Shocked and distressed Neha Mishra doesn’t want to recall five-minutes of the ‘Himalayan Tsunami,’ that gave her deep wounds. Though she doesn’t want to recollect the tsunami scene, the bitter memories of the disaster churn her mind.
The teenaged girl, a resident of Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), is recuperating at Jolly Grant-based Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences after being rescued from Guptkashi. Several others rescued are in similar state of mind.
Mishra’s kin were still stranded at Guptkashi. She is waiting for them. “I will never be able to forget those five minutes. Rainwater entered the temple and whirled, sweeping away several people. Several people ran towards the hilltop and Garunchatti area. Those who couldn’t do it lost their lives,” the girl recalls. She calls herself lucky to be rescued. She didn’t get anything for the last four days. After being rescued, she was given biscuits and glucose by the army personnel.
“I realised value of food during these four days. Each grain is important; people should not waste the food. I saw several people crying for food. They battled with each other for a single biscuit.” Her younger sister, Mansi is in similar state. “Please don’t ask anything about the most bitter incident of my life. I don’t want to tell you anything. It changed my thought process forever. I can only say that I witnessed death dancing before me. I am surprised how I came back alive,” she said.
More than a hundred rescued persons, who are recuperating in the hospital, are in a hurry to leave for their homes. Badly injured persons are not in a state of telling anything. They are under observation. The persons, who recovered well, said, “Wounds given to them by the disaster would never heal.”