Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Forty hours and the battle of staying put at the Romanian border concluded for Bhopal's Aabhas Parihar and company on Sunday night.
“There was a snowfall when I was at the immigration centre and I looked back to see my friends and fellow Indians struggling without shelter. I would have been one of them, but after 40 hours of struggle on the border, my body could not take it anymore,” says Aabhas Parihar, who hails from Bhopal and was on the border waiting for his turn at every interval the border opened for 15 students.
Not that Aabhas didn't get a chance to cross the border earlier, but he could not leave his friend, who was injured and helpless, back for an early passage, he says.
He had got a chance prior to this too. But he believed that the girls from his University were the priority and he gave up his turn for a bunch of other girls, who couldn't thank him enough.
It was already over 20 hours having reached the border. Aabhas, accompanied by a couple of his friends decided to let the girls cross the border before them.
“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 in first,” says Aabhas.
“Next when I got a chance, I could not leave my ailing friend Satyam behind. He was my strength the entire time we were at the border or even in Ternopil. I knew I had to muster up courage and try until he manages to get up and walk past the border,” he adds.
Another Bhopal student, Satyam Sharma, shares his ordeal with Free Press, “We were losing hopes. There was a stampede on the checkpost. So many nationals and all wanting to be the first one to cross. We had run out of food and water. Many lost their baggages that had blankets. There was a snowfall Sunday night and no shelter for anyone. We crossed the border and this was our parents' prayers and their faith in us that we can stay strong.”
“We would have been devastated had we were alone. The tragedy connected us and we became each others' strength. At the border, we were shooed away from the cafeteria we had taken shelter in. We had to come back on the roads with torn clothes and in freezing cold,” he adds.
Opil Jain, who hails from Ujjain, says, “Our friends had advised us about the situation of Romania and we planned our evacuation on our own, strategically. This who were stuck, they were. Ours was a different story. We left Ternopil at 3 am (6.30 am IST) and reached the border by 10 am. Then we tried to find our friends, but we couldn't. None of their phones were reachable. It was our pure luck that we met the students of other universities and slipped inside the border alongside, after waiting for not more than 5 hours.”
“Now we are in Romania shelter. We have everything available to fend our needs. But so far there's no contact with embassy,” he adds.
As the students crossed the border, they were received by a group of Volunteers from Romania. They had shelter and food arranged for the students of all nationalities. The students say that they haven't been able to establish contact with the embassy so far. But now that they are safe and rejuvenated, they hope they will soon reach back home.
