Days after the Pahalgam terror attack, YouTuber and Bigg Boss OTT winner Elvish Yadav shared a personal connection with the Navy officer, who lost his life along with 25 civilians on April 22. Himanshi Narwal, widow of Lieutenant Vinay Narwal (26) was Elvish's college classmate, the YouTuber shared in his vlog entry.
Initially, Elvish couldn't recognize her. Upon a closer look, he identified that Himanshi was his college mate from Hansraj College.
"I passed out in 2018 and since then we had not spoken at all. Gurgaon is my city. We used to enjoy so much... we used to go to the metro station together. I had her number but I did not call her because it is not possible for anyone to pick up your phone at that time and tell you," he said.
"I was shocked. I didn't call her because now is not a good time to talk."
Elvish reached out to a mutual friend instead, who tried calling Himanshi multiple times. "She didn't pick up the first 30 calls, but finally picked up on the 31st," he shared.
Elvish also made a request to his fans and followers not to share Ghibli images and fond memories from Kashmir as it's not the right time to share those.
The image of Himanshi, seated beside the dead body of her husband Vinay Narwal, has become the telling picture of the Pahalgam terror attack, claiming 26 lives.
Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, 26, from Karnal in Haryana married Himanshi Narwal on April 16. The reception was held three days later and the couple left for Kashmir on April 21. The couple were enjoying 'bhelpuri' in the picturesque meadow of Baisaran near Pahalgam, when a terrorist shot Lieutenant Narwal in the head.
On Wednesday, Lieutenant Narwal's body was brought to Delhi in a coffin and Himanshi stood beside it. "I pray that his soul rests in peace... We will make him proud in every way," she sobbed, stopping to hug the coffin.
"It is because of him that the world is still surviving. And we should all be proud of him in every way... in every way," she said, bowing repeatedly before the coffin.
Narwal, who had joined the Navy just two years ago and was posted in Kochi, was among 26 people, including an Intelligence Bureau officer, who was killed in the terrorist attack in Baisaran.
Lieutenant Narwal's grandfather, Hawa Singh, told NDTV on Wednesday that he always wanted to serve the country.
"We came to Karnal from our village... he used to live in Sector 7, there was a small school. He then did his higher schooling in Delhi... When he used to see military vehicles in his childhood, he used to ask me a lot of questions," he said.