Officer’s last surprise b’day gift for son: An air fryer and a shirt

Navjot Singh, who died in the tragic BMW accident, had planned in advance for son Navnoor’s birthday.

When the day dawned and Navnoor turned 22 on Tuesday, the doorbell rang at 6 am. It was a surprise gift for Navnoor from his father Navjot, the last gift the two would exchange.

For Navnoor, the irony could not have been worse. It was on his own birthday that his father’s last rites were performed, forever etching in his heart a piercing pain on his happy day.

Navnoor’s day passed in arranging for the last rituals, with his mother Sandeep Kaur, critically injured, also away. She remains hospitalised at Venkateshwara Hospital in Sector 12, Dwarka.

In some private moments which Navnoor stole today, he cried looking at his father’s last gift - an air fryer and a shirt, both carefully chosen as Navnoor had only recently discovered his love for cooking. “In a cruel twist of fate, the gift arrived on the day I had to cremate him,” Navnoor told a family friend, his voice breaking.

Rishabh, Navjot’s long-time friend, said Navnoor called him to share the moment, describing it as his father’s “final surprise.” “I didn’t know what to say,” Rishabh said, struggling to hold back his own tears.

“Navjot was always full of surprises, always thinking of others.” Rishabh said he was someone who lit up every room.

“Even in his absence, he found a way to make his son feel special,” said a heartbroken Rishabh while Navnoor prepared for his father’s last rites.