Bangalore: Sriharsha with wife Poornima and their son Shashank, after their arrival in Bangalore from J&K, on Thursday.
“It is a life-changing experience, which will remain etched in our memories forever. We are still not able to figure out whether it was all a dream or reality.”
This is how Sriharsha, who returned to Bangalore on Wednesday night from flood-hit Kashmir, explained the horror he and his family went through in the Valley.
Sriharsha, an employee with Accenture and resident of Chikkakalsandra, says he has seen people being racist, communal and at the same time endearing and down-to-earth in the flood-devastated Kashmir.
“For three days, with no electricity and communication, the water level touched close to 15 feet reaching the second floor of the hotel we were staying in. Our 10-member family survived on rice we had brought for my toddler son Shashank. Although we managed to get some soaked Basmati rice later on, it was only rice with some salt that we ate till we were rescued,” added Sriharsha.
“We saw people in boats distributing food items like chips packets found floating on water and we also saw people who came to broken houses just to steal. It was also because of my son, that my wife and I were picked up by an army officer who ferried us to a gurudwara nearby. People in the gurudwara were god-like to us… we had the luxury of food after three days and a place to sleep. Members of the Sikh community were helping people, irrespective of religion, race or caste. It was an overwhelming experience,” said Sriharsha.
“Our family members were split, but somehow I saw my parents being taken in a truck. I ran behind the truck and stopped it to get my parents out and the family united. With great difficulty, we reached Srinagar airport. We were fortunate to fly out. That did not happen easily. I created a scene at the airport demanding the airlines authorities to provide us tickets for our journey. Despite such a grim situation, Air India was charging Rs 16,000 per ticket from Srinagar to Delhi,” said Sriharsha. “We managed to fly to Amritsar and arrived in Bangalore via Mumbai.”
Never waste food, water
Sriharsha’s father Krishnamurthy said the family had learnt the value of food and water in the time of crisis. “We did not have food to eat or water to drink and we survived on whatever little we had. We realised how important it is to stay calm and handle the situation. Though a diabetic, I managed to survive with little food and no medicine,” he said.
His wife Vatsala says ensuring the safety of their one-and-a-half-year-old grandson, Shashank, was very important. “Although we fed him rice that was hard, he was so happy to see so much water around him. He kept saying “zal…zal” looking at the water. He had no idea what was happening.”
Despite the adverse situation, people of all communities – Hindus, Muslims and others – sat together and ate whatever food was available. “We had to eat Basmati rice which was hard to swallow. But there was no water to drink,” said Bharathi, another survivor.
However, for Gangadhar, an ex-serviceman who participated in the 1965 and 1971 wars, the inhospitable situation was not new. “I was in the army and have seen many such situations. But with the family, this is the first time.”
