Mallinath K and Sangamesh
Mallinath and his son-in-law, Sangamesh, 30, arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on Aug 21 for their pilgrimage to Mansarovar. On Aug 26, everything was in place and they set out by bus with 26 others, most of them from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. I kept thinking, if we had left just 10-15 minutes earlier, it could have been our fate too.
Mallinath K of Kalaburagi believes the delay in receiving their documents proved to be “God’s gift”, as an earlier departure from Kathmandu could have put him and his son-in-law at the immigration centre in Tibet that was washed away in the flood. In the meantime, he made many calls and once he ensured that we had clearance on the way back, we came back to Kathmandu,” he said. I could not sleep the whole night as I kept recalling the terrifying scene,” he said.
they did some sightseeing in Nepal While waiting for their visas to continue the journey. Had their bus travelled a little farther, the group could have been caught in the deluge. Mallinath credited the driver for his presence of mind. “Our driver immediately reversed the bus, and we stopped at a place which was at a slightly higher altitude. We had to stay there for an hour. But the experience left Mallinath shaken. “There were two buses in front of us which disappeared as we were watching. Shivakumar assured him of help in facilitating their return.
On Thursday morning, Mallinath spoke to chief minister DK Shivakumar over a video call.
