Some pictures do not fade away....
15th May 2020
06:30 pm:
Incidence 1: An old man (Around 60 year old) came
to a stall. His spec was half broken. When asked,”Said he started from Nasik (around
250 km from Jalgaon) and now walking towards Gondia. He took a ride wherever
possible and
Incidence 2: A couple along with a 4 year old son parked
their bike and walked towards the stall providing free food to the migrants.
They started at 11 am yesterday from Raigadh and were going to their hometown
in Jalgaon-Jamod.
Jalgoan is connected with Gujarat and Madhya
Pradesh. Situated on a National Highway Jalgaon also connect Mumbai to Nagpur
and Chhattisgarh. Hundreds of trucks and tempos are crossing Jalgaon every day.
Every truck is filled with at least 80 to 100 people (sometimes even more than
that). Crowded, no space to even sit properly, even no space to take a breath, risk
of getting infected with COVID-19, no food, no water, no money. They are moving
just with a hope that they will reach their home.
Migration happened after partition of India was
the biggest ever in the history of mankind. According to some statistics the
migration happening currently is even bigger than that.
Some organisations in Jalgaon has started a
food stalls for these people. We are supporting some of them in whatever way
possible since last 2 days. Today I spent an evening on one of the stalls by
our friend Firoz Bhai, who runs an organisation in Jalgaon. He along with his
friends working literally 24 hours to make sure that none will go empty handed. They are providing them food, water, fruits, tea, snacks.
What I observed during those 4-5 hours is
something which I will never forget in my whole life. Helplessness of knowing
that things are not in our hands, Sadness of leaving everything behind, happiness
in the eyes when they get to eat after a day or two.
Staying in quarantine / lockdown is a luxury
for some but for millions it is series of never ending challenges. When people
are busy in preparing new dishes at home everyday, there are millions who are
struggling to find something to eat.
Many years ago, Nero was the king of Rome.
Famous (?) for his luxuries and careless life, Nero decided to throw a biggest
party in the history of Rome during one of the worst every famine. Everybody
who was somebody in the Rome was present in that party. There was food, wine, fruits
everything was available for the people. Everything was there except the
lights. Nero decided to solve this problem. He asked his guards to take out the
prisoners from the jail and burned them alive. Who were these prisoners? There
were boys, women, old people, caught while picking up food to eat from the
market. Without caring and completely ignoring the voices of the people buring
aliv, the invitees enjoyed their delicious food. P. Sainath (former editor of
The Hindu) says, “the question was never who was the Nero.” The question was
who were NERO’s GUEST? Who were those people who decided to enjoy and
concentrate only on their foods and families while thousands were dying? He
further adds, “After following farmers suicide and other issue today I have the
answer. WE WERE NERO’s GUEST.” Everybody who decides to ignore the cries of the
poorest of the poor is a Nero’s Guest.
This is the time to prove that we are NOT Nero’s
Guest. This is the time to stand for each other. This is the time to show these
millions that we do care for them and give them the confidence that this will
be over soon. Some pictures do not fade
away but at the same time some do not stay the same forever. Lets come together
to fill in these pictures with joy and happiness with love and compassion.
- Adwait Dandwate
- Adwait Dandwate
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