Many Indians in Japan stay put

Even as hundreds of Indians living in Japan continue to leave the quake-ravaged country, there are several others who have decided to stay back despite the nuclear threat. And those who have returned to India, leaving behind their jobs or studies, plan to go back once the situation improves.

“The panic over the radiation leak is over-hyped by the international media. Nuclear physicists in Japan have assured the government and public that there is no nuclear threat, only the possibility of aftershocks,” an Indian working at a senior post in an investment banking firm told DNA over the phone from Tokyo.

He added that people who had chosen to leave Japan were doing so not because of the fear of radiation but because of pressure from families back home. “My parents too are panicking and asking us to return. But I have assured them that I understand the situation here better since I am in the midst of it all.”

However, as a precautionary measure, he has sent his wife and kids to Singapore. “They will be back next week, by which time the so-called nuclear crisis would be over.”

Another Indian, who has decided to stay back, is Saleem-ur-Rehman Nadvi, 55, a professor from Bhopal, who has been teaching Arabic at the Chuo University in Tokyo for the past 30 years. “The Japanese are self-disciplined and willing to help. It would be terrible to leave the country now that it is reeling under a natural calamity,” said Nadvi, who has a Japanese wife and seven children.

Meanwhile, Supriya Khatri, 20, who was studying in Tokyo and landed in Delhi on Thursday, said that she had returned only due to parental pressure. “I would have liked to stay back and finish my studies but my parents were worried.” Khatri added that while some parts of Japan are severely affected by the quake, Tokyo has escaped nature’s fury.

“There was no need to rush back. A lot of my Indian friends are still in Japan, studying or working, and don’t intend to return despite all the panic.”