With moist eyes and heavy heart, waiting kin of the missing persons started returning homes after 10-day of the disaster. Several kin, who were camping in Dehradun and Rishikesh, on Tuesday left for their respective destinations. Pain was clearly visible on their faces.
Ashish Shukla, a resident of Ahmedabad, returned to the city after searching for his brother-in-law, sister, their two children, his mother and mother-in-law and father-in-law of his sister for four days. A scientist by profession, Ashish was completely shattered person.
“I don’t know how to react to this situation. It changed my perspective about life. After searching my relatives for four-day, I am returning home. It is very painful for me. Though I haven’t lost the hope, I am shattered. I am in situation of hoping against hope,” Shukla said, while entering the airport to catch flight for Delhi from where he would take connecting flight for Ahmedabad. “Everything changed within five minutes. I never imagined even in dreams for such a catastrophe. All that happened was shattering. It not only left several persons shattered, but also pushed the state back for several years. life changed for me forever. But life has its own course. It would go it would move forward. Time is the biggest healer,” Shukla said.
He said he would not like to get back to lucknow where his mother was working as an officer. Similarly, Atul Kumar returned with heavy heart. He searched his mother for seven-days. He ran from disaster relief control room at police headquarters and disaster relief helpline at police line.
Holding photos of his mother Nirmala Devi, he inquired about her from several persons. He showed it to the rescued persons. But nobody could tell about her mother. He went to several hospitals where the injured persons were being given treatment. “I am shocked. I still believe that my mother would return. She might be stranded as some locations. Maybe, she has taken shelter at a village in high hills. I pray to God that my mother return safe. Hopefully, God will listen to my prayers. Apart from that what else I can do,” he said.
Similarly, two elderly persons from Delhi, who waited for their missing kin for 10 days, decided to go back to home. More than 100 people returned to various destinations. Some of them were sobbing, while others were crying. They were sad. Chocked with emotions, they had tears in their eyes. They left the city with a void that perhaps would never be filled and the loss would never be compensated.