The fishermen finally returned to their village today.
A hero's welcome awaited the five fishermen when they returned to their village in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram district, barely 20 days after they were sentenced to death in Sri Lanka over charges of drug peddling.
The five men were sentenced to death last month by a court in Colombo after being held guilty of smuggling drugs into the country. They were arrested in 2011.
Their sentence was commuted by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday.
With diplomatic pressure mounting from India, the five fishermen were granted pardon by President Rajapaksa. For Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet as well as their families, it is a new lease of life.
L Langlet was in tears as he hugged his mother.
"I am seeing my parents after three years. It is unbelievable. I must thank our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and mother of Tamil Nadu, our (former) Chief Minister (J Jayalalithaa)," he said.
The fishermen were welcomed with dancing and loud applause by the hundreds of people who had gathered there. Amid the euphoria in the village, the fishermen and their families were overwhelmed with emotions.
While Emerson's wife Skenita just couldn't stop smiling when she saw her husband after three years, Prasath's wife Lavinia burst into uncontrollable tears as she hugged her husband
"I am very happy. All these years, I have lived alone, now we will live like a family," said Lavinia.
Emerson and Prasath, who had been in jail for three years, met their youngest child for the first time today.
Living without his family was like living in hell, admitted Prasath. But, he said, he will have to go back to fishing to eke out a living.
"I am scared, but I don't know any other job. I will have to return to the sea," he said.
But the political tussle to claim credit for the diplomatic coup spilled out at the Chennai airport today, where both the BJP and the ruling AIADMK trooped in, seemingly to milk some political mileage.
Pon Radhakishnan, Union Minister of State for Shipping, claimed, "The return of these fishermen is not the BJP's victory. This is the people's and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi's victory".