Taapsee Pannu shared a poem highlighting the struggles of migrant workers.
Actor Taapsee Pannu shared a powerful poem highlighting the struggles of migrant workers amidst the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Taapsee, 32, shared the poem “Pravaasi” – or “Migrant” – on social media on Wednesday, as well as a series of images which, she said, “will never leave us.”
Thousands of migrant families found themselves without jobs or money and forced to travel long distances to their hometown when the country was detained in late March to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Images of migrant workers walking, biking or riding trucks for thousands of kilometers have become the defining image of the coronavirus crisis in India.
Taapsee Pannu highlighted their struggle in his article by compiling some of the most heartbreaking visuals to emerge from the lockdown – a young boy sleeping on a suitcase dragged by his exhausted mother, workers being sprayed with disinfectant, a girl riding a bicycle at home father and a baby trying to wake up his dead mother, among others.
The poem, told by Taapsee, begins and ends with the same question – “Hmm down pravaasi hain, kya iss desh ke vaasi hain? (We are only migrants, are we also citizens of this nation?)
A series of images that will probably never leave us. The lines that will resonate in our head for a long time. This pandemic was worse than a simple viral infection for India. हमारे India से, आपके दिल तक, उन हज़ारों दिलों के लिए जो शायद हम सब ने तोड़े हैं। #Pravaasi#CovidIndiapic.twitter.com/dB5yyYvEYB
– taapsee pannu (@taapsee) June 10, 2020
Taapsee Pannu’s ‘Pravaasi’ has been praised on social networks. Many thanked actor Pink for his efforts to highlight the difficulties faced by migrant workers during the pandemic.
I never thought that certain images and an emotional voice could make me cry ?????????????
– Kirty Kochar (@kirty_kochar) June 10, 2020
Heartbreaking
– Samir kureshi (@samir_kureshi) June 10, 2020
In April, Taapsee Pannu also acted, along with other celebrities, in a morale-boosting video titled “Muskurayega India (India will smile) “, which encouraged people to help each other during the coronavirus crisis.
Other Bollywood stars have also contributed to the country’s coronavirus rescue efforts. The actor Sonu Sood organized buses to return stranded migrant workers home, while Amitabh Bachchan organized four special flights on Wednesday to send around 700 migrants from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh.
