Some pictures do not fade away....

15^th 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