Celebrations at home on Bengali techie's release

The parents of Pushpendu Ghosh, one of the two Indian hostages rescued from the Sydney cafe, spent a sleepless night on Monday. The couple from Balla in Howrah did not have a moment’s respite till they spoke to their only son.

Relief came as the elderly couple spoke to their son first thing on Tuesday morning after he called from Australia to say he was safe. Pushpendu is currently undergoing treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.

Talking to reporters, Pushpendu’s father, Pushpal, said how the news of the siege of a cafe at Sydney was not just another piece of international news for them.
Pushpal first got to know about his son’s situation after Pushpendu’s employers called them up to apprise them of the situation. Though they assured that things are being taken care off, the couple remained glued to the television, following every bit of information.

While food was the last thing on their mind, anxious friends and neighbours also gathered at Pushpal’s residence, praying for Pushpendu’s safe return.

A sigh of relief waved through the house as news channels aired visuals of Pushpendu and other hostages running out of the cafe, after Australian security forces neutralised the gunman.

“It was such a relief after a wait of about 12 hours. Around 8:45 pm we saw our son running out of the cafe. Security guards soon took him to a safe place. That was enough for us. He was out of the reach of the gunman,” Pushpal told a Bengali news channel late on Monday night.

While two calls from Sydney soon after, one from Pushpendu’s company and the other from a friend, confirmed the good news, further respite came as Indian channels started airing news of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeting about the safe rescue of Pushpendu and the other Indian hostage, Vishnukant Ankireddy.

Though they were yet to hear their son’s voice, the celebrations had begun at home.
The relieved father told Deccan Herald that Pushpendu works in Sydney as project manager at Westpac. An engineer from Shivaji University, Maharashtra, Pushpendu has been living in Australia since 2009 and had an earlier stint at Melbourne in 2007.