She went to Kathmandu to launch her special calendar, but ended up facing the horror of a 7.9-magnitude earthquake, that devastated Nepal on Saturday. Model Pooja Missra is heaving a sigh of relief and is grateful to God that she's back safe, sound and alive.
The model, whose antics on reality show "Bigg Boss 5" made her a popular name, was heading to the holy Pashupatinath temple when the tremors shook the Himalayan nation.
“I was going to the Pashupatinath temple. I was sitting in the car when the earthquake took place. I was startled at first, but then I went out on the road and stood there,” Pooja told IANS.
Like the thousands of victims who witnessed the dust, debris and dead bodies left behind by the massive quake and its multiple aftershocks, Pooja was taken aback by the trail of destruction left behind by the temblor.
She says there was no electricity, mobile network or food. But she managed her hands on some salad, fruits and tea in a hotel where she took shelter.
At the hotel Pooja also managed to get access to wifi facility, thanks to which she could inform her family about her well-being. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the wifi also went dead.
On her way to the Tribhuvan International Airport, Pooja says she saw how old Kathmandu was reduced to rubble, and in new Kathmandu area, she spotted the damage the quake had inflicted on the buildings.
The sight at the airport was something she wasn't prepared to see.
“There were tourists from all over the world...it was like mayhem. It looked like a refugee camp as people sat outside and demanded to be sent back,” said the model-actress, who lost her mobile phone, cheque book, passport, credit and debit cards.
Pooja says she came back to Delhi on an "evacuation flight", and she is grateful to God she is alive. Pooja has especially thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his effort to create relief via Operation Maitri.
"My heart goes out to the people in Nepal...I am grateful that I am alive. Thank you to Narendra Modi for his tremendous effort to create relief in Nepal by sending Indian Air Force evacuation flights and food supplies."
The Indian Air Force has fetched 1,935 Indian back from Kathmandu to New Delhi since late Saturday.
