How MEA Sushma Swaraj came to Neha Parikh's rescue

Neha Agarwal Parikh, an analyst with a credit rating agency, went from never being on Twitter to a fan of the social media platform in just a matter of hours. The 29-year-old Mumbai resident's first tweet requested Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs, to get her parents out of a tricky situation and immediately got her attention.

On May 29, she posted a message asking for help on behalf of her parents who were stuck at the Istanbul airport for a day. Her mot her had misplaced her passport while Parikh's parents were returning home from their first international trip to Europe.

She tweeted:

@SushmaSwaraj parents wr travelin from Rome 2 india via Istanbul Fri29May. Mom's pasport lost in transit n parents stuck at Istanbul airport

— Neha Parikh (@nepratik) May 30, 2015

@SushmaSwaraj Mom is Hina Parikh with pasprt no M1355117 n father's name Piyush Parikh pasprt no M1353957. Their local no is +44 7452179389

— Neha Parikh (@nepratik) May 30, 2015

@SushmaSwaraj Please help. We tried talking to Indian embassy in Turkey. Nothing has happened till now. Parents are senior citizens.

— Neha Parikh (@nepratik) May 30, 2015

Parikh was initially skeptical of catching Swaraj's attention online. But after a friend suggested it, Parikh put out the tweet. A few hours later, Swaraj responded asking her to provide her parents' phone numbers. In some time, the Indian embassy in Turkey got in touch with her father.

Indian Embassy in Turkey has given Emergency travel documents to your parents and they are flying back tonight.@nepratik

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 30, 2015

"By 6 pm, they had their documents in hand and they boarded the same plane that they were supposed to, a day before," she says. "I am impressed how things moved so fast. Being on Twitter is a good initiative by the government ." Now that Parikh is a convert, here's wishing her happy tweeting.

@SushmaSwaraj Thank you so much Ma'am for the prompt response from your side. Parents have boarded the flight to india. Very grateful to you

— Neha Parikh (@nepratik) May 30, 2015