Seasoned Telugu expats in Israel recall tense Tuesday night attack by Iran

Experienced Telugu expatriates living in Israel recalled in horror the tense moments they spent on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) night when a barrage of missiles launched by Iran landed in Tel Aviv.

“Even though I spent over 10 years living in Israel and had seen such alerts from time to time, yesterday night’s experience was altogether a new one,” said Soma Ravi, president of the Israel Telangana Association (ITA). Incidentally, Mr. Ravi had assumed charge as the president of the association from his friend Bommakanti Mahesh Goud - both hailing from Nizamabad district of Telangana - only on Tuesday evening (October 1, 2024).

Majority of Telugu speaking people work as caregivers in Israel

A majority of the Telugu speaking people from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh work in Israel as caregivers to the elderly Israelis and had won their confidence by their sheer hard work and commitment. Close to 1500 expats from the Telugu speaking states live in Israel, of whom 700 work in Tel Aviv.

Mr. Ravi admitted that the wave of missile attacks on Tel Aviv was unheard of. “I represent the Telangana expats in Israel, and for the first time, I could sense something serious,” he said adding that the 500 strong Telugus from Telangana, who are members of a social messaging group, immediately got active and updated their well being.

Mr. Mahesh said that after the usual work yesterday, he was relaxing when all of a sudden sirens started blaring. He rushed to the underground bunker at his employers house the next moment.

“We were forced to run to the bunkers not once but thrice to save ourselves last night,” said Mr. Mahesh, former president of the ITA. “Today being a holiday, six of my friends - all Telugus- came to my place. As of now, the situation is normal but we do not know what is in store tonight,” he said.

Underground bunkers have 32mm concrete wall

Mr. Mahesh said the underground bunkers ensure that most of the Israelis are safe from attack. “Typically, the bunkers constructed underground have 32 mm concrete wall on all sides. It can not be penetrated even if a missile hits it directly. Israeli Government has made it mandatory that all the houses, particularly the new ones, have fool proof bunkers/underground shelters,” he added.

Chintala Ranjit, another caregiver and native of Chittapur in Armoor mandal of Nizamabad district, recalled how he too experienced tense situationyesterday. “We are used to running into the bunkers and coming out in five minutes time once the situation eases. But, yesterday was different. I had to dash to the underground shelter thrice to save myself,” he pointed out.

Mr. Ravi gave a piece of advice to new expats, who had come to work in construction sector. He called upon the newcomers, who are working across Israel on construction sites, to immediately get in touch with the ITA for help in case of emergency. “At least 500 new expats from AP and Telangana have come to Israel to work in construction industry,” he added.

Published - October 02, 2024 05:23 pm IST