Gurugram: He lost his eyes, clings to hope in wait to go home

GURUGRAM: Ebraham, 60, can barely talk about the last two months without choking up. In February, he came to Rewari from Bihar with his grandson-in-law to work for a construction project. Within a few weeks of roasting coal at the site without any protective gear, he lost his eyesight completely. This was just days before the country went into the pandemic-induced lockdown.
Mohammad Sabir, his only immediate family, pleaded with the contractor to pay for his treatment since he suffered the permanent damage while at work. “But the contractor not only refused to help with treatment, he didn’t even pay for the work we had done,” Sabir said.
A relative in Gurugram took them in. When they found out about the Shramik Special trains, they registered themselves to go back home. This Sunday, they received a message that two train seats will be available for them, and following the instructions in the message, they reached Tau Devi Lal stadium, thinking this is the end of their misery.
But the train was full and like 700 other workers packed into the tent after being informed by the administration about berths not being available, Ebraham and Sabir had to wait for almost a day and a half with barely enough to eat, nothing to protect themselves from getting infected by the novel coronavirus, mosquito bites and mounting uncertainty.
However, Ebraham, with tears streaming down his desolate face, spoke very little about the hardships, and kept repeating that all he wants is to go home. “Please just send me home somehow. If I had money, I would have taken a bus or a train. But I have nothing left,” he said.
He did not eat for almost a day and kept his water consumption to a minimum so as not to trouble Sabir by going to the toilet too many times. Between his silent weeping, he mentioned, to no one in particular, that his wife is the only person waiting for him at home, and this would be the first time she will see him without eyesight.
At around 3pm on Tuesday, they boarded a bus for home in Bihar’s Araria district, where apart from a reunion with their family, very little waits for them.