The phone rang shrilly beside Priyadarshini Suresh, waking her up rudely from her bunk bed in the games village in Trabzon, Turkey. She was hoping to get a good night’s sleep before she was to participate in the triple jump athletics event at the World School Games, but that was interrupted by an attempted coup in the country early Saturday.
Her parents made the call, telling her to stay within the village and remain safe. Completely in the dark about the attempt by a section of the Turkish military to seize control of the State till then, the 16-year-old athlete quickly checked the internet to figure out what had happened.
Pleasant time
Priyadarshini, of DAV school in Mogappair, is among the 11 students from Tamil Nadu to be part of the 149-strong Indian contingent for the event more popularly known as ‘School Olympics’ among students. The event is organised by the International School Sport Federation. They had landed in Turkey on Monday night. They went from Istanbul to Ankara and had a pleasant time at Trabzon. “In fact, here you cannot tell of a coup has taken place. It is 8-30 am now [Turkey is about two hours behind India] and people are going about their tasks, getting to work. Earlier in the morning, it was strangely quiet, but things seem to have settled down now.”
Speaking on phone to The Hindu , the Chennai-based girl says they were planning to stay in the games village till the conclusion of the event (on July 18) and not venture out. A notice on a board mentions the coup attempt.
Not overtly concerned about their situation, Priyadarshini says she hears that airports had been closed down. But there are two more days to go, things should settle down by then. Meanwhile, there are medals to be won, she added.
Her teammate Tamil Selvi’s father Venkatesh is waiting to see what would happen. “We are a bit worried, but not very much so. They are in a calm area, we managed to speak to her and told her to stay with the group wherever they go. I have booked tickets for her from Delhi on Tuesday. I am confident she will be back on schedule,” he said.
Long-jump champ J. Bubeshwar is also from Chennai. His father Jayakumar said he had spoken to his son and was assured that the situation in Trabzon was under control. The team’s original schedule was to leave Trabzon on Monday for the capital city of Ankara and then head to Istanbul to take the flight to India.
CM intervenes
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has issued a release saying her government had spoken to Indian Embassy officials in Ankara to ensure that the children were safe, and would be assured safe passage back home after the games.
(With inputs from Serena Josephine M. and S. Dipak Ragav)
The team’s schedule was to leave Trabzon on Monday for Ankara and then head to Istanbul
