From too much salt in fried rice to reciting Kalima: Tourists share how 'miracles' saved their lives from terrorists in Pahalgam

Time of India

24-04-2025

'We ran before death could reach us': Jaipur couple recounts nightmare in the hills
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'Too much salt saved us': Kerala family credits delayed lunch
Cancelled gondola ride saved Nagpur family
Assam professor survives by reciting Kalima
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Several tourists who were near the site of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam have shared how small twists of fate, from salty food to a cancelled ride, saved their lives. Many are still in shock, saying they were minutes away from the horror.Komal Soni and her husband Mihir were just two months into their marriage when they visited Pahalgam for what they called their 'mini Switzerland'. But the honeymoon mood quickly turned into a nightmare.'We were laughing over a bowl of Maggi and clicking selfies when we heard a sudden crack. One shot, then another,' Komal told TOI, her voice trembling.'We saw someone fall. Then another. Everything stopped,' she said, clutching Mihir's hand tightly while waiting at Delhi airport after fleeing Kashmir.The couple escaped on horseback, praying under their breath, as locals urged calm. 'The photo of Lt Vinay Narwal's wife went viral. For the world, it was news. For us, it was real,' she said.By next morning, they were on the first flight back to Jaipur. 'We feel lucky, blessed and sad at the same time,' Mihir added.For a Kerala family of 11, a salty plate of fried rice may have been what saved their lives.Alby George and his wife Lavanya had planned a visit to Baisaran meadow that afternoon. But a roadside restaurant's overly salty food led them to reorder, causing a one-hour delay.'We were just two kilometres from Baisaran when we saw horses galloping back and people shouting,' Lavanya told TOI over the phone.Though their driver insisted they continue, the family sensed danger and returned to their resort. Later, they found out about the terror attack. 'It's as if God himself caused that delay,' Lavanya said.Swati Kolkar, a nursing officer from Nagpur, says a last-minute change in plans saved her family of six.Their trip to Baisaran on Tuesday was pushed to Monday after a chance cancellation of their Gulmarg Gondola ride.'That cancelled ride saved us from bullets,' she told TOI from Srinagar airport, where she saw hundreds of tourists rushing to leave.They ended up visiting Sinthan Top instead. 'When security started asking for IDs, we knew something was wrong,' she said. Only later did they hear about the terror attack.Debasish Bhattacharya, an associate professor from Assam University, Silchar, managed to survive by reciting the Islamic kalima when a terrorist held a gun to his head.'One gunman shot a man next to me and then asked us to recite the kalima,' Bhattacharya told TOI. 'I started chanting it loudly out of fear. That may have saved my life.'His wife Madhumita Das Bhattacharya, a well-known danseuse, and their son, a doctor, also survived by hiding in bushes before fleeing the area with the help of locals.His sister Indrani said Bhattacharya had studied Islamic texts since his student days. 'Perhaps that helped him survive,' she told TOI.Madhumita reportedly removed her shakha-pola and wiped off her sindur during the chaos, fearing it might reveal her religion.Inputs from TOI