reflect on those lost souls who touched our lives. You can't but be overwhelmed when you see 331 names etched into the black granite walls. It is no longer a statistic."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled the memorial, comprising a sundial pointing towards Ireland, identical to the one at Ahiksta where a memorial was unveiled on the first anniversary of the Kanishka tragedy.
Families of the victims were comforted as Harper said, "Flight 182 may have flown under the flag of India, but the murder of its passengers was a singularly Canadian crime and tragedy. As Canadians we must put aside the differences that darken our past and work together to build a stronger, safer, better country that will serve as our legacy for generations to come."
Reportage and photographs: Ajit Jain in Toronto
Image: The sundial, which faces Ireland
Also read: The Kanishka bombing coverage
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