Rajesh Gowda (26), who returned home from the strife-torn Yemeni capital of Sana'a after a touchdown at Kochi, received an emotional welcome at the Mangaluru Central Railway station on Saturday.
Stating that at one point of time, he had given up any hope of making it back to India, the relieved young engineer who worked in Yemen for three years said, “I will not dream of going back to Yemen.”
His father, Channappa Gowda, a farmer in Kodimbala near Kadaba in Puttur taluk, broke down as he hugged his son and said with folded hands, “It is God who has sent my son back. I am extremely thankful to Him.” Mr. Gowda said the family had spent the last week in anguish, “I do not how to express it.”
Mr. Rajesh was part of a contingent of Indians who were first flown to Djibouti in eastern Africa on Friday morning. There they were put on two flights to India. His flight reached Kochi at 12.30 a.m. on Saturday after a five-hour journey. At Kochi, he boarded the Thiruvanthapuram-Mangaluru Central Express and arrived here at 11.45 a.m.
The last of five siblings, Rajesh is a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning engineer.
Appreciating the government’s efforts to secure the safe return of Indians, Mr. Rajesh recounted the rescue efforts. At 3 a.m. on Friday, the Indian embassy telephoned him and asked him to reach the Sana'a airport by 9 a.m. with just a handbag. He, like many others, had to leave their belongings behind.
Worsening situation
He had just returned to Yemen on March 19 after a month's holiday at home. By then, that country was in turmoil, places were being bombed and killings had started.
Mr. Rajesh recalled that the situation was worsening in Sana'a. Blasts and air strikes that happened only at nights were common during the day. One blast that took place just 500 metres away from his residential shattered his window pane. He said he had not informed his family about the incidents, to avoid panic.
