Homeward bound: 85km hike under blazing sun

Anindya Chattopadhyay | TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 06:02 IST

Vikram sold his mobile phone to a co-worker for Rs 5,000. On Sunday, the family cleared their dues and began the long walk to Hapur

Vikram sold his mobile phone to a co-worker for Rs 5,000. On Sunday, the family cleared their dues and began t...Read More

NEW DELHI: On the Meerut Expressway on Monday, a forlorn group of five plodded along as a few cars and two wheelers sped past. The afternoon sun beat down on their defeated faces. Among the three adults, the older of the men bore a child high on his already burdened shoulders, his brother walked alongside carrying some things, while the children’s mother followed, a bag filled with their meagre belongings slung across her shoulders. They began the walk on Sunday from Nathupur in Haryana and their destination lay 85km to the northeast —their ancestral home in Hapur in UP.
Special arrangements may have been made to transport migrant workers back to their homes, but there are many like this family that haven’t been able to hitch a ride. Dinesh, 34, and his brother, Vikram worked in a machine factory in Nathupur in Gurgaon. When they reported for work on March 27, they found the gates locked. The security guard told them it had been closed indefinitely to comply with the nationwide Covid lockdown.
“Suddenly we were jobless,” said Vikram, struggling to keep his emotions under control, “and after 15 days, we were almost penniless.” For over a month, the family of five — the two brothers, Dinesh’s wife and his two children, four-year-old Pari and three-year-old Yash — just about survived. There were days when the three adults slept hungry, rationing their miserly remaining money to get milk for the two kids.
Then, a few days ago, the landlord asked the brothers to pay the Rs 2,500 rent or vacate the room. “The choice was grim: either die hungry here or walk to our village,” said Dinesh. Vikram sold his mobile phone to a co-worker for Rs 5,000. On Sunday, the family cleared their rent and other dues and began the 85-km hike to Hapur.
It hasn’t been an easy amble with police stopping them at every barricade. On Monday morning, they were interrogated at the Ghaziabad border. Eventually good sense prevailed and the cops gave the five some food and fruits. What you are doing is illegal, the policemen told the desperate group, but we understand your desperation.
A third brother, Golu, is stranded in Gujarat. “Once he reaches Hapur, we will stay with our parents. It’s only now we realise how comfortable it is to live with a family” Vikram said. “We will probably earn less money at home, but we are unlikely to return to this inhuman place.”