VELLORE: “I will never go back to Yemen and I am happy that I am alive today,” said nurse Nirmala who reached Vellore from strife-torn Yemen.
Nirmala (45), and her cousin Joshua Ebenezer (36) who was working as lab technician in Sanaa were received by their family members warmly at the Katpadi Railway Station
in Vellore on Tuesday evening. The family was elated to have her back and so was Nurse Nirmala, who had been waiting for the day.
“I was not sure that I would be alive the next morning when I went to sleep the previous night,” said Nirmala.
“From morning to evening there was peace and in the evening, all we could hear was bomb explosions and gun fire,” she added.
“I never thought that my wife would be back in India. I am happy to see her back in Vellore,” said Amalnathan, husband of Nirmala.
In her vote of thanks, Nirmala said, “I personally thank the media and Ministry of External Affairs. I would not be here without them.”
She said, in order to fulfil her responsibilities (she claimed to have house-loans outstanding and several other responsibilities that she jointly shouldered with her husband), “I want the State government to help me with a job.”
Speaking about the few Indians still stranded in Yemen, she said, “As far as I know, only a few Indians are still in Yemen. The rest of them have been air-lifted from the strife-torn country,” she added.
Nirmala’s cousin, Joshua Ebenezer, obviously still reeling from the shock, said that he would never return to Yemen and refused to speak further.
Nirmala and Joshua boarded a flight on Monday night and reached Cochin around 1 am on Tuesday along with other fellow Indians from Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu.
From there, everyone boarded trains and buses to their respective places.