Charanya Kannan, a Chennaite and currently a student at Harvard Business School, had the worst experience of her life when she visited Tanzania for a course on public private partnerships.
She was there for two weeks, with 39 other people, when she got mugged, lost her passport, phone, cash and credit cards in Dar Es Salam. Officials at the Indian Embassy told her nothing could be done, but after Sushma Swaraj herself offered to help, she managed to reach the US in time, as Indian Express reported.
Kannan wrote about her experience in a blog which was picked up by the media, and within two hours of, Sushma Swaraj offered help to her.
She enquired about the name of the officer at the Indian High Commission who refused to help her, even after telling them she would have to forego her degree if she didn’t reach US in time.
The Indian High Commission in Tanzania promptly replied, saying they would offer her assistance immediately.
Fortunately for Kannan, she knew people who could help her get her passport and visa within time to get back to US with the rest of her group.
Kanana wrote “I realised there was no point in being the good Samaritan who follows processes any more. I immediately wrote a message to my friends all across the world, Ashwin Bhaskaran (Third Secretary, Indian Embassy in Spain) and Banu Prakash (Deputy Director General, Indian Embassy in Taiwan) and I called Kapidhwaja Pratap Singh (Third Secretary, Indian Embassy in France). In two hours, I got a call from Mr.Robert Shetkintong, the Deputy High Commissioner of the Indian High Commission in Tanzania, and he chortled as he said, “Looks like you have friends in Paris.”
She also wrote that being a student at Harvard and knowing the right people helped her, but recognised her privilege saying she doesn’t know how events would have panned out had she been in the same situation two years ago.
Source: Indian Express
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