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www.outlookindia.com June 8, 2020

What After Home? Lakhs of migrants have returned to their villages. OUTLOOK tracks them to find out what lies ahead.

Mohammad Saiyub’s friend Amrit Kumar died on their long journey home. Right, Saiyub in his village Devari in UP.

RNI NO. 7044/1961

MANAGING EDITOR, OUTLOOK FROM THE EDITOR

Returning to

RUBEN BANERJEE the Returnees EDITOR IN CHIEF and apathy have been their constant companions since then. As entire families—the old, infirm and the ailing included—attempt to plod back home, they have been sub- NDIA is working from home; jected to ill-treatment and untold indignities by the police Bharat is walking home—the short for violating the lockdown. Humiliation after humiliation tweet by a friend summing up was heaped upon them endlessly as they walked, cycled and what we, as a locked-down nation, hitchhiked long distances. They were sprayed with disin- have been witnessing over the past fectants and fleeced by greedy transporters for painful two months was definitely smart. rides on the back of trucks and tempos. When they thronged The wordplay was interesting and railway stations and bus terminals in a mad rush for a seat, impressive. But I am not too sure if they were almost always treated like cattle. It was truly I it was still adequate to encapsulate colossal the way a callous system failed them. the scale of a disaster that has befallen mil- The collective outrage over how badly the migrants were lions of migrants frantically attempting to let down has been equally huge. Though those in the gov- reach home in distant towns and villages ernment may still be in denial and reluctant to acknowl- that lie beyond urban India. We have not edge the tragedy, there has been no dearth of debates and seen this in our living memory—certainly discussions on the migrants and their plight. not since Partition. It is not easy to fathom Among the defining images of the agonising lockdown the misery that the profusely sweating and has been that of Ram Pukar Pandit from ’s mostly starving mass of people find them- weeping inconsolably on the phone upon hearing his child’s selves in. I, for one, am at a loss for words in death as he attempted to return home; or that of Moham- trying to articulate their tragedy. mad Saiyub, a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh, whose What I can safely presume, though, is friend Amrit Kumar died in the middle of their arduous that their sufferings are manifold more trek. Their stories have seared our heart. They have even than our middle-class angst. As the touched an emotional chord in distant places. US President migrants trudge home, they are negotiat- Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka tweeted recently about ing unthinkable odds. The absence of the indomitable spirit of a young Bihar girl who tirelessly proper transport is simply appalling. cycled more than a 1,000 km to carry her ailing father home. Cocooned inside our urban comforts, we It is but natural that the migrants’ march, with its atten- have been forced at the most to change dant struggle, is hogging the headlines. our daily routines. Though our own But we would be failing them all over again if we forget future looks uncertain amid job cuts and them now. For the likes of Pandit and Saiyub who have mounting economic losses, COVID-19 finally reached home, a more uphill struggle to survive awaits, has not yet exacted any toll other than minus assured livelihood. Though the media’s attention span primarily confining us to our homes. In is notoriously limited, Outlook does not give up on a story mid- comparison, the migrants are battling to way and several of my colleagues—Salik Ahmed, Giridhar Jha, survive in the open, braving hunger, heat, Sandeep Sahu, G.C. Sekhar, Suresh Kumar Pandey and Sandi- and intermittent police high-handedness. pan Chatterjee—displayed exemplary enterprise to reach out What is inexplicable is the way they to the migrants in their villages. This issue’s cover story is a have been left in the lurch. A hurriedly reminder of the challenges that the returnees face, and our enforced lockdown left them without collective responsibility towards them. money and work. Soon, they ran out of food and were forced to seek the per- ceived safety of homes in the back of beyond they were born into. Insensitivity (Ruben Banerjee)

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 3 ‹ N A V I G A T O R ›

SURESH K. PANDEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ruben Banerjee MANAGING EDITOR Sunil Menon EXECUTIVE EDITOR Satish Padmanabhan FOREIGN EDITOR Pranay Sharma POLITICAL EDITOR Bhavna Vij-Aurora SENIOR EDITOR Giridhar Jha () CHIEF ART DIRECTOR Deepak Sharma WRITERS Lola Nayar, Qaiser Mohammad Ali (Senior Associate Editors), G.C. Shekhar (Associate Editor), Jeevan Prakash Sharma (Senior Assistant Editor), Ajay Sukumaran, Puneet Nicholas Yadav, Jyotika Sood, Lachmi Deb Roy (Assistant Editors), Naseer Ganai (Senior Special Correspondent), Preetha Nair (Special Correspondent), Salik Ahmad (Senior Correspondent) COPY DESK Rituparna Kakoty (Senior Associate Editor), Anupam Bordoloi, Saikat Niyogi, Satyadeep (Associate Editors), Syed Saad Ahmed (Assistant Editor) PHOTOGRAPHERS S. Rakshit (Chief Photo Coordinator), Jitender Gupta (Photo Editor), Tribhuvan Tiwari (Deputy Photo Editor), Sandipan Chatterjee, Apoorva Salkade (Sr Photographers), Suresh Kumar Pandey (Staff Photographer) J.S. Adhikari (Sr Photo Researcher), U. Suresh Kumar (Digital Library) DESIGN Saji C.S. (Chief Designer), Leela (Senior Designer), Devi Prasad, Padam Gupta (Sr DTP Operators) DIGITAL Neha Mahajan (Associate Editor), Soumitra Mishra (Digital Consultant), Jayanta Oinam (Assistant Editor), Mirza Arif Beg (Special Correspondent), Neelav Chakravarti (Senior Correspondent), Charupadma Pati (Trainee Journalist), Suraj Wadhwa (Chief Graphic Designer), Editorial Manager & Chief Librarian Alka Gupta

