After fear, uncertainty, homecoming a sweet affair

CHANDIGARH: As foreign returnees begin arriving home, they bring tales of despair and suffering with them, brought on by the Covid pandemic and the hardships posed due to the consequent shutdown of cities across the world.

For a 20-year-old man from Attawa village in Sector 42, who arrived on Tuesday night with four other passengers, uncertainty has interrupted his dreams for his future, but he is glad to return home.

He had to borrow money to pay for his flight from Singapore, where he was studying. Before reaching Chandigarh, he had to stay at a Delhi hotel for three nights, where a PGIMER doctor returning from Dhaka paid for his stay as he had no money even for a meal.

Upon reaching here, he said he was kept for day at Hotel Mountview in Sector 10 on Wednesday which charged ₹5,000 per night. However, it was waived after intervention by Shashank Anand, the deputy inspector general of police (DIG, traffic) and nodal officer, before he was shifted to a more modest accommodation at Panchayat Bhawan in Sector 36.

Among the five who returned to Chandigarh were three other students from Singapore, including a Class 8 student studying in a boarding school here, who arrived in the first batch of returnees.

“I was elated when the Indian government announced they would fetch those who wanted to come back. But the flight ticket was almost double the usual fare, so I had to borrow money from a friend in Mohali. I requested the government officials to subsidise air-tickets for those who can’t afford it as there are several students like me facing such hardships on foreign shores,” said the Attawa youth.

WAS WORRIED FOR KIDS: PGI DOCTOR IN DHAKA

The PGIMER doctor who arrived in Chandigarh on Tuesday night was on a sabbatical in Dhaka for two years. After his visa expired in the first week of April, he tried every method to come home.

Although he was staying in a safe place, he said the sense of uncertainty about when he ill reach home brought on anxiety.

“I was worried about my family. My kids were alone at home most of the time as my wife, who is also a medical professional had to go on duty,” he said.

Relieved to be back, the doctor said he will have to wait out the quarantine period before he goes home. Even though he feels fine, but he will readily undergo the test and follow all protocols, he added.