A Delhi-based report that flashed the news of `six' people from Pune having detached themselves from the ill-fated batch 12 of pilgrims headed towards Kailash Manasoravar, was the sole ray of hope that the Shahs and Mehtas desperately clung onto on Thursday. Then a phone call from the base camp at 7 p.m. declaring the three couples ``safe and sound'' transformed their tears of grief into tears of joy.

``We are so relieved,'' whispers Bipin Shah, cousin of Jayesh Shah. Jayesh along with wife Toral and their four friends Hemant and Sheetal Mehta and Bharati and Rajendra Shah had gone on the Manasarovar pilgrimage. Barely holding back tears,Sharad Shah, maternal uncle of Jayesh, couldn't stop muttering: ``It's a miracle.''

``God came in the form of Tiwari (manager of the base camp) who cautioned them not to proceed as the weather was very bad,'' Bipin cried while Jayesh's mother Sulochana still had a dazed expression. The relatives and friends gathered at Jayesh's house at Shastri Cooperative Housing Society were ecstatic. The joyful mood prevailed at Chetana Apartments where Toral's brother Manish heaved an immense sigh of relief. ``These last two days have been so tense,'' he cried as the family patiently waited near the phone for a word with their relatives.

Hetal Shah, a friend of Hemant Mehta, received a faxed copy of The Indian Express (Delhi) report which stated that six persons had detached themselves from batch number 12. Following the crucial tip and wondering which six persons had detached themselves, Bipin Shah and his relatives called up Express office, after which they tracked down the reporter in Lucknow who hadfiled the news item.

The reporter disclosed the name of the source who provided the information at the base camp at Dharchula. And it was between 6.30 and 7 p.m. that Bipin spoke to Tiwari, who clearly told them that the group from Pune had detached themselves from batch number 12 after the officials warned them of the inclement weather. They are safe and sound, were the golden words that lifted their spirits.

The relatives wept with tears of joy even as Jayesh's children Avni and Adhish stood sombrely trying to grasp what had happened. ``God is great,'' was the chant that livened up the households which had their relatives and friends hugging each other and weeping with sheer joy at their ``miraculous escape'' from the jaws of death.