Sailors express gratitude from the Persian Gulf

 

Thank you Sushma Swaraj. Thank you TOI. Thank you Sushil Rao.
This is what the poster reads. This quite literally moved me. The poster was held aloft by a group of sailors on a ship in the Persian Gulf in 2017.
The seafarers on a commercial vessel were in a difficult situation. Thanks to the intervention of the then Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Protector General, Government of India, Director General of Shipping, Consul General of India in Dubai, officials and individuals who went out of their way to help them when they were in dire straits, the seafarers could return to India safely.
I am truly humbled by the fact that they held this poster aloft on their ship. When I wrote news reports about their plight in the newspaper, I did it out of concern for them. I did a small part as a journalist bringing to light the fact that they were in a difficult situation, quite literally abandoned, and needed help. It came as a surprise to me when they sent me these photographs in 2017 after I had written about their situation.
This poster spoke volumes about the sailors who, in their own way, displayed their gratitude. I did not deserve it. But I truly value it.
(I’ve blurred the faces of the sailors in the photograph to protect their identity)

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