MUMBAI: Actress Rachanaa Parulkar, who is known for TV shows like Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap, Ek Mutthi Aasmaan and Saat Phere - Saloni Ka Safar, had a harrowing experience when cyclone Fani hit Odisha recently.
In a telephonic interview with Bombay Times, the actress narrated her ordeal, “I had planned a trip with my family to Sikkim and Bhutan. We reached Guwahati on 4th May, when we were informed that Eastern India had been hit by cyclone Fani. The airports had shut and so we decided to hire a car and travel to Cherrapunji from Guwahati. We thought Fani had only affected Assam and Odisha and we would soon be away from the affected areas. But, our entire road journey became a nightmare. We witnessed four landslides on the way. Every half hour, we had to wait for the roads to clear. It took us almost five hours to get to a safer place. At one point, where there was a landslide, the driver alerted us that we should run and look for a shelter instead of going ahead. It was raining heavily; there was thunder-lightening and fear of rocks rolling down. Trees were falling all around us... It was all so scary! At one point we felt we wouldn’t be able to get away from there. We decided to leave our belongings in the car and walk ahead and try to save ourselves from the heavy rains.”
She continued, “Finally, we reached a place which did not have electricity, food or water. There was no network either. We were stationed there for a day, waiting for things to get better. Fortunately, the rains subsided 24 hours later and we decided to move ahead. We managed to reach Bagdogra somehow. Our driver came later with the car and belongings. Of course, everything was destroyed because of the rains.”
The actress further said to the publication, “It was a near-fatal encounter and I am just thankful that my entire family is safe. I pray for all those who could not escape this calamity. The horrifying scenes and extreme cold still sends shivers down my spine.”
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