New Delhi, Feb 01: A shocked but philosophic Sanjay Chawla, brother of astronaut Kalpana Chawla tonight said he was prepared for the worst but hoped miracles do happen and his sister would survive the crash. "Whenever you are involved in such tasks, one should be prepared such things. Like when you are in the army, one should be ready for such news. If it could happen to others, it could happen to you as well. This time it has happened to us," Chawla told reporters here in a voice choked with emotion.
As a pall of gloom descended on the Chawla household at Khel Gaon in South Delhi, Sanjay said he felt something was amiss the moment the landing of space shuttle Columbia was delayed by half a minute.
Chawla, who came to know about the incident through television channels, said his wife who is in US in connection with the flight spoke to him sometime back but was not aware of the details.
Asked whether he still hoped that she might have survived the crash, a sombre looking Chawla said, "miracles do happen. It hoping against lot of odds. When those in the know are telling like this (that there could be no survivors), it (survival) doesn't seem so, but miracles do happen."
Chawla said his relatives friends and people of Karnal were there with him to share his grief. Bureau Report