Two families stuck in UAE explore different ways to travel home

Pune: Trapped in the UAE amid the ongoing conflict and desperate to return to their homeland, one Indian family is being forced to travel back separately, while another is waiting out the uncertainty as they insist on sticking together for their journey home.Hundreds of Indians remain stranded in West Asian countries at the moment, especially given the exorbitant ticket rates being charged on special repatriation flights that have finally begun.
NIBM Road resident Vinod Solanki's family is one such group stuck in Dubai since their vacation began on Feb 22, and soon turned into a nightmare. Now, the businessman's patience has finally given out, and he has managed to book seats on chartered flights for all five of them. The only catch is that they have had to travel in separate batches. "On Thursday morning, I managed to send my mother, a senior citizen, and my son from Fujairah to Delhi. It was on a chartered aircraft and I could only find two seats for them, for which I paid Rs90,000 each. They have landed in Delhi, but there is a long layover and they will catch a flight to Pune only late on Thursday evening. Meanwhile, my wife, daughter and I have found seats on another chartered aircraft that will take off around 1.30am on Friday. For these three seats, I spent Rs75,000 each. We will reach Mumbai, not Delhi, and go by road to Pune. We all hope to be together again only by the latter half of Friday," Solanki told TOI. The family was to return to Pune on Feb 28, but escalating geopolitical tensions stranded them in foreign climes. "We tried everything before we reached this decision. In all, I have spent over Rs4 lakh just for all of us to return home. But the stress has been overwhelming and we all just wanted to come back, even if it meant travelling separately. The trip started well, but its ending was absolutely unexpected," Solanki added. While the Solankis are on their way, another family of six from Kothrud, the Gawades, are still holed up in a hotel in Abu Dhabi. Working professional Ashish Uttam Gawade told TOI that his elderly father is unwell, so they are not comfortable with the idea of travelling to Fujairah and catching separate flights back, like many others are doing. "We had confirmed Air India Express flight tickets to Pune, and were to fly on Thursday. However, the flight was cancelled and the airline has now said it is expected to reschedule for March 7. I visited the Indian embassy and tried to talk to officials there for help, but nothing has worked out for us till now," he said. Gawade said he was also told about the special repatriation flights and cautioned that the fares are quite high at the moment. "I am looking at all possible options. If the Saturday flight is also cancelled, I might have to consider the special flights, based on my budget. We have been here since Feb 28 and would have returned home by now if all had been well," he said.