A cry for help from the desert and the rescue

 

"It is raining bombs here," she said, sounding desperate. "Someone, please get me out of this place," she pleaded.
Vijayalaxmi was in danger. She was in a helpless situation. That much was amply clear.
It was in January 2017 that I came across this desperate plea for help on Twitter (now 'X'). There were no more details. The crux of the message had been conveyed to the world. I stopped at the tweet for a while.
Who could this be? What really was the situation? Could I possibly be of any help?
I did not know the answer. But I was indeed interested in trying.
Wherever she was on earth, it was not in my power to stop the bombs or missiles that were being dropped there. I got in touch with Vijayalaxmi. I wanted to completely understand what the situation was.
Vijayalaxmi sent me an audio recording of the sound of bombs and missiles. This convinced me, to an extent, that this indeed was a terrible situation to be in.
"It is just too cold out here. Not a human in sight. I am all alone in this place. You can understand how scared I am," Vijayalaxmi said in the messages that were exchanged.
I was provided more details. Vijayalaxmi said this scenario was in the region of Al Tiwala. This was located near Jizan in Saudi Arabia. This was close to the Yemen border.
After exchanging several messages and understanding the gravity of the situation, I felt I could perhaps write a news report. There were chances that if her plight was brought to light and highlighted, Vijayalaxmi could get help from the government and perhaps come back to India.
I asked Vijayalaxmi some more questions. If I was to write a news report, I had to get exact details. That is when Vijayalaxmi said something that stopped me cold.
"I am sorry. I have been misleading you so far," her message read.
I read the message again. What did Vijayalaxmi mean?
Vijayalaxmi meant that she was not Vijayalaxmi.
"My name is not Vijayalaxmi," she messaged again. "I am sorry for misleading you with a female name all this while, but I did not intend anything wrong. I am a male and my name is Vijay," was the response. "I was not sure if I could tell anyone my real name and that is why I used a pseudonym, but my problem is real," Vijay said.
Vijay then gave all his details, explaining to me what his problem was. He hailed from Andhra Pradesh. He was offered a job in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. On reaching there, a fraudulent agent handed him over to a local person in Jizan.
"I have come here to work in a hospital," Vijay had said. There was no such thing.
What he had to do was something he could not have imagined when leaving his hometown. Vijay was sent into the desert area to take care of a flock of animals. He was left stranded in a desert. There was no human to speak to. No one to care for him and his needs. Occasionally, he would be sent some provisions.
"The bombs scare me," he told me. "I wanted to return to India but I was told that would not be possible and that I had to stay put," Vijay told me.
I trusted Vijay regarding all the details that he had shared with me, including documents that showed his name, age and address in Andhra Pradesh. The fact was that the place was under constant bombing by the Houthis from Yemen. The Houthis and Saudi Arabia were engaged in a hostile conflict. It was in this situation that Vijay, who had nothing to do with the hostilities between them, was caught in the crossfire.
I wrote about Vijay's difficult situation in the newspaper.
There were individuals who were similarly inclined and wanted to extend help in any manner they could to bring Vijay back to India, even if the employer refused to send him. T. R. Sriniwas, who was known to help Indians abroad in distress, responded to Vijay's plight. Mohd Taher was another person who wanted to take up Vijay's issue. The Consul General of India in Jeddah also responded positively.
Vijay could breathe easy. He was traced. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, reached out to Vijay.
Vijayalaxmi — I mean, Vijay — got all the assistance he needed to come back to India and return safely to his home in Palakollu in Andhra Pradesh.
(Image: AI generated)

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