KOLKATA: Forty-year-old Falguni Dey, an assistant professor at Women’s Christian College in south Kolkata and a passionate mountaineer, has been stuck in a hotel room in central Tehran for the last six nights. Exhausted and anxious, he is now desperately looking for a way to return home.
Dey said the constant sound of explosions from Israeli attacks at night and thick black smoke rising from bombed areas during the day have added to her fear and stress.
With money running out and no clear plan for evacuation, he is now considering a risky journey by land to a nearby country like Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan or even Pakistan, from where he hopes to catch a flight to India.
“I had no intention of staying in Teheran for so long, and I barely have money left with me to sustain at this hotel where I am stuck. I can’t fetch money from home since the banks here are closed. I am the only Indian in my hotel and I have no evacuation promises from the Indian government so far. So, I have no choice but to take this decision of moving out by road and crossing over to a neighbouring country from where I can catch a flight back home. My local travel agent here has assured me of help in this,” Dey told PTI from Tehran.
Dey had arrived in Tehran on June 5 to climb Mount Damavand, the tallest volcanic peak in Asia at 5,610 metres. This was his third attempt at climbing a volcano, having already scaled Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus in the past.
But a heavy snowstorm forced him to give up the climb just 400 metres below the summit. He returned to Tehran, only to find the city under attack.
“I returned to Tehran with a heavy heart. But the moment I set foot in the city, I realised something here was wrong. The city was being bombed and I was caught in the middle of an all-out war. I was scheduled to take my return flight the next day, but then the Iranian airspace had been shut down and all flights in and out of Tehran were cancelled,” Dey said.
Indian embassy has so war not promised evacuation
When asked if he had contacted the Indian embassy, Dey said he had, but so far, there was no promise of evacuation. The embassy has only given her a list of safety guidelines to follow.
“I hear that there are some 10,000 Indians stuck in Iran, including nearly 4,000 students from Kashmir. But I do not know any of them. Here I am all by myself and the embassy has asked me not to venture out far from my hotel. People here are going about their daily lives despite the bombings,” Dey said.
Back home, her family in Kolkata’s Jadavpur is extremely worried. Dey said this has made her determined to leave Iran by any means possible.
“The nearest international border is about a thousand kilometres away, and I understand that a lot of protocol and paperwork would be involved in crossing the land border. But, I have to take that chance since I am running out of means to stay put here, given there is no help from any quarters. I do not know which country I will be crossing over to, because that will depend on India’s diplomatic relations with these neighbouring nations,” he said.
Dey said he doesn’t believe the war will end soon.
“I can see from my hotel window the drones shooting, and hearing loud sounds of explosions from both far and near. We can’t sleep at night fearing that the next missile could land on this hotel. Any intervention from neutral powers to end the conflict also looks to be a distant dream. Hence, I must choose a feasible alternative to leave this country,” she said.
The uncertainty over when Iranian airspace will reopen has made evacuation difficult for countries like India, Dey added.
“The Indian embassy is doing its bit. It is updating the database of citizens, calling them up, issuing advisories and setting protocols. But that’s not enough. I appeal to our Union government and our EAM S Jaishankar to actively intervene to get us out. I also appeal to the West Bengal government to do the needful in rescuing us,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Indian Embassy in Tehran advised all Indians in the city to move to safer areas and stay in touch with embassy officials as the conflict worsened.
“All Indian Nationals who are in Tehran and not in touch with the Embassy are requested to contact the Embassy of India in Tehran immediately and provide their Location and Contact numbers. Kindly contact: +989010144557; +989128109115; +989128109109,” the Embassy said in a post on X.
