The effect of the nationwide lockdown on the poor in India isunfathomable. A few weeks ago, a video showing a man collecting split milk from a road as a pack of dogs drank from it went viral.The scene gave us a peek into just how difficult life is for the poor amid the shutdown.?
But luckily for all of us,?these everyday heroes are doingtheir bit to make lives of the needy a little easier. Here are a few heartwarming examples of humanity at its best:
A specially-abled man from Assam went beyond his means bydistributing food for the poor amid lockdown. The man named Amar Debnath, whoruns an e-rickshaw, suffers from polio. During a visit to his Doboka area ofAssam¡¯s Nagaon he decided to help the underprivileged in the locality by buyingfood out of money from his savings. Debnath has purchased an e-rickshaw in 2018by taking a bank loan under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. He said that hewas saving money since 2018. ¡°I also stand as a poor man. But I know that manyothers are still struggling in search of food. I had brought some food itemsfrom the market by using my savings and am just trying to help those people who are in need in my area,¡± he wasquoted as saying.
Off-duty CRPF ASI Padmeswar Das has beenbusy preparing ration packets - that he purchased using his savings - for thepoor in his village, who are the worst hit, by the coronavirus lockdown. The48-year-old trooper, whose unit is deployed in south Kashmir's terroristviolence-hit Shopian district, has been helping those affected by the lockdownin his tiny village of Chatanguri, about 76 km from the district headquartersof Morigaon district.
¡°I donned my uniform as movement of civilians was barred dueto the lockdown, used my gamocha (traditional Assamese scarf) as a mask and gota handcart to distribute the packets among the needy." When complimentedthat he was being a good Samaritan, Mr Das said he only knew that "effortsof any kind always count,¡± Padmeswar Das was quoted as saying.
In a heartwarming gesture, a woman from Andhra Pradesh wonmany hearts after she bought two bottles of soft drinks for the police officersworking in the sweltering heat.
According to reports, the woman named Lokamani works in aprivate school in East Godavari district and earns Rs 3,500 per month. But thatdidn't stop her from helping cops who have been working day and night amid thiscrisis. The DGP of Andhra Pradesh Gautam Sawang personally thanked and saluted the woman for her magnanimous gesture.?
A family in Maharashtra's Latur district got their daughtermarried in a simple ceremony and donated the money saved for the occasion tofund the local administration's fight against coronavirus. Vilas Boke, a resident of Udgir donated Rs 51,000 he had saved for his daughter Geetanajli'swedding, along with 125 kits containing essentials, to the localadministration.
Geetanjali married Swapnil Reddy in a simple ceremony in thepresence of a few family members and officials from the local administration onThursday, in keeping with the norms of social distancing.
Back in March, transgenders in Bareilly and Prayagraj provided food and water to migrant labourers who were returning homeafter the lockdown. According to a News 18 report, about 50 transgenders inBareilly provided food to 100 people every day.?
¡°There are severalfamilies who are daily wage workers and they depend on daily earning for food.We are serving food to them because we feel that serving humanity is the bestservice," said Prema, a transgender told News 18.
An Indian-origin safari operator based in Kenya is feedingthousands of families. Pankaj Shah started the initiative after he wasdevastated to see people starving and struggling to sustain themselves.?
¡°Peoplewere getting hungry and angry,¡± Shah told Reuters. Accordingto Reuters, Shah started getting in touch with people who were interested inlending a helping hand. Thankfully, a local school which was closed due tothe coronavirus outbreak offered theircampus premises as headquarters. The volunteers,who call themselves Team Pankaj, have sent out 24,000 packages of food sinceMarch 22. Each hamper contains enough food to last a family of five people fortwo weeks.
A post shared by Goodable on Twitter shows a few photosfeaturing Burak Soylu dressed as the superhero. The pictures show Soylu pickingout vegetables and groceries that he delivers to the elderly.
¡°In Turkey, a man named Burak Soylu has been going arounddressed like Spider-man. He drives around in a Beetle, buys milk and groceriesfor the elderly, and delivers it to their doorsteps,¡± reads the caption. Thepost goes on to describe Soylu¡¯s reason for this kind gesture.¡±My superpower isdoing good for the neighbourhood,¡± adds the caption.