The men gave up hope of being able to sit on a special Shramik train. (Representative)
Gurgaon:
Turning their backs on their city dreams that had turned to dust during the lockdown, 11 men loaded their rickshaws and rode bikes for eight days from Gurgaon to Bihar, avoiding the police and often starving as they returned home more than 1000 km on foot.
Traveling through the night to escape the heat and covering the long journey through routes where they could get food or be able to repair a puncture, the men reached their village of Bangra, in the district of Muzaffarpur, on Sunday.
On May 17, the men, all rickshaw pullers in this city of Haryana adjacent to Delhi, gave up hope that they could get seats on a special Shramik train that would take them home.
“We have been struggling without work and money since the isolation started on March 25 and decided it was time to pack our bags and leave for our village,” said Bharat Kumar, one of 11 men , to PTI by phone from Bangra.
The stress was increasing – there had been no work for two months, their families across the country were waiting for money, the owners of Gurgaon demanded rent and the foreclosure continued unending.
Mr. Bharat, like some others, had registered for a seat on the Shramik special train.
The 48-year-old said he waited everyday for the phone to ring before he could get to the station. But only the owner called to ask for rent.
Bharat said he then decided to go to Gurgaon station where he was denied entry and met the others, who also came to inquire about the status of their tickets. .
Eleven of them met and embarked on a long journey of 1,090 kilometers by pedicab.
“How long would I have waited? It had already been two months. The situation was getting out of hand. I would have been evicted if I had not left the rented room. And we did not know when things were going to resume. Normal”, Bharat told PTI.
Recounting the trip, he said: “We were afraid the cops would stop us halfway or beat us. But we did our best to avoid their sight and traveled more at night. It was also very hot during the night. Fortunately, no cop caught A few good Samaritans gave us food in places, but sometimes we had to survive without food. “
Bharat said he has not yet made up his mind about what he would do for a living and feels very weak after the trip.
Jhokhu, his traveling companion, is also overwhelmed by their experience.
“At first we thought we could all go together. We thought that one person could sit and the other climb so that the two could take a break during the trip. But we could not have left our sprouts -grows Gurgaon.
“It is the most expensive asset we have. We do not know when we will return, so we thought of packing our things on our rickshaws. One day before our departure, we picked up food distributed in different places in Gurgaon. “
According to Dayanath, 36, the trip was difficult but the best thing they could have done.
“Even now, we have no update on the train ticket. I could have been there yet. How long could I have eaten in different community kitchens while waiting for someone to help me? I know for sure that no help came my way “so I had to find my own way,” he said.
His rickshaw broke down during the trip and they had to tow it to a fuel pump before the puncture could be repaired.
There is also Raju, who rented the rickshaw but still took it with him to Bihar.
“I don’t have my own rickshaw. It was rented. I used to give part of my income to the ‘malik’ (owner). He doesn’t even know that I brought the rickshaw here. I’m sure he would. I was angry if I told him in advance. I could have traveled by rickshaw, but we all had things to report. ” he says.
Mr. Raju, the father of five, said there were anxious moments along the way.
His phone battery is dead and he has been unable to contact his family.
“They were afraid that something would happen to me halfway,” he added.
But all is well that ends well, and he is just happy to be at home.
According to the office of Haryana’s chief minister (CMO), more than 2.90 lakh migrants have been sent home from the state.
The country has been locked since March 25 to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The borders are now extended until May 31.
The nationwide foreclosure destabilized economic activity, left many homeless and penniless, and caused an exodus of migrants from large cities to their home states.
While trains and buses are organized for migrants to reach their places of origin, hundreds of thousands of them are still waiting for the call to benefit from these means of transport.
