Take me to my mom: Pilot, 24, recalls evacuation of students from Ukraine

A 24-year-old pilot from the New Town locality of West Bengal's Kolkata has been part of the rescue operations to evacuate Indian students from war-ravaged Ukraine's Polish and Hungarian borders. A proud member of Operation Ganga, Mahasweta Chakraborty has flown six evacuation flights with over 800 Indian students.

"It was the experience of a lifetime, rescuing those students in their late teens and early twenties, many of whom had fallen sick and had traumatizing tales of survival," says Chakraborty, who has been flying with a private Indian carrier for the past four years. 

Also Read: 'We were ready to leave, but University in Ukraine did not let us...'

"I salute their fighting spirit and am extremely proud of having played my part in their journey back home."

India operated 77 evacuation flights of which most flights were operated by Air India. Other airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet, too, lent their services, along with the Indian Air Force.

"I got a call late at night from my airline and was told that I was chosen for the rescue (operation)," Chakraborty says, adding, "I packed in two hours and left. I flew to Istanbul, two and a half hours from Poland, from where we were instructed to operate the rescue."

Mahasweta joined Operation Ganga on February 26. Since then, she has undertaken a total of six sorties -- four times to Poland and twice from Hungary -- between February 27 and March 7.

The Indira Gandhi national flying academy graduate said that her own physical exhaustion, after flying an Airbus A-320 for 13-14 hours a day, hardly registered as the students re-lived their horror. "Most of them looked drained. We offered them food and beverage, but they did not even want to drink water."

Recalling an incident, Mahasweta said, "Once on a flight, a 21-year-old student was losing consciousness. She was in a state of severe mental depression. Even then we did not take off. Luckily there were several junior doctors on that plane. They healed the student and then we took off. This incident really shook me. I still cannot forget that student grabbed my hand before she lost consciousness, and muttered to me to take her to her mother." 

Besides Operation Ganga, Mahasweta was also part of the Vande Bharat mission during the Covid-19 pandemic. She recalls how she was tasked with ensuring that the vaccines reached different cities and towns. Mahasweta is glad she was able to do her bit for the cause of humanity.

Also Read: 'Fastest evacuation...' Indian students thank Govt for Ukraine border help