'Woke up with bomb sounds around me...': Nushrratt Bharuccha on Israel experience
PTC News Desk: Actor Nushrratt Bharuccha expressed gratitude to the authorities for reuniting her with her family after being stranded in Israel during the horrific Hamas attack.
On Tuesday, the actress resorted to social media to make her first public remark since returning from a conflict zone.
Nushratt took to Instagram to share a video in which she said, "I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to everyone for their messages, for their prayers and wishes. I am back, I am home, I am safe, I am fine but just 2 days back I woke up in a hotel room with bomb sounds around me and sirens blaring and we were taken down to a basement and shelter areas. I've never been in such a situation. But today, when I woke up in my house with no sounds and feeling safe and fine, I am getting relief that it is a big thing, how fortunate we are that we are in this country, that we are protected, we are safe."
Nushratt also expressed gratitude to the Indian government, the Indian embassy, and the Israeli embassy.
She stated, "So I want to take this moment and say thank you to the Government of India, say thank you to the Indian embassy, say thank you to the Israel embassy for guiding us, for advising us and making it possible for me to come back home to my country safe and sound. I also want to take a moment and extend my prayers and wishes to the people still stuck in the war and I really hope for peace very soon."
Aside from the video, the actor also wrote a lengthy post about her experience of being "stuck in a country that is openly at war."
"The last week will forever remain etched in my memory...a rollercoaster ride of emotions, the final 36 hours of which will remain the most unforgettable and daunting of my life. My producer, stylist and I had been flown to Haifa in Israel, on October 3, to attend the reputed Haifa International Film Festival for the screening of our recent film, Akelli, alongside my Israeli co-actors, Tsahi Halevi and Amir Boutrous. After two days of visiting all of Israel's historic places, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Baha'i, the Dead Sea, we'd almost ended our trip with a celebratory dinner for the film's cast on Friday night, Oct 6. That evening, Tsahi, Amir and I had toasted our film's selection at the Haifa Film Fest, promised to visit each other, and possibly work together again. We'd said our goodbyes and were ready to fly back the next day," she stated.
"But Saturday morning was nothing like the previous evening's celebration. We were woken up to the deafening sounds of bombs going off, a blaring siren, and complete and utter panic as we were all rushed down into a 'shelter' in the basement of our hotel. It was only when we emerged from there, after what seemed like an endless wait, that we learnt that Israel was under attack. Nothing could have prepared us for this news."
She stated that her first thought in the scenario was to contact the Indian embassy.
"In a state of complete terror, our first impulse was to somehow reach the Indian Embassy, situated barely 2 km from our hotel, but a distance that seemed impossible to cover without any mode of transport whatsoever and only the dreadful sounds of explosions at very close range. We were then informed that Hamas militants had infiltrated several cities in Israel and were also out on the roads, pulling civilians out of their homes and shooting people at random. Furthermore, there was open fire on vehicles on the roads and the situation out on the streets was 'extremely dangerous'. Just 3 then, we heard a second siren go off and were rushed back down into the basement shelter."
"Soon realisation set in that we may actually not be able to make it to our scheduled flight back to India that night, and would most likely be stuck in a country that was now openly at war. This is when we began making desperate calls to everyone for help out of this unprecedented situation. When we connected with Tsahi, who too had customarily served in the Israeli military, it became clear that Israel was, in fact, in a state of emergency and engaged in a full-blown war, "she stated.
- ANI