BUSINESS OFFICE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Indranil Roy PUBLISHER Sandip Kumar Ghosh SR VICE PRESIDENT Meenakshi Akash VICE PRESIDENTS Shrutika Dewan, Diwan Singh Bisht SR GENERAL MANAGERS Kabir Khattar (Corp), COVER STORY Debabani Tagore, Shailender Vohra 30 GENERAL MANAGERS Sasidharan Kollery, Shashank Dixit Millions of bedraggled migrants marched their way CHIEF MANAGER Shekhar Kumar Pandey MANAGERS Shekhar Suvarana, Sudha Sharma back from the cities to their villages. Outlook caught CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION Anindya Banerjee, Gagan Kohli, G. Ramesh (South), up with some of them at their homes...to know their Vinod Kumar (North), Arun Kumar Jha (East) DIGITAL Amit Mishra stories, to know their plans for the future. HEAD OFFICE AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New - 110 029 Tel: 011-71280400; Fax: 26191420 Customer care helpline: 011-71280433, 71280462, 71280307 e-mail: [email protected] For editorial queries: [email protected] For subscription helpline: [email protected] 14 | BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED PASSES 10 POLIGLOT OTHER OFFICES MUMBAI Tel: 022-50990990 How will aggressive posturing and transgres- 62 BOOKS CALCUTTA Tel: 033 46004506; Fax: 033 46004506 sions along the Line of Actual Control impact 64 AUDI 5 CHENNAI Tel: 42615224, 42615225; Fax: 42615095 Tel: 080-43715021 India-China relations? 66 LA DOLCE VITA Printed and published by Indranil Roy on behalf of Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. 69 DIARY Editor: Ruben Banerjee. Printed at Kalajyothi 56 | OPENCAST CANOPY Process Pvt. Ltd. Sy.No.185, Sai Pruthvi Enclave, Kondapur – 500 084, R.R.Dist. Telangana and Coal India Limited has been mining in the published from AB-10, S.J. Enclave, Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary since New Delhi-110 029 2003. As it seeks further clearances, Cover Design: Total no. of pages 70, Including Covers opposition intensifies. Deepak Sharma

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NAVI MUMBAI C.K. Subramaniam: The Prime Minister’s speech boosted one’s motivation— the Rs 20 lakh crore package shows empathy for the country in these challenging times. On the flip side, the implementation of these goals is important. It is also disappointing to note that the package includes liquidity measures an- nounced by the RBI earlier. The Centre has to focus on reaching out to migrants, especially since they lack documentation. Also, the CALCUTTA economic package has to be Avik Debnath: On disbursed without corrup- page 23, there is a quote tion. But Modi is right when of Vikas Srivastava, who he says that India can lead has been erroneously the world—we have a young, associated in the article capable population. Our Rs with “IIM-K”. He is an 20-lakh-crore dream will esteemed faculty member come true soon. of IIM-L (Lucknow). Grease The Wheels FROM THE Daak Room

DIGIMAG.OUTLOOKINDIA.COM MUMBAI Hello mr lynes

Ashok : This refers to your cover story The Flu Shot (June 1, 2020). thank you very much The economy is no doubt in a tailspin, biographical information but only spin doctors have come to the my life couldn’t fill a penny postcard rescue. Economic pundits and stock i was born in pittsburgh in 1928 (like everyone else – markets have given the economic stimu- in a steel mill) lus a thumbs down. It failed to put i graduated from Carnegie Tech money where the mouths are and did now i’m in NY city moving from one roach infested apartment to another. YOUTUBE.COM/OUTLOOKMAGAZINE nothing for demand generation. Giving fodder to the horse is of no use if you put Andy Warhol it behind the cart. The Opposition has failed to corner the government over this failure. RBI’s undeserved and unwarranted rate cuts will have no effect apart from bleeding senior citizens who are staring at fixed deposit rates of less Me, Myself And I In 1949, when Russell FACEBOOK.COM/OUTLOOKINDIA

than six percent and no social security pensions. The government should reach Lynes, managing Editor, out to MSMEs, help them woo back the Harper’s magazine, workforce and arrange for working capi- asked Andy Warhol tal. The dead can’t be resurrected, but for biographical the dying can be saved. Instead of information, the 21-year- announcing big numbers, the govern- old artist responded ment must ensure that the stimulus with this postcard.

TWITTER.COM/OUTLOOKINDIA greases the jammed wheels of industries.

00 OUTLOOK6| MAY OUTLOOK 4, 2020| JUNE 8, 2020 | PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES | NewsL / ESLUGGG/SUBSLUG T T E R S FEEDBACK › [email protected]

