Heart of the city

BENGALURU: When doors were getting shut in the city, these Bengalureans opened their arms; when touch was taboo, they extended their hands... Simran Ahuja joins a few Corona warriors to look back at their initiatives during the pandemic

The year 2020 gave us a new definition of the word ‘warrior’. Shields and weapons have been replaced with PPE kits and face masks as we continue to fight the Sars-CoV-2 virus. The pandemic may be far from over but thanks to our frontline workers, hope prevails. From every member of the medical fraternity and the scientific community, to the pourkarmikas or police personnel of our neighbourhood - this year has proved that a lab coat or khaki uniform are just as effective as Superman’s cape when it comes to keeping our city safe.

 We saw many heroes closer home too - the ones who ensured their area streeties were well fed too, or the migrant workers leaving the city had a full belly on their journey home. The list of good deeds we saw this year is endless, but here are a few Bengalureans who went out of their way to help others, shedding fear and indifference as they emerged corona warriors for those around them.

A place to call home

During the months when college campuses ran empty, Fullinfaws College on Bannerghatta Road became a temporary boarding facility for workers from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and other parts of India.

The 2-acre campus housed 350 workers over a course of 90 days. Each worker received a mat to sleep on and three meals a day, with a huge serving of community and kinship, says Navneet Gabriel Fullinfaw, vice chairman and principal of the college, who along with his father, Prof. Desmond T S Fullinfaw, chairman, threw open the doors of their institute to everyone.

“Every time a new set of workers came in, the existing set would welcome them with a shower of flowers. Once they entered our campus, it didn’t matter what their origin was. They were all treated as one,” recalls Navneet, who is still in touch with all the workers, even though this initiative ended on June 25. The labourers also indulged in other activities like debates and football competitions, and movie screenings during their stay at the campus. 

Serving kindness

The image of throngs of guest workers walking across state borders is one that is seared into minds of many. Some like Mohinder Jit Singh took it upon themselves to do their part and help out. After the lockdown began, Singh started packing and distributing meal packets to labourers. He undertook this initiative as the vice chairman and director of the Indian chapter of United Sikhs.

He and his fellow volunteers served over 1 lakh meals in various areas of the city, including the railway stations when the workers boarded the Shramik Special trains ferrying them home. Singh’s spell with the infection too seemed to be caused by divine timing. “We ceased the meal distribution in June, after I contracted Covid-19. Luckily, by this time most of the labourers had managed to go back home,” says Singh, who for three months spent over 15 hours on his feet for the initiative. 

Puppy love

Sandalwood actor Samyukta Hornad donned a new role during the lockdown. Her initiative of putting together a group of five members who would feed stray dogs soon ballooned into 150 members, with Hornad even being approached by Tejasvi Surya, MP, Bengaluru South, for a Covid Task Force to feed stray dogs in the South Bengaluru region.

“It’s important for our wellbeing to look after strays, since not feeding them could lead to a plague-like situation,” says Samyukta. Besides making an organised system of how many dogs are on the street and how many residents have volunteered to feed them, Hornad also helped organise food kits for makeup artistes, light crew, etc of the Sandalwood industry. She pays credit to her team – Shantala, Anirudh Ravindran, Nanda Girish and Aravind Suchidran – who helped her during these various activities, as she adds that this time made her see the “poisonous” side of owning an excess of things. 

Bidding goodbye

At a time when fear towards the virus was at its peak, people like Tanveer Ahmed stepped in to do what no one dared to do. Ahmed, along with others, formed Mercy Angels, a sub-group of Mercy Mission, who true to their name, delivered a dignified send-off to those passed away due to Covid-19.

The team performed over 800 last rites ceremonies for different communities according to the required customs. “We’ve had around 40 Mercy Angel volunteers, some who have done these activities have also moved on to do other things. We have different roles: People who handle calls at the helpline, the ambulance driving volunteers, etc.

Actively, we have about 15 who still continue and are ready anytime. We collaborate with other teams like Helping Hands, Almighty Foundation, Archbishop Volunteer Group and others too. Each last rite needs a team and it is totally team work,” explains Ahmed, who says the number of people helping out is increasing too. “Now the death rate is low and many people have started helping out since the fear of Covid deaths has decreased and it has become normalised in many ways,” he adds. Ways in which this experience has touched his heart are aplenty, with Ahmed even hoping to pen a book soon.

Laying concerns to bed

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That seems to be the motto of the BLR Student Community, a group that was formed by college students during the pandemic. Moved by the news of Covid-19 patients being unable to secure beds in hospitals, the group, which now has over 1,000 members, raised close to `4 lakh to donate 540 beds to a Covid care centre in the city. Their other activities included feeding migrant workers and raising funds to help the security guards and housekeeping staff of hospitals with ration, masks, face shields, etc.

True to their name, the group also decided to voice out concerns being faced by students in the city, wherein they submitted two papers to the Ministry of Education about the impact of the pandemic upon students across the nation, and their issues and recommendations for better conducting of SSLC exams. “The voices of students are usually not taken very seriously and that is why we decided to take a stand for our fellow community members,” says Dev Bhagat, 21, a co-founder of the group. Their operations came to a halt some months back but they are already planning a comeback with new activities soon.