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Posted on: Jul 09, '08

no man's land.....part 2

continued from earlier post....

Very soon it got chaotic, people shouting at the tankers to stop, and the tankers driving zigzag wherever they pleased, to avoid the milling crowd. To add to this confusion, Jordanian military arrived, soldiers riding camels! suddenly out of nowhere, we had dozens and dozens of camels, rode by soldiers, shouting at people to stop. I was holding a 5 litre empty can, and soon realized that I had lost sight of nair, and omprakash both……

I was scared, but not excessively. After all there were only 700 vehicles, and about 3500 people to look for, all scattered in a huge area. And it was still clear daylight. The camel ridden soldiers came with 10 ft long thick leather belts, which they began thrashing around, trying to round up all of us. And it got more confusing, with people running around like mad, in all directions, in order to escape the belts.

Finally something sensible happened. A military guy came with a PA system, and started shouting in broken English. “ please make Q. don’t run!. That’s all he said several times. He also asked the belt thrashers to stop. Within the next 10 mins or so, the scene changed. The 4 tankers were parked at about 100 feet from each other, and people making queues for bread and water. I collected 3 packets of bread (5 khubz in each packet), and got my can full of water. And finally heaved a sigh of relief! What I did not notice was, by this time, the sun had set, slowly putting the area into pitch darkness. I tried to search the skies for signs of moonlight, but I guess we were close to no-moon-day probably!

As people began to walk back towards their vehicles, no one could identify their vehicles, nor the friends left behind. Now the vehicle owners switched on the headlights. Each car had someone standing on the top, and shouting names of their companions. Similarly we guys returning back from the tankers, also started shouting names loudly. Imagine this! I wil never encounter this again. Hundreds of cars, flashing headlights, blowing horns, and hundreds of people shouting names at the top of their voices, desperately trying to locate their friends. My throat went hoarse shouting for omprakash and nair.

After half an hour I spotted omprakash, looking very scared. The moment our eyes met, we ran to each other and hugged like the brothers meeting in a manmohan desai film, in the end! What a huge relief. Two guys lost, is always better than one. We now decided to stop shouting, held our hands together, and started to walk by each car. In another half an hour or so, omprakash spotted the owner of our car, narendrabhai, standing on top of his Chevrolet caprice. And we saw that nair had already reached the car sometime back.Finally this crazy ordeal was over. The shouting voices grew feeble, and in about two hours from sunset, almost everyone had found their vehicles. We then sat down to a dinner of fresh khubz, and water. Someone produced a packet of powder chutney, which was welcomed by all. After dinner was over, it was decided to call it a day.

I was exhausted, carrying the water can, and shouting too. This is how we slept. A caprice classic is a huge, and long car, if you all remember the impala, something similar in shape. 2 of us occupied the insides, front and rear seats. And the remaining 3 went on the boot, the front, and the top. Adjusting ourselves diagonally, we had enuff space. As I lied down on the front of the caprice, I thanked god, for ending the ordeal for us. Tomorrow we would enter Jordan, and then very soon, it would be home sweet home. What I could not have predicted, was the final scare that was left for us in the no mans land, wihin next few hours!

Tags: iraq, soldiers, belts, jordan

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tenjade_destiny said:
sounds so scary anand...really eager to read what next

July 09, '08

Forbidden2007 said:
We need more yoga to hold on to the climax!..lol...you scrabble with words well.. :-)

July 09, '08

manisha_bhattacharya said:
OK, so now that I've blown steam (you can thank me for the facial anytime), here's my take on your writing:

July 09, '08

manisha_bhattacharya said:
Oh Man!! You really ARE getting to be the torture master, aren't ya??!! I mean, taking us through these hair raising experiences in 3D isn't enough, you tell us there's more and leave us hanging with high blood pressure????? Just how kind is that???

July 09, '08

apple000 said:
what an experience thank u for sharing

July 09, '08

LovelyStars said:
Dear Ink...Initially I didn't want to enter to read this blog because I am panic of wars and deaths.

Some how entered, but dear...believe me...I felt like I was in that place. What a horrible situation!

We people in India are crying over our uncertain lives. But if Indian like you who had passed through such war place can say what a heaven India is for us. Jai Hind.

July 09, '08

sweetangeljaan said:
all i can say is "all will be well again"

July 09, '08

neha_sh2000 said:
hmmm..........can imagine the chaos there...just as i was sighing that u have left us in peace this time.....u have left a bait.....u r a good storyteller dude!!....

July 09, '08

Sunshine_Is_Here said:
U still recall every incident with much clarity! I m sure, experiences like urs can never be forgotten...
Loved ur words as usual Anand, Let the Ink flow.

July 09, '08

khushidey said:
Thankkkkk GODDD all ended well on the NO MAN"S LAND...waiting to read more...

July 09, '08

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