senior government officer, so conducted by the National Farewell superciliousness took the Testing Agency may seem better of him and he kept too dire, but the COVID-19 GOA sermonising for more time pandemic in India might not M.N. Bhartiya: This refers than his ‘paan’ permitted. As have peaked yet. Dr to the cover story Things I and my friends watched Randeep Guleria, the direc- That Got Covided (May 18). anxiously, the red liquid tor of AIIMS, has said that History has witnessed many trickled from the corners of according to modelling data curses of nature as well as his mouth. He comfortably and the way our cases are manmade disasters, but picked up a saucer from my increasing, it is likely that the humanity has not changed. table and spat! While shock, peak can come in June and People greedily exploit those dismay and ridicule followed, July. He further said that who are weak and keep them my friend amusingly ex- there are many variables suppressed. Any improve- remittances. And things will plained that ‘Sir’ was helpless and only with time, will we ment in the standards of continue as before. for he had only two options know how effective the lock- education, hygiene, habits to get rid of the fluid: down or down has been. Obviously, etc of the poor is not in the NEW DELHI out! And it is the ‘out’ option right now, everything is interest of upper classes sim- Sangeeta Kampani: One of he exercised like everyone uncertain. There is a need ply because they will not be the most enduring sights and else. In case COVID-19 could for reinvention, innovation able to exploit them. Kings, sounds of India is the red- leave its imprint on this and maximisation of all emperors and those leaders hued spittle mark and the unsightly habit, it would be available digital resources to concentrating power by sin- jarring ‘thoo’. While the quite a gain in these ungainly reach out to students and ister designs while donning threat the pandemic poses is times. It would be a story I continue education. That is the garb of democracy predicted to bring about a would love to narrate to my the way forward for us. ensure the poor remain poor. paradigm shift in our hygiene grandchildren—how the red Nowadays, many students Labour laws have to be more habits, the end of spitting fluid finally got covided! are getting their scheduled stringent to suck the blood of seems nowhere in sight. I say classroom work on a smart- the poor. There is a vacuum this out of personal experi- LUCKNOW phone. After COVID-19, it is in the leadership of the ence. Sometime back, a col- M.C. Joshi: UGC’s sugges- going to be a changed world— unorganised working class. league walked into my office tion of shifting the new online classrooms and Migrant labour will silently with this mouth-watering academic session in colleges work-from-home may return to commercial hubs delicacy in his mouth. The from July to September and become the norm for once they exhaust their gentleman happened to be a to postpone all tests education and employment.

NEW DELHI nitely. This is all the more Gaurav Pant: The photoes- true of the not-so-big ban- say Ahead Is Home, Behind ners, which look at quick Is Hunger (May 18) aptly recovery of costs and profita- depicted how the COVID-19 bility to stay in the game. crisis has thrown the lives Theatre owners and multi- and livelihoods of workers plexes may not like the idea into disarray. There is no since it puts their earnings in doubt that COVID-19 has jeopardy, but at the same plunged millions of people time, they do not have any into extreme poverty and valid reason to cry foul. With uncertainty, but those ‘social distancing’ the new working in the informal norm, even after the virus economy, with fragile dreams is getting spent in GURGAON bids us goodbye, the circum- sources of income, are the their fight for survival—all Kamna Chhabra: This stances that have driven us worst affected. Loss of that remains is a blank fu- refers to Small Screen, Big to switch to OTT platforms wages, lack of employment ture. The world might learn Locha (June 1). The pan- are here to stay. The boom- and rising casualties have to live with the virus, but the demic has left its mark on ing sound and the big 70 mm prompted the mass return hardships and pain people the way films are being screen in a packed theatre is of these migrants to their had to go through will released. In the present going to be replaced by TV native places. What they had remain engraved in the uncertain times, releases and mobile screens. ‘Small’ is saved for their beautiful bosom of humanity. cannot be put on hold indefi- the new ‘big’ now.

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM MAYJUNE 4, 8,2020 2020 | OUTLOOK | OUTLOOK007 THENEWS Heads That Bow Put at the centre of the COVID fight by the Odisha CM, the sarpanch remains a figurehead Around 300 nurses have left Calcutta for Manipur after resigning from their Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar anomalies that undermine the sar- jobs. Earlier, it was reported that 185 panch’s authority to take a call on some- nurses have quit their jobs in Calcut­ thing within his/her jurisdiction. ta hospitals and returned to Imphal. N April 19, Odisha CM Naveen Neither the CM’s April 19 announce- Cristella, a nurse said: “We are not Patnaik announced on TV what ment nor the notification issued later by happy that we left our duties. There he described as a “historic the revenue and disaster management was a huge shortage of PPE kits. We Odecision”. He said his government had department spelt out the financial and also faced discrimination and racism. put sarpanches (elected heads) of gram administrative powers supposedly dele- People sometimes spat on us. They panchayats at the centre of the fight gated to the sarpanches. In fact, a Febru- questioned us everywhere we went.” against COVID-19, conferring on them ary 17 notification issued by the the “powers of district collectors” for panchayati raj and drinking water effective management of quarantine department continues to bar sarpanches centres for migrant workers returning from other states. This was done vide Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, read with COVID-19 regulations, 2020. On May 23, Delhi Police arrested ­ A month later, the sarpanch- asha Narwal and Devangana Kalita of es, far from enjoying the powers of a collector, are still student group Pinjra Tod for participat­ at the mercy of the local block ing in anti-CAA protests. They got bail, development officer (BDO) but were arrested again in a separate and panchayat extension case and put in remand for two days, officer (PEO) for just about which was extended by two more days. everything. With almost no financial powers, the elected panchayat heads are not even consulted when babus take administrative Naveen Patnaik at an online decisions. Each panchayat has been given interaction with sarpanches Rs 5 lakh for running quarantine centres, but the sarpanches have to run to the from incurring any expenditure without PEOs for sanction of every little expense. the BDO’s sanction, regardless of the “What collector’s powers? The PEO CM’s declaration of April 19. Moreover, a insists on bills for the smallest expendi- May 11 circular asking collectors and The Amphan cyclone has damaged the ture. Do we look after the needs of the BDOs to ensure strict adherence to world’s largest banyan tree—one of the inmates of quarantine centres or keep guidelines regarding management of two ‘kalpvriksha’, also known as Indian running to the PEO?” asks the sarpanch quarantine centres makes no reference olive—in the Acharya Jagadish Chandra of a panchayat close to Bhubaneswar. to sarpanches nor is copied to any of Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah. Some sarpanches say they are asked to them. “These orders are in conflict with get ration and other stuff for quarantine the announcement made by the chief The circumference of the 342-year-old centres on credit with the promise that minister on April 19,” says a senior jour- tree’s core stem once measured 15 the amount spent would be reimbursed. nalist who heads the Citizens’ Action metre and that of its peripheral stem “Given the snail’s pace at which the gov- Group. “More importantly, they under- is over 1.08 km. The core stem was ernment machinery moves, you never mine his appeal on May 11 for greater removed in 1925. The Botanical Survey know when the reimbursement will be decentralisation in the approach to fight of India uses the picture of this tree as done,” complains a sarpanch. COVID-19. That’s why the orders must its logo. Banyan is India’s national tree. There are also legal and administrative be withdrawn.” O

