From bunker runs to rationing food: Bengal scholar's foreign dream turns nightmare in Israel

A stash of groceries for two weeks, eyes constantly glued to a missile alert app, and frantic dashes to a bunker several times a day — life has turned into a daily survival drill for a researcher from West Bengal, currently living in Haifa, Israel. What was supposed to be a long-awaited and promising academic journey abroad has now become a harrowing ordeal, as tensions between Iran and Israel escalate.

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The scholar from Murshidabad, in his early thirties, arrived in Israel over a year ago to pursue research. “Life was completely normal until Thursday night,” he told The Indian Express over the phone from Haifa, requesting anonymity. “I was asleep when | suddenly heard a siren. There was no prior information, no warning. At first, | thought it was a malfunction. But by Friday, an emergency was declared, and | knew it was serious."Haifa, a coastal city in northern Israel, had been relatively quiet until recently. But now, it too is under threat. “On Saturday around 10 pm, a missile fell in my neighbourhood — about 5 to 10 km from my place. The blast made a massive thundering noise. | was inside the bunker at the time,” he said.