Actress Nushrratt Bharuccha, who recently flew back to India after being stranded in the attack over Israel by Hamas, has detailed her experience of being stuck in the turmoil.
Taking to her Instagram on Tuesday, the actress shared two different posts, one a video in which she expressed her gratitude to the government, the Indian embassy and the Israel embassy for ensuring her safety and making it possible for her to return to her homeland safe and sound.
The actress said in the video, “Hi everyone, I just want to take a moment and say thank you to everyone for their messages, for their prayers and for their wishes. I am back, I am home, I am safe and I’m fine. But just two days back, I woke up in a hotel room in Tel Aviv with bomb sounds around me and sirens blaring and we were taken to a basement. Main pehle aise situation mein kabhi rahi nahi hoon (Never have I been in such a situation).”
The actress went on to thank the government and the embassies for their swift action and making sure that she gets home safely.
Nushrrattsaid: “But aaj jab main apne ghar mein uthi hoon with no sounds, feeling safe and fine toh mujhe realise ho raha hai ki kitni badi baat hai ki hum kitne fortunate hain ki hum is country mein hain, ki hum protected hain aur hum safe hain (Today, when I woke up in my house safe with no sounds around me, I realise how fortunate we are to live in this country and be so protected).”
“So, I want to take the moment and say thank you to the government, thank you to the Indian Embassy and to the Israel Embassy for guiding us, for advising us and making it possible for me to come back home to my country safe and sound. I also want to take a moment and extend my prayers wishes to the people who are still stuck in the war and I really hope for peace very soon,” she added.
In the next post, she detailed her ordeal and shared bit by bit what all she experienced in those moments of nerve-wracking tension when the Hamas rockets were battering the city of Tel Aviv.
The actress penned a long note: “The last week will forever remain etched in my memory…a rollercoaster ride of emotions, the final 36 hours of which will remain the most unforgettable and daunting of my life. My producer, stylist and I had been flown in to Haifa in Israel, on October 3, to attend the reputed Haifa International Film Festival for the screening of our recent film, ‘Akelli’, alongside my Israeli co-actors, Tsahi Halevi and Amir Boutrous.”
She shared that after two days of visiting all of Israel’s historic places, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Bahai, the Dead Sea, they had almost ended their trip with a celebratory dinner for the film’s cast on October 6 night.
“That evening, Tsahi, Amir and I had toasted our film’s selection at the Haifa Film Fest, promised to visit each other, and possibly work together again. We’d said our goodbyes and were ready to fly back the next day. But Saturday morning was nothing like the previous evening’s celebration. We were woken up to the deafening sounds of bombs going off, a blaring siren, and complete and utter panic as we were all rushed down into a ‘shelter’ in the basement of our hotel. It was only when we emerged from there, after what seemed like an endless wait, that we learnt that Israel was under attack,” she shared.
Nushrrattcontinued that nothing could have prepared them for this news and that their first impulse was to somehow reach the Indian Embassy in a state of complete terror. Although the Indian Embassy was situated barely 2 km from their hotel, it seemed like a distance of a lifetime as there was no mode of transport whatsoever and only the dreadful sounds of explosions at very close range.
The actress further mentioned, “We were then informed that Hamas militants had infiltrated several cities in Israel and were also out on the roads, pulling civilians out of their homes and shooting people at random. Furthermore, there was open fire on vehicles on the roads and the situation out on the streets was ‘extremely dangerous’. Just then, we heard a second siren go off and were rushed back down into the basement shelter. Soon realisation set in that we may actually not be able to make it to our scheduled flight back to India that night, and would most likely be stuck in a country that was now openly at war. This is when we began making desperate calls to everyone for help out of this unprecedented situation.”
When they connected with Tsahi, who too had customarily served in the Israeli military, it became clear to them that Israel was, in fact, in a state of emergency and engaged in a full-blown war.
The actress shared, “We kept track of official advisories issued by the Indian government and connected with the Indian and Israeli embassies for details about the escalating situation outside, who were extremely helpful in guiding us. We knew then that it would be only a matter of time before flights would be cancelled and Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv would be shut down. Our phone batteries were fast running out and we were also beginning to lose cell network. Caught in the middle of a war in a foreign country was hardly something any of us had envisaged.”
Nushrrattthen detailed the helping hands that came her way, “But this was also when help had come in for us from completely unexpected quarters: calls from our Israeli co-actors, guidance from the Indian and Israeli embassies, the kind staff at the hotel and, most miraculously, a taxi driver who selflessly helped us at this most difficult and life-threatening time of our lives! We mustered all the courage we could find and picked ourselves up to somehow get to the airport and take any flight out to any country we could manage to. Our journey out of our Tel Aviv hotel was not easy, to put it mildly… praying the whole time, even crying sometimes, we held onto each other for courage to keep on going, somehow making it to Ben Gurion Airport.”
The actress added, “The wait between one formality to the next for boarding a flight has never been more excruciating…what would otherwise have been routine was an uncertain and completely unpredictable few hours, to say the very least. With every small postponement announced, we despaired further, our hearts sinking again…surreal is a very weak word to describe how exactly we felt when we were finally airborne. As someone who has barely escaped a war zone, I cannot be more grateful today…I’m back home and safe with my family and my loved ones.”
“But with an experience that has made me immensely grateful for the safety and security that we almost take for granted. I am ever so grateful to Government of India, the Indian Embassy and the Israeli Embassy, for their help and guidance in bringing my team and me back safe. I would also like to thank each and every one of my well-wishers from the bottom of my heart for their wishes and prayers for my safety,” she concluded.
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