8 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 CAUTION !!! INDIAN STOCK MARKET 2020 AGAIN STARTED FACING A BIG CRASH. VERY SOON NIFTY WILL HIT MINIMUM 2500 LEVEL Cu a tion !!! Indian stock market 2020 again started facing a big crash. Very soon Nifty will hit minimum 2500 level in the upcoming days.

his crash is going to be the biggest crash 40% from life high in the month of March Tregistered in the history of Indian stock 2020. During the fall investors and Traders market. We can see a sharp fall in this crash. Wealth will get affected badly. So investors In this crash NIFTY will fall up to 80% which is and Traders of our Indian stock market must calculated from the LIFE HIGH. It is going to be careful to deal with this Crash said by be the consecutive crash in the year 2020 that RESEARCH ANALYST Mr. LAKSHMI NARAYANAN our Indian stock market got corrected nearly SUNDARAM.

LAKSHMI NARAYANAN SUNDARAM Research Analyst (Sebi Certified).

NIFTY TARGET LINE PTI

Villagers shift from a flooded POLIGLOT locality following heavy rainfall in Goalpara. Hundreds of villages are MIXED SHOTS under water in Lower .

SNAPSHOT UMER ASIF statements every day mentioning visits by people welcoming the new domicile rules, including former and serving top government officials. Besides children of J&K residents living outside J&K and West Pakistan refugees, the April 1 order has made eligible for domicile all Srinagar city, a those who have resided in house maze J&K for 15 years, or studied for seven years and appeared in the Class 10th or 12th examination from an educational institution there. The order says children of central government officials, including officials of PSUs and banks, who have served in J&K for 10 years will also be eligible. Domicile will also be granted to all migrants and their children Certified to Belong registered with the relief and rehabilitation commissioner. Naseer Ganai in Srinagar place. Unless there is some hidden When Jammu-based Panther’s Party agenda, it makes no sense to recruit leader Harsh Dev Singh warned that Since coming up with the tens of thousands to issue domicile the domicile rules would open the J&K Jammu and Kashmir certificates to those who already have a floodgates of people to J&K, the BJP Grant of Domicile Certif- PRC. Those who have been living in described such criticism as alarmist. icate (Procedure) Rules, 2020, defining Kashmir for 5,000 years are on the “This will not add a large chunk of peo- the procedure to obtain domicile in the same footing as those seeking to ple to the J&K population,” says the Union territory, the J&K government acquire the domicile certificate now. BJP’s J&K president Ravinder Raina. has announced 10,000 vacancies and Both have to prove it—erstwhile state “Instead, the new rules are inclusive of made domicile certificate a criterion subjects by submitting a PRC, and oth- many sections within J&K who were for applicants. Permanent residents of ers by submitting a ration card. That a being denied their fundamental rights, the erstwhile State of J&K who were ‘state subject’ residing here for genera- including the right of domicile. The issued the Permanent Resident Certif- tions has to regain his ‘domicile’ is order has by and large been welcomed icate (PRC) before August 31, 2019, adding insult to injury. Does it not by a large section of people.” shall be eligible for receiving domicile strike anyone in the governance sys- In Kashmir, both the People’s Demo- certificates on the basis of the PRC tem that the PRC should have been cratic Party and the National Confer- alone. The government has set a 15-day deemed to be a domicile certificate?” ence came out against the order. deadline from the submission of appli- J&K Lt Governor Girish Chandra “Demographic change and disenfran- cation for local revenue officers to Murmu, meanwhile, has been seeking chisement will further complicate the issue the certificate and would deduct public approval of the new domicile J&K issue, which has claimed thou- Rs 50,000 from the officer’s salary as rules opposed by all political parties in sands of lives. This will be resisted penalty in case of further delay. J&K, barring the BJP. His office issues through all democratic peaceful Critics say the process for Kashmiris means,” said the PDP in a statement. is similar to the contentious updating “This is the first time in history that exercise of the National Register of “Mughals, Afghans, the Kashmiri identity is facing a real Citizens. “The new regime of domicile threat,” says political analyst Riyaz rights strikes at the roots of the notion Sikhs, Dogras…nobody Ahmad. “This identity has survived of who belongs to Kashmir,” says for- except democratic 400 years under various brutal mer J&K finance minister Haseeb regimes—Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs, Drabu. “The rules obliterate, through India tried to change Dogras—because none of them tried to redefining, the ethnic conception of J&K’s demographic pro- change the demographic profile of this belonging that was sought to be pro- place. But that is exactly what is being tected by the domicile law in the first file,” says Riyaz Ahmad. tried in democratic India.” O

