New Delhi: She was just a day away from flying home to Delhi, her suitcase packed, her family counting the hours until they could hold her again. Instead, they are now desperately trying to bring her body back, at a cost of Rs 15 lakh, for a final farewell. Twenty-six-year-old Tanya Tyagi, a postgraduate student at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, died of sudden cardiac arrest on June 17, just a day before she was scheduled to return to India to celebrate her birthday on July 9.“My Tannu was my princess,” said her father, Kuldeep Tyagi, his voice breaking, at their home in northeast Delhi’s Vijay Park near Yamuna Vihar. “She spoke to us on the 16th, telling us about her flight. And then the next morning, we got a call that she was gone.”Tanya, in Canada on a scholarship, was in the second year of the master’s course in food tech and was preparing to apply for a doctorate programme at Ohio University. Her family said she had no known medical issues and was active and cheerful in their last conversation. “The preliminary investigation in Canada cites cardiac arrest as the cause of death; the final report could take up to three months,” her father said.Since her death, the family, scattered across Delhi and Bengaluru, has been in a state of suspended grief. Nights are spent making calls to officials in Canada, trying to coordinate across time zones, and chasing funeral homes for quotes. “The only time Canadian offices respond is when it’s the middle of the night here. So while the city sleeps, our family stays up just to bring our daughter home,” Kuldeep sighed.Elder sister Pranshi, who planned to travel from Bengaluru to surprise Tanya, said the family had hoped for a brief but joyful reunion. “She was supposed to stay until Raksha Bandhan in August. It was going to be a proper family celebration.”Now, that reunion has turned into a logistical nightmare. “One funeral home has quoted Rs 15 lakh to bring the body home. Others are quoting even higher amounts,” said Pranshi. “This is what a grieving family is having to endure. We’ve barely had time to process that she’s gone.”What adds to their pain is the uncertainty. Even with the money, the family has been told it could take up to two months before Tanya’s body arrives in Delhi. With no one in Canada to assist them directly, the Tyagis have now appealed to the central govt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar to help expedite the process and help them cover the huge transit cost.
