Onkar Singh

Dr Anita Joshi of Nainital is yet to forget the ordeal she underwent last year. She was one of the passengers on the ill-fated Indian Airlines plane, IC 814.

"If someone says he or she was not affected by the drama, that person is not telling you the truth," she says candidly. "I, at least, have not forgotten the ordeal. How can one forget the eight days when one sat in the plane, waiting for death that could come at any time?"

Dr Joshi, a clinical pathologist with a degree in Ayurveda, believes God stood by her during this crisis. "If one has an accident, then it is something else -- that is something you can cope with. What do you do when you know that the hijackers are all around you; that they are armed with guns and ammunition; that death could come at any time? But then, there is the famous idiom, Jaakho raakhe Saaiyan, maar sake na koye (If God is there to protect you, then nobody can harm you)."

Her belief was strengthened by the fact that she was allowed to assist an injured co-passenger, Satnam Singh of Punjab (who, say close relatives, has since migrated to Germany). She help save his life by giving him the right medicine at the right time.

"I gave Satnam Singh first aid and medicines. That's how we kept him alive till we reached Dubai, where he was off loaded with 26 other passengers. But Rupin Katyal was badly injured and he could not swallow the tablets. I feel sorry we could not save him," Dr Joshi had told rediff.com soon after her arrival in Delhi from Kandahar last year.

She does not see anything unusual in her actions. "I helped the passengers who were in need of assistance. I would go miles to help those who seek my advice and help. I was merely doing my duty towards the injured passengers and towards the passengers who had fallen ill. There were times when I too felt exhausted. But that is part of the deal as a doctor," she explains.

She conceded that, after their release, some passengers did show signs of the Stockholm Syndrome. She believes that happened because they were brainwashed by the hijackers. "That could be the reason they echoed the thinking of the hijackers by saying the Government of India should first solve the problem of Jammu and Kashmir."

It has not been easy for her, or for the other passengers, to come to terms with the trauma. "Whenever some of us meet, the hijack automatically comes up. The fear of impending death that we all shared created a bond between us. It took me close to two months to become normal," she says.

Series Design: Dominic Xavier

The Hijack: One Year On