THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Parol Zbignle’s first visit to India 35 years ago had an awkward start. The Polish national almost passed out seeing the huge crowd in New Delhi who had assembled to witness the Republic Day parade. A resident of Lublin, which is a part of Eastern Poland, Parol had never witnessed such a big crowd and that shock lingered for sometime till he found refuge on the silent beaches of Kovalam, away from the hurry burry of the city. “I found Kovalam suitable to my liking. It had beaches, shallow sea and good local people so much so that I could not resist coming here again and again,” says the 70-year-old.
This year too, Parol came over, on February 16, accompanied by nine of his friends. After six days in Kovalam, they went on a South Indian tour and returned on March 6. That was the time the authorities here woke up to the dangers of Covid-19 and put in place measures to check its spread. The tourists were asked to stay indoors.
Away from home and in a distant land, they were apprehensive of the reaction of the locals. For, they had learnt from social media about foreigners being ridiculed and termed as responsible for spreading the virus.“The first time when I came to India, the crowd frightened me. Then I got used to this country and began loving it. Then, after being here, I was haunted by my fears. There was this anxiety of how we would be handled here,” said Parol. However, their apprehensions were short-lived. The local merchants and tour guides ensured that they had a comfortable stay in their hotel rooms. The hotel owner was even willing to adjust the room tariffs.
“The thought never struck us that we were in a far-off land in times of coronavirus. Before the advisory was out, if the locals happened to see us outside our rooms, they would just say hello and move on. Never did they bother us,” he added. The group had initially planned to explore Kovalam and nearby areas in the city before their departure slated for March 15. They had to abort the plan. The group said they were not sorry for that as well-being of the people was more important than meeting their tour itinerary.
Parol, the only English-speaking person in the group, said their biggest nightmare was the fear of flights getting cancelled, which indeed came true. Their return flight was cancelled and they were staring at the threat of their visas getting expired. At this juncture also, local people came to their rescue. They advised the group to get in touch with the Poland Embassy asking to airlift them.
A local travel operator helped them get an extension of their visas and that helped them since the initial visa was valid only up to Monday. Somarajan, who owns the hotel, said Parol has been his client for long and denying them help could have brought bad name to the tourism sector.
On Tuesday morning, the group was intimated by the embassy that they had arranged two flights from New Delhi to Poland to airlift their citizens on Wednesday. In Poland, Parol said, life is difficult. The train services have been disrupted and the group said they are wondering how to reach home. “Poland is also under Covid-19 threat like India. Hope both the countries recover soon,” Parol said.
‘Situation seems difficult in Poland’
In Poland, Parol said, life is difficult. The train services have been disrupted and the group said they are wondering how to reach home.