There is no mistaking the haunted look in his eyes. It’s just been eight days since Amarjeet Singh, a gnarled 37-year-old, returned home after his year-long quest for Spain, braving hunger, death and the unforgiving Sahara, but it seems like eternity. “I thank god with every breath,” he says, hugging his three-year-old daughter Bhavneet.

It was on March 26, 2006, that Amarjeet began the journey to his dreamland. “My cousin knew an agent, Rakesh Kumar, from Teontha village in Haryana, who promised us a passage to Spain for Rs 8 lakh,” he explains. Older of the two sons of Jarnail Singh, a marginal farmer of Khela village in Jalandhar, Amarjeet knew he had no future in farming. “I went to Dubai as a mechanic on a three-year contract, but it ended in 2001. I was at a loose end,” his voice trails off.

The smooth-talking Rakesh, who boasted a business in Spain and a Spanish wife, seemed like a godsend. “We gave him Rs 5 lakh after taking a loan against our land from Canara Bank, and took the rest from my uncles,” says Amarjeet, who was surprised when Rakesh called him to Delhi a week later. He and three other men took a flight to Mali, the largest country in West Africa.

“Rakesh told us that another agent, Rajesh, would receive us at Mali from where we would be taken to Spain via Morocco,” says Amarjeet. The flight was uneventful, but Mali was a cultural shock. It was the first time that Amarjeet had seen Africans. “Rajesh took away all our money and passports and warned us that the people could get violent.”

... contd.