Varun Krishnan
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

For more than a decade, international travel had been a routine part of Varun Krishnan’s professional life. Each year, he would fly out to attend one of the world’s largest technology conferences, moving through airports and transit hubs with the quiet predictability that frequent flyers come to expect.

This year’s journey began in much the same way. He left Chennai for Barcelona on February 28 with a scheduled transit stop in Doha, expecting a short halt before continuing to Spain. But somewhere over West Asia, the routine began to change.

Published – March 16, 2026 09:12 pm IST