Constable Sushma Yadav was at home on February 6 when her phone rang. A massive earthquake had struck Turkey and India had decided to send her force — the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) — to help with rescue and relief.
It was an excellent professional opportunity for Yadav when asked if she wanted to volunteer, but the mother in her was worried.
Yadav is mother to 18-month-old twins. Her husband works with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and is posted in Delhi.
“When the call came, the first thought was about my kids…Where do I leave them for so long and at such short notice,” Yadav shared with CNN-News18.
‘BETA JAO, MAIN DEKH LUNGA’
“It was my father-in-law who encouraged me. He just said, “Beta jao, main dekh lunga”,” Yadav recalled. The assurance meant Yadav could go all out to save, rescue and help people in need in Turkey.
For the first time, the NDRF had deployed five-member women’s contingent in a foreign land. The weather was harsh and the team members fell ill on landing. “It was -5 degrees, a few of my colleagues fell ill because of hypothermia and dehydration. I am from medical background, so I immediately gave them ORS and other things we had carried. The next morning, they were back on their feet,” Yadav said.
So was that the toughest part of her Turkey experience?
“I was in Gaziantep. My most horrifying memory was that of a site where bulldozers were at work. Dead bodies were being pulled out of the rubble. I saw the remains of a family — on top was the father, then the mother, then their baby. They had used their body to shield and save the child. I couldn’t help breaking down and think of my kids,” Yadav said, adding, “This is a story I will tell my kids when they grow up.”
CANINE HEROES
Yadav and her team couldn’t save that family in Gaziantep. But her canine colleagues — Labradors Julie and Romeo — soon gave them something to cheer about and became the new heroes of the NDRF.
Six-and-a-half-year-old Julie fell ill after landing in Turkey. The sub-zero temperature, the stress of the air travel and ground situation all contributed to her distress. But warm canine clothes that her handler had carried, packed food and medicines helped her get to work in less than 24 hours.
Her handler Kundan Kumar narrated why Julie and her sibling Romeo became so sought-after in Turkey.
“We were searching collapsed buildings when we came across a six-storey building. We first created space for Julie to climb. She caught scent of a live victim and gave us a signal by digging and barking. We left Romeo go the same way. He also gave the same indication. We then informed our seniors,” he said.
The rescue team managed to pull out six-year-old Beren out of the rubble. “Her mother had covered her with her arms and torso, saving her from the impact. We reached Beren and she blinked when the team reached her,” DG NDRF Atul Karwal narrated.
BOLLYWOOD CONNECT
Language was a big barrier for the rescuers. But the unifier was Bollywood.
Rescuer Bintu Bhoria met a Turkish personnel who resembled Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and that became the ice-breaker. “He clicked a picture with me and told me in broken language that I should go back and claim that I had met Aamir Khan in Turkey,” Bhoria laughed, while narrating the incident.
Sub-inspector Seema Agarwal, who was leading the women’s contingent, broke the language barrier with Turkish rescuers over conversations about Indian music and dance. “A rescuer from Turkey came to our camp in the evening and started talking about Hindi films. She was a huge fan of Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan. She would sing Hindi songs and also asked me if I could teach her Bollywood dancing. These were moments where you could let the tension ebb away and connect with your hosts,” Agarwal said.
Each one of the rescuers had a personal story of bonhomie to share.
Deputy commandant Deepak can’t forget Ahmed who would get vegetarian food for him.
“Ahmed would look for me through the city. Wherever I was working that day, he would ensure that I get something to eat. Just an apple or a tomato or whatever he could get that day. He had lost his family of four and I was part of the team that pulled out their bodies,” he said.
VN Parashar, second-in-command, was posted in Gaziantep, Nurdah.
When he was returning to India, the Turkish police and army men had an unusual request. “They requested that I give them my name tag and badge on the uniform. They shared theirs as souvenirs.”
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