Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Forty hours and the battle of staying put at Romania border before crossing Ukraine concluded for Bhopal's Aabhas Parihar and his colleagues on Sunday night. Parihar and others like him are MBBS students in Ukraine who reached Romania on Sunday night.
“There was a snowfall on both the sides of the border when I was at the immigration centre along Ukraine-Romania border. Looking back, I saw fellow Indians struggling in cold without shelter. I thought I could have been among them and would have collapsed in snow after waiting for 40 hours,” Aabhas Parihar, who is from Bhopal, told Free Press.
Not that Aabhas didn't get a chance to cross the border earlier. It was that he could not leave his injured friend for an early passage. He got a chance after 24 hours of his arrival at the border. But he believed that the girls from his University needed urgent evacuation and he gave up his turn for girls who couldn't thank him enough.
“I had a breakdown struggling there for so long. I can only imagine what they would have gone through had we not let them move out first,” Aabhas recalled.
“Next, when I got a chance, I could not leave my ailing friend Satyam behind. He was my strength the entire time when we were at the border or even in Ternopil. I knew I had to keep courage till he got up and walked past the border,” he added.
Another Bhopal student Satyam Sharma shared his ordeal with Free Press. “We were losing hope. There was a stampede on the check post. So many nationals and all wanting to be the first to cross the border. We had run out of food and water. Many lost their baggage that had blankets. There was a snowfall on Sunday night and no shelter for anyone.”
“We would have been devastated had we been alone. The tragedy connected us and we became each other's strength. At the border, we were shooed away from cafeteria we had taken shelter in. We had to come back on roads with torn clothes in freezing cold,” he added.
Opil Jain, who is from Ujjain, said, “Our friends had advised us about the situation of Romania and we planned our evacuation on our own, strategically. We left Ternopil at 3 am (6.30 am IST) and reached border by 10 am. Then, we tried to find our friends but couldn't. None of their phones was reachable. It was our luck that we met students of other universities and slipped inside the border alongside after waiting for about 5 hours.”
“Now we are in Romania’s shelter. We have everything available to meet our needs.” he added. As the students crossed Ukraine and reached Romania, they were received by a group of volunteers who had arranged shelter and food for students of all countries. The students say that they haven't been able to establish contact with the embassy so far. But now that they are safe, they hope to reach home soon.
