It may be home sweet home soon but on very pricey tickets for South Americans like trade liaison Fabiana Dimase, stranded in India for 50 days
Fabiana Dimase
When Fabiana Dimase, director of an import-export company and consultancy firm called Asiana Consulting, and former executive director of the Chamber of Commerce Argentina-India, planned her visit to India in March this year, she thought it would be one more trip to India to stitch up business liaisons between both countries.
"Mumbai, Delhi, Goa are familiar ground. I have been coming to India for the past so many years," said the native of Rosario, a town near Buenos Aires.
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Practically desi
Fabiana left her country on March 3, flying to Doha and then eventually to India. She said, "Though Wuhan was on the horizon then, there were no COVID-19 patients in Argentina yet and its deep ramifications and spread were not yet evident. I landed in Mumbai on March 11."
Emptying out
A few business meetings followed but she saw Mumbai emptying out as it were and, "the staff at my Colaba hotel, when they saw me, would scurry to put on their masks. I decided I needed to leave Mumbai for a less crowded place and flew to Goa.
Agonda adventure
The entrepreneur, who went to Agonda, thought she would be in Goa for a week and return to Argentina. "I saw the situation as an adventure and challenge. The first lockdown was announced suddenly, and I was stranded," she said, adding, "In fact, I changed three places in Agonda itself, as each hotel claimed it was closing."
Colva move
Fabiana, who then moved to a bungalow in Colva, on rent, on April 20, says she aches to be with her mother, 79, and meet her siblings.
"It is disappointing to see comments like, 'let those who have left Argentina stay outside. We do not want them coming back and bringing COVID-19 into the country,' on social media," she said. The businesswoman who spends her days working with a non- profit in Colva, said, "There is one evacuation flight, I heard, leaving from New Delhi. I have asked for the ticket price on that one, but have not heard yet from the Argentinian Embassy."
Evacuation begins
The Consul General of Argentina in Mumbai Guillermo E Devoto said, "There are around 280 Argentinians in India. There is a flight scheduled for May 18, 19 or 20 from New Delhi to Buenos Aires, the date has yet to be confirmed. This flight will have 140 seats. This is a charter flight, subsidised by half by the Argentinian govt. It is a flight which will also go to Thailand, picking up passengers. We have not divulged the fare to all, but I think, and this needs to be confirmed, the passenger has to pay around $2,000. There will be health check-ups at the port of embarkation, of course. There will also be another rescue flight after this one, details are being worked out."
$2k - What each will pay for a chartered flight seat
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