Ajit and Anubha Haridkar, two of the survivors of the Uttarakhand floods who returned to Mumbai on Saturday night

For most of the night, Anubha Haridkar held her husband Ajit’s hand, as their bus crawled slowly downhill, sometimes only inches away from disaster, to the safety of Haridwar. There were times, when she though they would all perish. But fortune favoured the brave and after a 12- hour journey in stormy weather, the 58- year- old and her husband, 62, found themselves in the temple town, safe in the knowledge that the worst was over. As they finally returned to Mumbai last night from Delhi, the Dahisar- based couple, who had gone on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath along with 38 others as part of a package tour, recounted the events of the past week, when they feared for their lives and saw people dying.

Speaking to SUNDAY MiD DAY, Anubha said their group had spent two nights in Gaurikund before going to Kedarnath, during which the weather turned bad. “ The rains wouldn’t stop,” she recalled.