NIGHTMARE AT DAWN – AUGUST 2, 1990

Thirty years ago, to date, I woke up on a Thursday morning and discovered to my shock that Kuwait, my host country has been taken over by the Iraqi army, at the behest of Saddam Hussain, their tyrannical leader. It was a weekend, I was planning a day of shopping and planning for my annual travel home in summer. My wife and kids were already in Kolkata and I was to join them the week after.

My first reaction was panic at the possibility my family getting worried sick of my whereabouts. I picked up the phone and dialled; - there was a consistent busy signal. All international communication was suspended. However, I could make a few local calls and reached out to a few friends. I rushed to the supermarket to stock up on food and other provisions to last me a few weeks. I knew my flight next week was as good as cancelled. I checked my wallet and realized I did not have enough money.

The neighbourhood supermarket was chock-a-block with shoppers with an unabashed combative looks on their faces. They were pushing and jostling and snatching chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables grocery from the shelves and piling up their trollies. I even saw two elderly ladies pulling the sole chicken on the rack from two ends. I did not stay back to find out who won. Anyway, all I could pick up was some khubooz (Arabic bread) and a crate of eggs.

It was a very stressful day. TVs went off and our only access to the developments was through BBC. My small transistor radio, which I had rarely used earlier, came handy and kept me updated. I still have that radio displayed on my desk as a token of my gratitude to the small device.

To cut a very long story short, after a lot of topsy-turvy events, turmoil, agony and frustration, I managed to reach home in the middle of September, absolutely penniless. I borrowed an one rupee coin from a stranger to call my wife, who hired a taxi at midnight and came to the airport to rescue me.

May be someday, when I feel like it, I shall summarise my experience for posterity, - my grandchildren.