Nizamabad doctor survives HP floods, reaches home
The Hindu
Nizamabad doctor survives HP floods, reaches home
It was a close shave for Nizamabad’s Shishir Saraswathi Raj, a 24-year-old doctor who was on a holiday for hiking in Kasol, close to Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, which witnessed floods and landslides.
For Dr. Shishir, who was a part of the 10-member group of friends, it was a harrowing experience from July 7 to 11, being shut away from the rest of the world for want of power and obviously any communication facility.
He was a scary witness to roads being cut off, buildings and temples being swept away by the landslides, as his team had to abandon the hiking trip after a few hours into the Himalayan ranges.
“I have seen such a massive scale of destruction on TV so many times. But being there right in the midst of all that was life-threatening indeed. Yes, I have learnt the lesson of survival the hard way,” the doctor said in a chat with The Hindu after his arrival back home on Friday.
Well, this doctor should be one of those hundreds who braved the calamity thanks to the resilience shown by local villagers. “We were not even aware of what was happening even in the next village. Fortunately, the local villagers were friendly and helpful. We are eternally grateful to them. We had wonderful hospitality and interestingly none of them were rattled by the disaster hovering all over. They made it look so routine and told us that not so long ago they didn’t even have electricity,” Dr. Shishir said.
“The only issue for us in the homestay was the big scorpions that were all over. That was scary but failed to bother the locals,” he said.
“The return journey to Chandigarh was a different kind of challenge. We had to trek with our baggage for 10 km by road, often detouring through the mountain ranges because the roads were completely cut off,” he added.
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.