Ruhila Adatia

Ruhila Adatia (died 21 September 2013) was a Kenya radio ( RADIO AFRICA , Kiss 100, Classic 105, East FM,THE NAIROBI STAR) presenter and journalist.

 She was killed in the Westgate shopping mall shooting while hosting a cooking competition.

She was pregnant at the time.

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Ruhila Adatia-Sood One of 68 Dead After Terror Attack at Kenya’s Westgate Mall

Ruhila Adatia-Sood, a presenter for East FM and an entertainment host for Kiss TV, was one of the 68 people killed in the attack at Nairobi’s Westgate mall.

Adatia-Sood was hosting the cooking competition on the roof of the mall on September 21 when a group of al-Shabab gunmen entered the mall and began shooting people.

“Of the many who lost their lives in the attack yesterday, Ruhila may be the most familiar,” according to Kenyan news agency Daily Nation. “Kenyans are most likely to recognise her bubbly voice reading entertainment news on Kiss TV, Kiss 100 and XFM. Perhaps as a sign of her popularity, there was a page in her memory on Facebook last evening.”

A series of photos shared through Instagram and Twitter by Adatia-Sood shows a merry event happening on the rooftop, cut short by the attack.

She was, according to her description of herself on her Twitter page, a food lover and thrill seeker. She graduated from Rhodes University in South Africa, and was pregnant with her first child.

Adatia-Sood also had a connection with the United States–she was the wife of Ketan Sood, a senior acquisition and assistance specialist at the USAID mission in Nairobi.

“Ruhila was a popular radio and TV personality, who was known throughout Kenya for her passion, vibrancy, and gift for making people smile,” said Dr. Rajiv Shah, a USAID administrator, in a statement.

The terrorist attack “was shocking in its brutality and brazenness,” he said. ”The thoughts and prayers of our entire agency are with Ketan, his family, and his fellow citizens in these profoundly difficult days.”

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Ruhila Adatia is a media personality. A last born in a family of four girls, Ruhila was brought up with more than two parents with her elder sisters taking care of her and grooming her to become who she is now. Her three sisters, Pinky, Farah and Shina describe her as a go-getter since childhood with each calling her their 'baby'. Born and brought up in Nairobi, they now reside in different parts of the world but their childhood memories bring back much nostalgia. Ruhila and her sister spoke to Catherine Mukei

Pinky Adatia Arnaud

I was so excited when I heard my mother was going to have another baby but I wanted a baby brother. I believe that was normal as I already had two sisters and I thought why not a brother this time round? However, when she was born my for love her grew. Being girls only in the family, we had to find a way to enjoy ourselves. We all loved listening to radio. We also loved TV and watched serials and movies together. I guess that's how Ruhila became passionate about joining the media. Ruhila was a good child, well mannered and positive. She made me see things from a different perspective. She was clumsy though.

I don't remember her being punished but we had our bad moments like any other family and we just kept out of each other's way till things cooled down. It was not often that Ruhila and I disagreed over things. We were quite compatible. We got along well and whenever we were mad at each other, we stopped speaking to one another till our tempers cooled down.

Not talking to one another was sufficient punishment since we were not just sisters but friends as well. We went for movie trips to Mombasa and clubbing. We shared similar interests and loved shopping. Her performance in school was good. She worked hard at school and in the university. She was very popular and was always the MC for school events like debates.

She was a prefect and was voted the most popular girl in school and had two pages dedicated to her in the annual school magazine. She, however, did not help much with household chores. The rest of us did most of the work to afford her time to concentrate on her studies. I remember her closet was always in a mess. She was not a good cook.

The only thing she made was fried eggs. She was always corrected whenever she went astray to help her distinguish between right and wrong. We were there for her whenever she needed our help and advise. I was happy for her when she decided to get married. It is a big step in life. I was delighted that my young sister had grown up and was responsible enough to take this step. I knew she was ready for it. She is the last born and will always be my baby sister. I was quite eager to see her reaction when my daughter was born. She is a great aunt to my daughter.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201209160016.html