Tales of `rebirth' rising through trauma

Tales of `rebirth' rising through trauma
DAVINDER KUMAR

NEW DELHI, JAN 3: The television set at the Sonis' residence at Pitampura lies fatigued in one corner. Having run for eight days non-stop it looks worn-out, but relaxed as the ordeal is over. Daman Soni feels no different.

But like his television, Daman has not fallen silent. He is all the more vocal. Having closed his lips for eight days on board the hijacked plane, now he wants to tell it all to each and every one who visits his house.The 42-year-old businessman, who was on board with his 14-year-old son Nitin, considers his delayed return as a second birth.Joy writ on his face he receives a guest at his house mimicking the hijackers for them.

``Our house is inundated with relatives, friends and well-wishers making a beeline to see my husband ever since we arrived home from the airport,'' says Indu Soni with a smile. It was celebration time at the residence of Sonis the moment Daman and Nitin reached home. With the release coinciding with the millennium eve everyone partied till 3 am. For Daman says,``I was so happy that I really forgot the trauma I had been through during last eight days.''

But, it is not all that easy. ``He has been talking so much about the hijackers ever since he has returned. It is a sort of depression he is in. He wants to open his heart out to everyone...the degree of agony he has suffered,'' says Indu.

On Saturday, the first day in a new life, Soni had a field day receiving hundreds of visitors. ``I did nothing but talk to people and eat sweets with them.''

``By evening I spoke to some television reporter and returned home to be back in company of relatives and friends,'' says Daman. His son, Nitin, whose kidney problem was aggravated due to the ordeal has been admitted to a local hospital.

Unlike normal circumstances, when one could barely afford to be normal when one's child is admitted to hospital, Daman laughs profusely. ``He is still to come out of it,'' says Indu. He recalls the killing of Rupin Katyal with tears in his eyes. ``I was sitting just next to him. Butdid not dare to look at him. I only heard...him being stabbed mercilessly,'' says Soni. He even tries to reproduce the same sound.

He keeps quiet for a while. But Daman says that he finds himself emotionally and mentally stronger than ever before. ``A narrow escape from the jaws of death has given me tremendous strength,'' he says.

On the other hand Anil Jaggia, the flight engineer of the hijacked Airbus, is beaming with confidence. ``This was my first such experience since I joined as flight engineer in the Indian Airlines in 1965. I built a very strong rapport with the passengers in the longest one-time association with them. I feel so much confident now,'' he says.

Being a flight engineer, Jaggia was the person responsible for all the technical functioning of the aircraft be it refuelling operations or maintaining the air-conditioners.

``Being in charge of all this, I was the one who had to move quite frequently inside the aircraft. In fact during refuelling I had to go down with a hijackerholding a revolver at my back,'' he recalls.

Jaggia feels great to be back among his wife and two daughters and not to forget his fascinating garden full of flowers at his residence in Vasant Vihar. He started his first day after a `rebirth' with a visit to his office. ``I was greeted by my colleagues and other staff who, like me, also felt relieved that we all were back home...safe.'' Later, all the crew members met the Prime Minister and shared their experience with him. ``With whatever time we were left with in the day, we shared it with our relatives and family friends,'' he added.

Sitting in his drawing room sofa and amid his family and flowers, Jaggia does not want to recall the nightmarish experience. ``There is no use to live through that trauma. One should forget it as bad dreams,'' he says.