When he took a boat, to Pakistan

As the Golden Temple Express carrying fishermen back home from Amritsar pulled into Vadodara station on Saturday, a tumultuous journey was coming to an end for Rajesh, all groggy and tired after travelling for four days from Karachi.

After languishing in Pakistani jail for over a year, Rajesh could not wait to meet his family in Marwagaon in Valsad district’s Umergaon taluka.

‘‘I am not a fisherman, but a computer professional who worked in Silvassa,’’ he says in fluent English, rather unexpected from the group that largely comprises of young uneducated youths. He adds, ‘‘I will never get into a boat again.’’

His parents, five brother and a sister too would have spent many a sleepless night since he was captured, he says.

Recounting the incident, Rajesh says he was in his first year of college doing B Com when he had to discontinue studies due to ill health.

He then worked with Kobian India as a computer operator and planned to complete his education through correspondence.

‘‘I had a good job and was planning to get married,’’ he says. But, fate had other plans for this 22-year-old.

A boating trip from Silvassa with his fisherman friend landed him across the border and he was arrested. ‘‘We never knew that we had crossed the border. I still do not know how far we went into the sea,’’ he says.

Rajesh recounts how the atmosphere in Indian camp used to be tense during India-Pakistan games. ‘‘Though there were no televisions we used to know when the Indians won. The other inmates use to abuse and mock at us but we never reacted,’’ says Rajesh.

Rajesh feels the need of rights of prisoners and a method for fishermen to demarcate the border. After his harrowing experience, the fate of 700-odd Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails concerns Rajesh. He has penned every detail of his experience in the Pakistani jail and hopes to publish it someday.