Texas Mall Shooting | 'Loved & Respected': Boss Remembers Aishwarya Thatikonda

The mortal remains of Aishwarya Thatikonda were brought home late Wednesday.

Aishwarya Thatikonda was the daughter of Rangareddy district and sessions judge T Narsi Reddy.

(Photo courtesy: Chloe_DXM/ Altered by The Quint)

"She's a lot more than an employee. No less than a daughter. My feelings about the incident were very unfortunate. Never imagined. There's quite a bit of bonding for eight hours every day for three years, seeing each other face-to-face and nobody else so I kind of miss her if I don't see her for two, three days."

Srinivas Chaluvadi, Owner of Perfect General Contractors in Frisco

Srinivas Chaluvadi is also known to be employer, mentor of Aishwarya Thatikonda, who was one of the nine victims that were killed after a gunman opened fire in a mall in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, 6 May.

Chaluvadi in an interview to CBS News fondly remembers the 27-year-old, who was working towards and looking forward to making Dallas her permanent home, where she dreamed of buying a house, raising a family and living the American dream.  

“I had plans to make her the company's CEO,” said Chaluvedi to the American news outlet. 

The mortal remains of Aishwarya Thatikonda have been brought home.

The body arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad late Wednesday, and the last rites will be performed on Thursday.

The civil engineer was the daughter of Rangareddy district and sessions judge T Narsi Reddy. She received a civil engineering degree from Hyderabad's Osmania University, after which she went to the United States for a Master’s degree at Eastern Michigan University. 

According to Chaluvedi, she was well brought up and responsible, and the company benefited immensely from her expertise.  

"She is loved, respected, and adored by at least 150 people that I can count. She works very closely with the city staff in Little Elm, the City of Frisco, Aubrey, and all the towns and cities where we work. She's the one who handles the staff requests for documentation inspections, and she knows everyone, and everyone knows her by name," added Chaluvadi. 

In his conversation with the news outlet, he said that Aishwarya became a part of his family. 

Her colleagues and everyone else at the company were making party arrangements for her birthday on May 18. She was at the Allen Mall in Dallas on the day of the tragedy to pick an outfit for the celebration. 

"I was praying for nothing to happen, but inside my mind I was fearful of something wrong,” further explained Chaluvadi about what went through his mind when the news about the shooting broke.

As of now, Chaluvadi and the rest of the employees at his company plan to make a permanent memorial for Aishwarya at her desk at work.