File picture of Chandrika Sharma with her husband Narendran and daughter Meghna.
In Chennai, 55-year-old KS Narendran is spending every moment waiting for some news on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370. His wife Chandrika Sharma is one of the five Indians who were travelling on the flight that went missing on Saturday, an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur.
51-year-old Ms Sharma, Executive Secretary at the International Collective in Support of Fish Workers (ICSF) in Chennai, had boarded the Beijing-bound flight while on her way to Mongolia for a conference. She was among the 239 passengers on board.
It's been five days since Mr Narendran has heard from Ms Sharma. The wait for news about the missing plane and his wife's whereabouts has been long and agonizing for him.
"Every day at around 4:30 in the evening I start thinking it must be 7 pm there and the search must have ended. We wait without end between a state of hope and hopelessness. All we see are a few ships and a few flights", he told NDTV.
Mr Narendran, an HR consultant, says he is unsatisfied with the Indian government's role in the search operation so far and alleges that no government official has contacted him as yet. "We don't know what the government is doing. We have no voice. India is a regional power, why isn't the Indian government deploying its expertise for its citizens?"
"The theories we are hearing are so bizarre. Is there no technology to locate a missing aircraft? I think the Malaysian government has more to hide than share," he said.
Even as Mr Narendran expressed his anguish, news came in that India has joined the search for the missing aircraft.
The couple's daughter Meghna, a college student, has come home from Delhi to be with her family. Few friends and relatives have also come over. They keep comforting Mr Narendran by telling him that people across the country and world are praying for his wife and other passengers.