Great escape! Arrivals at Delhi airport tell tales of curfew, chaos, close call

NEW DELHI: The polished floors of Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport have seen their share of emotional reunions, but Thursday's arrivals felt different. Weary passengers, their faces showing relief, clutched hastily packed bags.

Their conversation topic was not a foreign holiday, but the tumult in Nepal, of the smoke-filled streets, cancelled flights and desperate escapes.Khyati, 30, a resident of Dwarka, showed a video she recorded from her hotel window in Kathmandu. Smoke billowed in the frame as groups wielding sticks moved on the street. "There was so much fire and smoke," she recalled to TOI. "There were 48 of us Indians stuck inside. The hotel staff urged us not to step out.

In fact, there was a curfew on, so we realised that the only way to stay safe was to remain indoors."

The business trip to Nepal from Delhi did not promise any adventures for Khyati, an event manager. She expected to return home after Sept 18. But as violence spread in Kathmandu, she had to cut short her plans. "The airport was only half an hour away but it was inaccessible. We were lucky to get tickets and make it out. Many Indians are still stuck there," she saidIn Dwarka, her family anxiously awaited updates from Kathmandu.

"My brother and sister kept asking me when I would return but I had no answers," Khyati said. "We even feared electricity would be cut off in a few days."Nearby stood Dr Swati Dixit with her elderly parents, her father cradling her baby in his arms. Head of a medical technology lab at a private university, she had travelled to Nepal for a climate change conference. There she found herself in a cataclysmic storm. "How could we have expected this to happen?" her mother asked, exhaustion evident in her voice.

"We reached Nepal from Agra on Sept 5 and our return flight was scheduled for Sept 9.

After our flight got cancelled, we didn't know what to do."Kathmandu's Tribhuvan Airport became a makeshift refugee camp for stranded travellers. "There were around 200 Indians stuck at the airport. We all decided we wouldn't leave unless we were reassured that we would make it back home safely," Dr Dixit explained. "There was no food, nothing was available.

Luckily, I had some local contacts in Nepal who somehow managed to get us food at the airport."The scientist felt haunted. "I didn't know I would be putting the lives of my family members at risk," she shuddered. "Full-blown violence was unleashed across the city. I had taken my family with me because we wanted to visit the Pashupatinath Temple."Pacing the gates from No. 4 to 5 to 6, Bimal Raj Joshi, 37, a Nepal national, carefully scanned the arrival of every passenger.

His elderly parents in Nepal had been scheduled to reach Delhi for treatment at a private hospital. "They were not doing well at all. My father is 68 year old, my mother 66. They were supposed to arrive a few days ago," said a worried Joshi. "They got stuck there because of the conflict. I am worried not only about the violence but also because they need medical attention.

"Joshi was tangibly relieved when he finally spotted his parents.

Less stressed after that, he reflected, "It is heartbreaking to see the place where I grew up now burning and hit by violence. I think the Gen Z protest is valid and corruption needs to be fought, but this violence was scary."Khushboo, 20, herself part of the generation at the heart of Nepal's unrest, offered her perspective. "While I am here in Delhi safe and sound, my parents and family are in Jhapa back home," she said. "Violence hasn't reached that region yet, but there is a fear. I couldn't stay back due to work here and can only hope peace is restored soon."An Indian from Visakhapatnam, working in the US, clutched his backpack. A trekking trip to Nepal had left him haggard. "My wife and kids were so worried… I lost my luggage too. I only want to get back home as soon as I can," he said.