10 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 POLIGLOT

LOCUST A Two Punch Combo

Outlook Bureau

HEY come in hordes of millions, flying in robot-like formations some 3km long and shearing all Tforms of greenery off a landscape in a matter of hours. Like an apocalyptic we all know blowing high to low pres- science fiction movie—the buzzing sure areas and carrying with it the Locusts in Jaipur. Adult insects can crepitations from their wings harmoni- migrating pestilence into the interiors consume roughly their own weight in ous with the sci-fi parable. They are from its point of entry, the Thar along fresh food per day. locusts—tiddi in . And India, in the India-Pakistan border. the middle of a pandemic, is bracing for The government says the locusts are rains. That could be a double whammy a biblical plague, probably the biggest active in , , as India is already battling waves from locust outbreak since 1993. The alarms , Uttar Pradesh and spring breeding in Iran and Pakistan. are out, amateur videos of swarms Madhya Pradesh. The forecast is grim. India has proposed a coordinated engulfing cropland, villages and cities Why? The attack is “escalating the dan- approach to both nations, but experts are aplenty. The latest was from Jaipur, ger to food security”. A small swarm accuse Pakistan of inaction despite where millenials captured an hour-long eats as much in one day as about 35,000 knowing that its border with flypast on their cellphones. People beat people. And the UN warns that a new Afghanistan is a breeding hotspot. utensils, burst firecrackers. The locusts, wave is expected this June. A bigger Earlier, locusts came from Africa, taking for the din they make, hate noise. wave—a single swarm covering 1 sq km ample time to reach India. Not any- The insects flew out of the city to can contain up to 80 million of the vora- more. India is ring-fencing its locust greener pasture. Wherever the wind cious insects—could reach India from defence system with drones and crop- took them, for they fly with the air cur- Africa. Billions of the young desert duster planes, while villages have their rent—covering up to 150 km a day at 20 locusts are winging in from breeding own warning system—loudspeakers. kmph. This is summer and the wind is grounds in Somalia in search of fresh “Tiddi aa rahi hai, apney khet bachao flowing easterly from the hot desert, as vegetation springing up with seasonal (locusts are coming, save your fields).” O brevis

Pulmonologist Indian hockey legend Casino tycoon Australian tennis An alligator that once Dr Jitendra Balbir Singh Sr, Stanley Ho, great Ashley belonged to Adolf Nath Pande, a a three-time Olympic whose business Cooper has died Hitler has died in the former doctor at gold-winning empire dominated aged 83. He was a Moscow Zoo. AIIMS, Delhi, died of centre-forward, has the former Portu- four-time Grand Slam Saturn, about 84, COVID-19. He was 79. died in Mohali guese gambling winner—Australian had escaped from Both Dr Pande and battling multiple enclave of Macao for Open in 1957 and Berlin Zoo in 1943. He his wife had tested health issues. He decades, has died in 1958; Wimbledon and was found in 1946 positive. was 96. Hong Kong at age 98. US Open in 1958. and given to Moscow.

JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 11 POLIGLOT MixedShots

MUSTY NUMBER, MUSKY CALLS TIK TOK. HE’S THERE YNDSAY Tucker, a skincare consultant at a Sephora beauty store in OCIAL media network TikTok might San Jose, California, knew all about popping pimples and unclogging be good for subjecting the world pores, but little about vehicles. So imagine her consternation when a Sto your lack of talent or a few LSouth African businessman called her to buy 1,000 trucks. But that wasn’t giggles, but who would have thought it the only one—commendation for a “magnificent car” followed, as did could help find missing people and inquiries about purchasing an ATV she had reunite families! That’s what happened supposedly “showed off during a CyberTruck when a family in Bhadradri Kothagudem reveal”. Turns out her telecom company had district, Telangana, found a 60-year-old reassigned Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s deaf-mute man eating food in a video a old number to her—she receives at least three calls police constable in had a day meant for Musk. Poor Lindsay, she didn’t shared. The man had been missing for even know who Musk was until this incident, let over two years and is now back with his family—all thanks to the app, which can alone his loony ravings on Twitter. The most now boast of more accomplishments surprising thing: no one has yet called to ask what is than making millions lip-sync. O up with Musk trying to name his son XÆA-12. O

JACK OF ALL FALLS UMPTY Dumpty’s experience was nowhere as dismal as Pariyaram’s, a man from Belur in Kasaragod, Kerala, who climbed a jackfruit tree for a bountiful harvest. Not only did Hhe fall from the tree, a jackfruit fell on his head, cracking his spine. He had to go for surgery, but his troubles did not end there. As per protocol, doctors at Government Medical College, Kannur, tested him for COVID-19 and the results came positive. If that wasn’t bad enough, he has no idea where he contracted the disease from, rais- ing fears of possible community transmission in the state. O

LOCKDOWN, LADDOO DOWN MAGINE sitting on Rs 14,000 crore and eight tonnes of gold and still not being able to pay your employees! Such has been the fate of TTD, the poor rich trust that manages Ithe Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh. So it is with some confusion that hungry devotees welcomed its decision to sell QUARANTINE its famed laddoos for Rs 25 instead of the earlier Rs 50 across QUEENS Andhra Pradesh and in neighbouring state capitals. The reason behind this largesse? The HEN a request for spirits to lift their trust’s ‘e-hundi’ received spirits was turned down, a group of bar electronic donations of dancers from Mumbai did what they do Wbest—dance. Only their stage was the corridor of a Rs 1.97 crore in April 2020, Rs 18 lakh more than quarantine centre in Moradabad. They might have what it last year. After won the approbation of beer-goggled customers in the all, in tough times, who past, but couldn’t dance their way into the hearts of wouldn’t want to curry the police on duty. Instead, the cops booked them divine favour, even if it under six sections of the IPC and refused to let entails lavish monetary them leave. Too bad no one’s watching that inducements? O scene, digging the dancing queens. O

12 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 ILLUSTRATIONS: SAAHIL Masterspeak A Webinar Series strateGies for start-Ups with K Ganesh Serial Entrepreneur Watch the complete discussion between K.Ganesh, and N Mahalakshmi, Editor, Outlook Business on strategies start-ups can adopt to retune themselves to deal with the disruption caused by Covid-19

To watch the video, visit @outlookmagazine

Presented by C0-Sponsored by FOREIGN/CHINA-INDIA Patrol Bombs

Border tensions spike suddenly along the LAC, as sections in India join others in criticising China’s handling of COVID-19. Yet the two have enough reasons to resolve all issues peacefully.

