Bengaluru: Stranded in Germany, violinist returns to city with MEA help
TNN | Updated: Dec 25, 2018, 09:12 IST
Jyotsna’s passport, other travel documents and cash worth 4,000 Euros were stolen at a Christmas market in Düs... Read MoreBENGALURU: City-based violinist and composer Jyotsna Srikanth, who was in Germany on a concert tour recently, was stranded after she lost all her money and travel documents in a pickpocketing incident. She then reached out to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) through social media, whose intervention helped her return to Bengaluru on Saturday.
Jyotsna’s passport, other travel documents and cash worth 4,000 Euros were stolen at a Christmas market in Düsseldorf, Germany, on December 15.
“I lost all my money, travel documents and identification cards and felt completely helpless in the foreign country. I had expected to be stranded for at least a few weeks after Christmas. Locals told me that there was no way I could go home before Christmas or get my passport back,” said Jyotsna, who had lined up concerts back in India.
Amid the gloom, a few friends, however, encouraged her to tweet to MEA and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
On December 17, Jyotsna said in a tweet: “@MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj mam I am a musician touring Germany, have British passport and OCI, I live in Bangalore, lost my wallet which had passport & OCI, my travel is booked on this Friday to India for an emergency, I will get British ETD today, pls help with visa to India (sic).”
Jyotsna’s friends retweeted the post to grab MEA’s attention. “Within 20 minutes of tweeting, I was contacted by the Indian Embassy in Berlin and officials from Swaraj’s office in India,” Jyotsna said.
“The embassy officers from Berlin and Frankfurt coordinated with MEA and arranged for my travel documents after I submitted police reports,” said a relieved Jyotsna.
Jyotsna’s passport, other travel documents and cash worth 4,000 Euros were stolen at a Christmas market in Düsseldorf, Germany, on December 15.
“I lost all my money, travel documents and identification cards and felt completely helpless in the foreign country. I had expected to be stranded for at least a few weeks after Christmas. Locals told me that there was no way I could go home before Christmas or get my passport back,” said Jyotsna, who had lined up concerts back in India.
Amid the gloom, a few friends, however, encouraged her to tweet to MEA and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
On December 17, Jyotsna said in a tweet: “@MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj mam I am a musician touring Germany, have British passport and OCI, I live in Bangalore, lost my wallet which had passport & OCI, my travel is booked on this Friday to India for an emergency, I will get British ETD today, pls help with visa to India (sic).”
Jyotsna’s friends retweeted the post to grab MEA’s attention. “Within 20 minutes of tweeting, I was contacted by the Indian Embassy in Berlin and officials from Swaraj’s office in India,” Jyotsna said.
“The embassy officers from Berlin and Frankfurt coordinated with MEA and arranged for my travel documents after I submitted police reports,” said a relieved Jyotsna.
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