Zoja Morning
BBC News, Delhi
Every time Arjan Asari heard the sound of a plane, he would run out of the house to look for it.
Watching planes was a kind of hobby for him, says his father, Maganbai Asari.
Arjan loved the sound of the engines filling the air, then getting louder as the plane flew overhead, leaving behind chalky trails in the sky.
But now, the very thought of it makes him anxious.
On June 17, the 12-year-old was on the terrace of his father's house in the city of Ahmedabad, filming planes.
Suddenly, an Air India 787-8 crashed before his eyes and burst into flames, killing 241 passengers.
Nearly 30 more people died on the ground.
Arjan accidentally recorded the plane crash on his phone.
"I saw the plane. It was descending and descending. Then it swung and crashed in front of my eyes," he told BBC Gujarati in an interview earlier this week.
His footage, which is now a key clue for investigators trying to determine the cause of the crash, caused a media frenzy and put high school student Arjan at the center of one of the worst aviation accidents in the country's history.
“We are inundated with interview requests.
"Reporters are hanging around my house day and night asking to talk to him," the elder Asari told the BBC.
The accident, and what followed, had a "devastating impact" on Arjan, who was traumatized by what he saw.
"My son is so scared he has stopped using his phone," Asari said.
- Air India plane crash death toll rises to 270, one passenger survives
- Passenger from lucky seat 11A: How I survived the Indian plane crash
Maganbay Asari, a retired soldier who now works for the city's metro, has lived in a neighborhood near the airport for three years.
He recently moved to a small room on the terrace of a three-story building, with a view of the city panorama.
His wife and two children - Arjan and his older sister - live in their native village near the border of the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
"This was Arjan's first visit to Ahmedabad."
"Actually, it was the first time in his life that he left the village," Asari said.
"Whenever I called, Arjan would ask if I could see planes from our terrace, and I would tell him that you could see hundreds of them flying in the sky."
Arjan, he explained, loved airplanes and loved watching them fly in the sky above his village.
The opportunity to see them up close, from the terrace of his father's new house, seemed ideal to him.
And she appeared to him last week when Asari's daughter, who wants to become a police officer, left for Ahmedabad to take the entrance exam.
Arjan decided to go with her.
"He told me he wanted to buy new notebooks and clothes," their father says.
Watch video: Man who is said to have survived plane crash leaves scene
The brother and sister arrived at their father's house around noon on June 12, about an hour and a half before the accident.
The family had lunch together, then Asari went to work, leaving the children at home.
Arjan went out onto the terrace and started filming the house to show it to his friends.
Then he saw an Air India plane and started filming it, he told BBC Gujarati.
He soon realized that something was wrong with the plane.
"It was swaying, moving left, right," he said.
As the plane descended, he continued to film it, not realizing what was about to happen.
But when thick smoke filled the air and a fireball erupted from the buildings, he finally realized what he had just seen.
He sent the recording to his father and called him.
"He sounded scared. 'I saw Dad, I saw him collapse,' he told me, and kept asking me what was going to happen to him."
"I told him to calm down, but he was beside himself with terror," his father said.
Asari asked his son not to send the video.
However, too scared and shocked, Arjan sent it to a few of his friends.
"Suddenly the footage was everywhere."
The next few days turned into a nightmare for the family.
Neighbors, reporters, and cameramen flooded the Asaris' small house day and night, demanding to speak with Arjan.
"There was nothing we could do to stop them," said the elder Asari.
The police also came to the door, took the boy to the station and questioned him.
Asari explained that, contrary to reports, Arjan was not detained, but rather was questioned by police for several hours about what he had seen.
"My son was very upset at the time, so we decided to take him back to the village."
Upon returning home, Arjan continued to go to school, but "he's not quite himself yet."
"My wife tells me she gets scared every time her phone rings," Asari says.
"I know it will get better with time. But I don't think my son will try to look for planes in the sky again," he added.
Watch video: Statement from the sole survivor of the plane crash in India
BBC is in Serbian from now on and on YouTube, follow us HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
Bonus video:
