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Mar 8 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
On #InternationalWomensDay
This story reported by BBC Gujarati stands out.
Do read this thread 👇

Tejal Patel, a Gujarati woman, mother of two refuses to return to India when Indians stranded in #Ukraine️ are being evacuated. She won’t return to India till she repays debt
Tejal Patel walked two days from Kharkiv to Poland from war torn Ukraine with thousands other refugees.

She is from Gujarat who went to Ukraine paying Rs 7.5 lakhs to agents to earn money to support her family after she and her husband lost jobs during Covid19 pandemic.
Tejal used to work in a private firm earning Rs 8000 in wages while her husband Pravin used to drive school van. Both lost jobs during pandemic (schools shut and private companies laid off workers).

The couple survived selling jewellery for two years till they became broke.
They didn’t have money left for school fees of children. No source of revenue forced them to look for opportunities to go out of India.

A friend of husband was an immigration agent. Husband was unable to find any suitable work opportunity so agent suggested wife Tejal can find
a job of cooking for Indian students in Ukraine.

Leftover jewellery and borrowings raised Rs 7.5 lakhs to be repaid in instalments from wages of Tejal.

Tejal started working in a hotel in Kharkiv, Ukraine cooking for 27 Indian students’ tiffins. Hotel provided lodging/boarding
Tejal would cook 75 parathas, daal, rice, curry daily and send Rs 30,000 every month to India to repay debt.

She carried in for 5 months like this leaving Tejal with a debt of remaining Rs 5.5 lakhs.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine. Tejal had to leave Kharkiv along with Indian
students fleeing to Ukraine’s border with Poland. The bus stopped 28 kms away from border due to traffic jam. The group started walking surviving on two slices of bread and water for 24 hours.

It took them another 48 hours to get through. Tejal lost her mobile phone in this.
One student who used to visit her hotel for food, gave her phone while students left for India.

Tejal stayed in Poland, determined to repay her debt come what may. She says, how do I repay lakhs of rupees with mere Rs 8000 salary?

Tejal is hopeful of getting a work permit in
Poland and will keep working till she earns enough to repay debt and support her family. She’s already found work in an Indian shop in a Polish mall.

Tejal has sold off her earrings to pay for rental accommodation. She’s hoping to fund her son’s school fees as he will be in
12th board next year. Daughter is in 7th standard. Tejal want to accumulate enough for her daughter’s future wedding too. Till then she won’t come back to India, even if govt provides free flight.

Link to BBC Gujarati story

bbc.com/gujarati/india…
Please note both Tejal Patel (B.Com) and husband Pravin are graduates and struggle to find jobs in model state Gujarat. It's not just students (MBBS) who migrate out of country, the economic migrants from middle and lower middle class are in big numbers too.
@Bhargavparikh14 your story

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More from @URScrewed_

Mar 6
The reality behind #OperationGanga

Indian students fleeing #Ukraine were waiting on Romania border for over 30 hours in heavy snowfall & freezing weather

Amidst tall claims, PR and unleashing troll army upon news tweets/handles, Indian embassy was in shambles

Watch it yourself
2nd part of video.

Poor Indian students spent 30 plus hours in heavy snowfall without food & water, no shelter and no help from Indian Govt/embassy.

They were asked to clean toilets when the embassy finally evacuated and Indians on Twitter demanded why can’t they clean toilets
If you’re one of many who believe it’s Modi government bearing the cost of evacuation of these students then be enlightened UPA government had set up ICWF (Indian Community Welfare Fund) under MEA in 2009 with the sole purpose of helping distressed Indians overseas to bring home
Read 7 tweets
Mar 3
There are only 45 medical colleges in Ukraine. But their degrees are accepted in more than 180 countries.

How many Indian colleges/universities’ degrees are accepted in 180 countries?

Running pakoda/chai/puncture making thela/kiosks may be considered employment as peddled by
Political leaders to hide their own lack of vision/planning and infrastructure but even those aren’t enough to sustain survival of one person, much less a family.

Education (basic and higher) is essential to progress entire society which Indian lawmakers either don’t realise
Or they deliberately ignore for reasons best known to them.

Those who stepped out of country in search of better prospects know it very well how much value their Indian educational knowledge holds. They invariably have to top it up with further educational qualifications or
Read 8 tweets
Mar 1
Times Now’s Rahul Shitshankar is problematic on so many levels that I fail to understand why either his channel bosses or GOI at large allow him to transgress so disastrously on India’s foreign diplomacy matter even when foreign experts humiliate him on live tv repeatedly…
On one hand he’s being poured out that Indian govt refused to US about mentioning China in statement, on the other Indian govt categorically denied officially any Chinese incursions.
If the govt’s line is that it’s India’s internal matter (like many other issues),
Then why does the self styled nationalist idiot embarrasses India in front of former US ambassador and other experts who know facts better than him and torpedo his fake accusations immediately?

Is he the proxy being used by his political string pullers to debate this sensitive
Read 4 tweets
Feb 26
Just saw videos and reports of Indians fleeing Ukraine being stopped at Poland’s border because India didn’t support Ukraine in UN
See these Gujarati students narrating clearly their experience of trying to cross border into Poland.

They’re instructed to remain where they are because India didn’t support Ukraine.
Another Gujarati named Pratik Patel (from Gujarat) says he and a group of Indians (with a pregnant woman) are stuck 30 kms away from border walking.

He says Indian Embassy numbers aren’t working, GOI asks them to reach various spots but they can’t and no help from GOI on ground
Read 8 tweets
Feb 25
Modi Govt is unable to extract 20,000 Indians stranded in #Ukraine amidst claims that Modi is a world leader.

In comparison, 250,000 Indians were extracted safely during Gulf war in 1990.

Then external affairs minister IK Gujral & bureaucrat IP Khosla went to Baghdad personally
They met Saddam Hussain and sought permission to fly Indians stuck in war zone out.

Right now Modi Govt can’t send 50 flights but in 1990, more than 500 flights flew between Amman and India. No one had to pay double/triple ticket fare on top.

The Govt at the time didn’t shut
Embassy down like in Ukraine today. They remained open and helped these many people arranging more than 80 buses daily to ferry them to Basra, Baghdad, Amman covering 2000 kms to reach airport.

With the help of MEA and Air India employees, 250,000 Indians were rescued.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 8
Modi in parliament: “Agar Congress na hoti to kya hota”
This happened in Congress’ rule👇

When Modi was not even born, India had already won a war with Pakistan

When Modi had not even learnt to speak, India had already written one of the finest Constitutions of the world
When Modi was playing “Gulli-danda”, India had already built Bhakhra Nangal & Rihand Dams

When Modi was learning ka, kha, ga, India already had Bhabha Nuclear Research Centre

When Modi was learning to light laalten, Tarapore Nuclear Power Plant had become functional in India
When Modi did not even know how to put on a shirt, dozens of IITS, IIMs, & hundreds of Universities had started producing thousands of top class professionals & graduates

When Modi had not even learnt how to wipe his nose, numerous NavRatna companies were established in India
Read 10 tweets

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