Pranay Sharma the past week begun to pitch tents and gone farther than usual,” he adds. enforce their respective positions along Raghavan refers to incidents that strategic points in Ladakh, in the west- started from May 5-6, when Indian HREE years ago, a prolonged ern sector of the Line of Actual Control and Chinese soldiers were injured stand-off between Indian and (LAC). The build-up at the border— while trading punches and throwing Chinese troops on Bhutan’s triggered by aggressive posturing and stones at each other in a departure TDoklam plateau had sparked alarming ‘transgressions’ by soldiers of the from past norms underlining the speculation about the proximity of an People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into avoidance of physical violence. armed conflict between the two Asian the Indian side of the LAC—coincides Barring 1962, when the neighbours giants, and how such a frightening with a marked rise in anti-China feel- went to war over their disputed bound- possibility would destabilise the ings in India as sections make common ary, not a single bullet has been fired sub-continent and the region beyond. cause with the anger against the across the Sino-Indian border since That crisis, however, was resolved in Chinese leadership across the world in 1975. In the intervening period, there 73 days without a shot being fired. the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. have been skirmishes and face-offs. But But similar worries have started The question arises if the two devel- they were all peacefully resolved. clouding minds of policy planners as opments are linked. “This seems to be The 3448-km Line of Actual Control, Indian and Chinese soldiers have over a coincidence; there is no connection behind which soldiers of the two coun- between the two,” says historian tries stand, remains disputed and Srinath Raghavan. “The LAC has its un-demarcated, yet is not considered a Indian and Chinese soldiers march at the own seasonal dynamic and this is part ‘hot border’ like the one between India border post at Bumla, Arunachal Pradesh of it. Though both sides seem to have and Pakistan. Moreover, despite their

PTI FOREIGN/CHINA-INDIA

simultaneous rise within the same for the China policy, especially the geographical space, Indian and MEA, remains careful and meas- Chinese leadership have so far ured in its response,” he says, skilfully managed to avoid situa- indicating that Beijing should tions that could lead to another look through the clutter to make armed confrontation. But height- sense of the Indian government’s ened tension in the past weeks, stance in this prevailing interna- following hectic activities of tional mood. patrolling soldiers of India and Raghavan feels joining a China in key points along the Western chorus of criticism of LAC, has increased unease. China makes it easier for some in Indian officials have recorded India to express displeasure at ‘transgressions’ along the LAC in China’s handling of the pandemic. Pangong Tso Lake, Trig Heights, “At a time when many others are Burtse, the Doletango area and the talking tough with China, it’ll be Galwan river valley in Ladakh and difficult for Beijing to target also at strategic points in Sikkim. India,” he says. “Better infrastructure, enhanced Hardliners, however, are disap- transportation and communication pointed with the government’s facilities have increased the proba- stand. “India is not adopting a bility of Indian and Chinese patrols policy that is assertive enough coming face-to-face,” explains towards China,” says former Gautam Bambawale, former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal ambassador to China. Coupled with Sibal. “China’s provocations that aggressive patrolling, this could lead to Recent summits between PM Modi and touch our core interests continue,” he the kind of situation we now witness, he President Xi have sought to iron out adds. According to Sibal, China has explains. Bambawale reminds that there fissures in Sino-India ties not only repeatedly attempted to put are standard operation procedures that Kashmir on the UN Security Council the two sides have agreed to and if their Union minister Nitin Gadkari, made agenda, but also challenged India’s soldiers adhere to them the border could critical remarks about China in public. sovereignty in Arunachal Pradesh be relatively peaceful. But if there are “I don’t see any special change in and Ladakh. attempts to change the ‘status quo ante’, India’s approach towards China,” says “On the latest provocations in Sikkim it could lead to trouble, he warns. C. Raja Mohan, director of the and Ladakh, our initial reaction was Experts say the stand-off in strategic Institute of South Asian Studies, mild and even apologetic,” feels Sibal. points at Ladakh, like Galwan, is con- National University of Singapore. “The “But the MEA spokesperson corrected nected to Indian construction activi- worldwide concern is about China get- the earlier mistake by accusing the ties, including building a road from ting assertive in its responses to ques- Chinese side of hindering normal Dharchuk via Shyok to Daulat Beg tions on its handling of the COVID-19 patrolling patterns, affirming that all Oldie, which is now the revamped crisis,” he adds. Raja Mohan points out Indian activity is on the Indian side advance landing ground that would that in India the public debate, espe- and that India was committed to pro- allow C-130J aircraft to land and boost cially from the political class, has tect its sovereignty and security.” strategic airlift capabilities. In addi- always been free-flowing; there have Bambawale, who has been part of tion, a series of roads are being built in been voices that have always been crafting the China policy, makes it the area to enhance India’s access to critical of China and those who reso- clear that there was nothing new about the Karakoram highway—an area of lutely supported Beijing irrespective India’s stand. “India has for many dec- immense strategic importance for of the merits involved. ades taken strong positions vis-a-vis both Pakistan and China. “But the section that is responsible China where our fundamental inter- It is the building of this access road ests were involved,” says the former that is being vehemently opposed by envoy. He cites examples to explain the China but India seem determined not Indian stand—referring to the 2017 to abandon its plans of building the India’s building Doklam stand-off, the Sumdorong Chu required infrastructure—as the Chinese of access roads incident in the late 1980s or the 1998 have done on their side—to enhance decision to test a nuclear device. “India better access to the armed forces. to the Karakoram has always taken strong, difficult deci- Away from the border, the mood in highway is being sions when its fundamental interests political circles in New Delhi and else- were involved. I think this continues to where has undergone a significant vehemently and be true today,” he adds. change. Political leaders, including those unfairly opposed Bambawale also refers to the recent from the ruling BJP, like its national guidelines India announced for invest- general secretary Ram Madhav and by China. ment from China, saying, “The recent

