50-year-old Mumbai man returns from Sudan, gets a dhol-tasha welcome

MUMBAI: A 50-year-old textile exporter from Worli, Mohit Agarwal, likely became the first Mumbaikar to return home from war-torn Sudan on Wednesday night. His family, neighbours and friends accorded him a raucous welcome with two dhol-tasha players in their apartment complex, Omkar 1973.
On Monday, Agarwal had borrowed an Al Jazeera media vehicle from his hotel in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to a pick-up point arranged by the Indian embassy in Port Sudan. From there he travelled with them by ship to Jeddah, and then broke ranks with the Indian contingent. He independently took a flight to Dubai, and from there another one to Mumbai where he landed on Wednesday.
Agarwal's wife, Meenakshi, who received him at the airport, said: "Mohit is extremely relieved to be home. He is exhausted after three sleepless nights and three days of travel."
She did not allow media persons access to him.
The first special flight carrying Indian evacuees from Sudan under the government's 'Operation Kaveri' was preparing to land in Mumbai after Wednesday midnight. Another flight is scheduled to arrive later on Thursday morning.
The first flight is to carry 38 residents of Gujarat among the passengers. "On their arrival at Mumbai airport, the Gujarat government will provide transportation arrangements to bring these 38 Gujarat citizens back home," said Gujarat's minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi, who also handles the Non-Resident Gujarati (NRG) division of the state government, to PTI.
In a parallel move, the Bihar Foundation is setting up a help-desk at the airport for the assistance of people of Bihar evacuated from Sudan under 'Operation Kaveri'. The foundation will provide free air travel for them to their home state. Senior representative Kavita Kumari was at her office in BKC until late Wednesday night, monitoring arrangements and planning to receive repatriated Biharis. "Even if I do go home I will be accessible on the phone at all times," she told TOI.