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THE MUSH REGISTER

S. P. Jayanthan

The Iraqi war spoiled our `honeymoon'. I was working for a multinational company and we were newly-weds when Iraq invaded Kuwait. For two months, we could not budge from our houses. As all communication lines had been snapped, we were totally cut off. The shutdown was eating into our minds like canker. We were shocked, scared and despondent. To feed ourselves we had to sell at throwaway prices all the things we possessed. As we had just set up home, the covers had not been removed from many household appliances. My heart would skip a beat when an armed Iraqi would knock on the door and ask if he could pick up something. We often comforted each other, trying hard to hide from each other the fear that was lurking in our eyes.

Sabri

We were allowed to leave Kuwait before the atrocities began. We travelled on a bus to Baghdad and from there another bus took us to a no man's land that lay between Iraq and Jordan. We were living in tents provided by a United Nations relief organisation, and had to queue up on a stony stretch for our daily bread. We spent the days listening to the radio, trying to figure out what was happening. The ordeal ended when the Indian Embassy in Jordan took over. However, it took us months to get over the harrowing experience. When we finally left those days behind us, the silver lining emerged. We could smile at the good things that happened to us such as a few gun-toting soldiers treating us with immense respect when they learnt we were from "Amitabh Bachchan's land". The trying times strengthened our marriage.

(AS TOLD TO PRINCE FREDERICK)

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