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 15 FOREIGN/CHINA-INDIA

Indian, Chinese soldiers in a face-off near the Pangong lake in Ladakh

change in FDI flows from China is in India’s basic interest. Even then, we will continue to welcome Chinese investment but through the govern- ment route.” Stressing his initial point, he says, “I believe there is more conti- nuity than change in India’s policy toward China.” But the current developments play out at a time when the US and China are locked in a major battle for supremacy and influence at the global stage. How will it affect India, whose ties with Washington have been growing steadily over the years? “The US affects all major bilateral relations in the world,” says Raja Mohan. “As the second most impor- tant power, China does the same today.” Referring to developments of the 1970s, when the US engaged China diplomatically, Raja Mohan points out how it forced New Delhi to lean more towards Moscow. According to him, after four decades of deepening economic integration, America and China are drifting apart. Domestic politics in the US, awaiting a points out, there is a desire to call out risen over the past decades, while the presidential election, has certainly Chinese handling of COVID-19 and economic relationship has become complicated the dynamic. It can also try to position India as an alternative unbalanced, with a massive trade defi- be presumed that domestic political destination for global value chains. cit against India that has been difficult considerations make it ever more On the other, there seems to be an to overcome. “But the stakes for both important for President Xi Jinping to awareness of the need for continued countries are only higher now,” he be seen as standing up to American investment flows from China and the says. “One hopes the current tensions pressure. “All countries will now have importance of not getting into a hos- will not escalate into a major crisis.” to cope with worsening ties between tile fracas with a stronger neighbour. Former foreign secretary Sibal has no US and China,” says Raja Mohan. “The tensions between these compet- illusions about the future of Sino- Indian ties with China must navi- ing imperatives needs to be managed Indian ties. “The impact of China’s gate these choppy waters, with India better,” adds Raghavan. hegemonic ambitions on India will ensuring that much-needed invest- So far, India and China have done remain a serious problem, requiring, ment from China continues to pour well to manage the contradictions in as before, engagement and hedging,” in. “The step to change the approval their relations. As Raja Mohan indi- he observes in an opinion piece. route for Chinese investments was cates, border tensions have steadily Bambawale is more pragmatic. necessary to prevent China’s preda- “India-China relations have been tory economic policies,” says Sibal. He complex. It is likely to get more so points out that there is no bar to now”. He feels India needs to keep its Chinese investments per se, the “Better infrastructure relation with China on track while intent is to prevent China’s acquiring and communica- furthering its national interest. He assets on the cheap as a result of their points out the need for a new tem- fall in value owing to the pandemic. tions have increased plate, as the underlying realities have Raghavan is sceptical whether chances of opposing changed. “This was the effort made at future ties between the two neigh- the Wuhan Informal Summit. But it is bours will be smooth. “I think New patrols coming still a work in progress,” says the Delhi needs to be clear about the kind face-to-face,” says former envoy to China. That work, it of relationship it wants with China,” is to be hoped, must never be hostage says Raghavan. On one hand, he Gautam Bambawale. to border tensions. O

16 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 THE AUTHOR IS MEMBER, NATIONAL SECURITY OPINION/ ADVISORY BOARD, AND FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF Lt Gen. (retd) Subrata Saha ARMY STAFF AND KASHMIR CORPS COMMANDER.

The Abusage Of Rhetoric Judicious diplomacy can resolve any boundary issue through the hitherto successful mechanism between India and Nepal for the purpose

