Ukraine crisis: Finally, they satiate hunger with noodles after three long days
Jalandhar, March 3
Komalpreet Kaur eats a plate of hot noodles on the Hungarian border after three long days (and two nights) of staying without food. Hungry and thirsty, the first morsel of food after three days of hard toil and jostling at stations was very soothing. Once out of the war-ravaged towns of Ukraine just this afternoon, her first call to her parents of having reached across safely comes as a huge sigh of relief for her parents who remained hooked to their phone for her call, message or a simple text.
Hungry and thirsty for three days, Indian students who hitched rides or walked across Ukraine, walked and slept in snow and jostled to get on that last train reaching across the border has brought tons of relief. Even the parents say, “It is for the first time in days that our kids are happy.”
Komalpreet’s father Kuldep Singh says: “We have been on the edge for two days. Our kids have seen hell. They got a plate of hot noodles and pasta and water when they got across the border. They will stay at a hotel from where they will be shifted to the airport. It is such a relief. My daughter had two immigration checks — one at the Ukrainian border and the other at the Hungary. She started out of her bunker in Kharkiv on Tuesday morning. Since then she was hungry. She has eaten after three days. On top of it she had to stand all night in the train going to Lviv. From there, they took a taxi to the border. She reached Hungary early this afternoon.” While she is out of the war zone, security is still very strict.
Kuldeep Singh added, “Ukrainians and Hungarians both do not take lightly to kids sending out photos. They have been asked to delete all photos of the war in Ukraine from their phones. They have been asked to put screenshots of the Indian flag on their phones.”
Kapurthala-based Jasbir Singh, whose son Amitpal got out of Kharkiv on Tuesday and reached Lviv on Wednesday, reached Poland on Thursday. His clothes soiled, carrying very few belongings and no food and money, Amitpal is also putting up at a camp in Poland.
Jasbir Singh said: “I have just sent money to my son. I’m happy he is out of Ukraine. He has no clothes or rations. They will get food there, but I have sent him money so that he can at least wear some proper clothes. Many kids have lost belongings during the jostling at the stations.”