time-honoured India- Tibet and China. Both the Rana rulers of Nepal and the Nepalese kings THE Nepal relations are going accepted the boundary and did not raise any objection with the through yet another test— Government of India after India’s Independence. this time around it’s about In a media interview the defence minister of Nepal exacerbated the spat the interpretation of the two-century with an attempt to incite the Gorkha soldiers who serve in the Indian old Treaty of Sagauli, ratified on March Army. In doing so, he is trying to harm the special bond that exists 4, 1816 between the King of Nepal and between India and Nepal. India, Nepal, and UK had signed the tripartite the British Company. agreement in 1947, according to which 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9 Gorkha Rifles On May 8, 2020, Union Defence joined the and 2, 6, 7 and 10 Gurkha Rifles joined the British Minister , through a Army. Over the years, UK has video event, inaugurated the road link reduced the complement of Gurkhas from Dharchula (Uttarakhand) to substantially. India, on the other Lipulekh (on the border with China). hand, has increased the number of The road would help boost trade and Gorkha units, with new raisings from economic growth in this border region time to time. According to an IDSA and facilitate the Mansarovar Yatra. article of 2017, there are The road, constructed by the Border approximately 1,27,000 pensioners Roads Organisation, has taken some (90,000 of the Indian Army and time to build due to heavy snowfall, 37,000 of the Central and state steep slopes, extremely low governments as well as temperatures, restricted working paramilitary), in Nepal. Some season, besides numerous flash floods members of the Communist Party in and cloudbursts causing disruptions Nepal have tried in the past to strike and loss of lives and equipment. at this special bond. The institutional The Government of Nepal reacted to strength of the Army and the the inauguration by unveiling a new qualities of the soldiers ensured that political map of Nepal, placing the they have weathered through crises areas of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and like the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, Lipulekh as part of their territory. Nepal’s sudden and the occasional standoff in the Concomitantly, there were caustic and past. In today’s hyperactive social unreasonable remarks made by the territorial claims media environment, extra prime minister of Nepal in parliament. precautions against disinformation According to the 1816 Treaty of notwithstanding, would be in order. An outreach to the Sagauli, Nepal renounced all claims to the Ranas and the pensioner community, to sensitise the disputed Tarai, or lowland country, them about the vested interests, may and ceded its conquests west of the kings had no issue also help. river Kali and extending to the Sutlej. with the boundary According to reports appearing in Effectively, river Kali was accepted as the media, the Nepalese parliament the Western boundary of Nepal with both before and after has not passed the constitutional British India, and post 1947, between amendment for the new map. This is India and Nepal. At the root of the Independence. a positive development, as there are current controversy are Nepal’s recent mechanisms in place to settle claims stating that the source of the boundary issues between India and Nepal. Set up in 1981, the India-Nepal Kali lies at Limpiyadhura, hence Joint Boundary Working Group has been able to complete almost 98 per Kalapani and Lipulekh, to the east of cent of its mandate—to resolve boundary issues, demarcate the the Kali, belong to Nepal. The Survey international border and manage boundary pillars. Perhaps an of India maps since the 1870s showed expeditious resolution of the remaining two per cent, through diplomatic the area of Lipulekh down to Kalapani means, should take care of the issue. India-Nepal relations are much too as part of British India. The British precious to be frittered away in rhetoric. O used the Lipulekh pass for trade with (Views expressed are personal.)

JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 17 THE AUTHOR IS A RETIRED INDIAN FOREST SERVICE OPINION/ OFFICER. HE HAS NUMEROUS PUBLICATIONS IN Rathin Banerjee SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS IN INDIA AND ABROAD. What the Otter Knows About the Cyclone The Sunderbans is safe—as is the tiger. Nature has no intention to create disharmony within itself

PTI

Boats capsized and sunk in surging waves during the storm

reality can often now. To recap, the formation—an estimated width of 40 km at the eye SURFACE so batter our and 120 km for the whole wall cloud—descended from the south of lifeworld, and so coastal Digha on the Bay of Bengal, at a speed of 30-40 kmph. Its moist overwhelm our core held the gigantic energy of a super storm rotating anti-clockwise at senses, that it’s difficult to grasp a a speed of 160-180 kmph, accompanied by deeper reality. Remember how we As a natural gusts up to 200 kmph. It left in its wake a were able to think contrarian about trail of destruction as localities and the COVID-19 pandemic—over and barrier, the streets cowered and lay blanketed in above our natural species-level dis- darkness as power was switched off to may—as a chance for nature to heal Sunderbans avoid accidents. Soon, water from over- itself? On May 20 at around 1730 took the full brunt flowing drains merged with the street to hours, we got another chance to revisit resemble one large stream of gushing our assumptions as the cyclone as it checked the water. It had rained a full 244 mm in Amphan entered over the gloomy speed of cyclone approximately five hours. expectant skies of Calcutta and its Now let’s zero in on a key site: the adjoining areas. We know the basics by Amphan. Sunderbans forest, 120 km south-south-

18 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 OPINION/ Rathin Banerjee

east of Calcutta. As a peripheral human habitat, it was as exposed and vulnerable (if not more) as the city and its suburbs to the huge cyclonic core of Amphan. But as a natural barrier, it took the full brunt as it checked the speed of the cyclonic formation. This is as was to be expected. In seasonal low-pressure situations, gusty winds and thunderstorms approach Bengal from the south over the Sunderbans in a unidirectional path; so the mangrove forests act as efficient wind-breakers. The havoc that Amphan caused to Calcutta is there for all to see. But what drama or tragedy was taking place in those mangroves—the arcane depths of Sunderbans? The sparse human set- tlements there were torn asunder. But what about its other denizens? After all, it’s home to the largest and most dangerous crocodile in the world, the Crocodylus porosus, and the heartbeat The Sunderbans and pride of any Indian forest, the tiger is a strong charismatic tiger! swimmer First, a brief map. The total area of Sunderbans is 9,630 sq km, containing a constituted forest area of 4,260 sq km of evergreen mangrove forest— An overall recorded in 1707, and an earthquake in indeed, the single-most extensive 1737. Water rose by 40 feet and most mangrove forest in the world, which balance is areas were depopulated. has been under scientific management Now, numerous studies have been done for over a century. The area outside it maintained to study the effects of natural calamities is land reclaimed from the delta in as a web of on human populations and chart out a phases with government approval, course of action to help secure the fringe beginning as far back as Warren interrelated population settled in Sunderbans—even Hastings in 1770. Even those early factors. Take the if observed tragically in the breach. But records show the prime objective for measuring the strains on its true deni- reclamation to be human settlement tiger, for instance. zens, its wildlife, has never been easy. and agriculture. We can start with what is apparent: the The terrestrial and anthropogenic forest survives in all its pristine glory. It (human impact on environment) foot- is as if natural calamities and storms like Amphan have made a deal with prints on the Sundarbans reveals a the natural world. That it will save its harshest strike for the tumultuous history. It has always been anthropogenic element, or on human activity that pollutes the subjected to periodic ravages of environment. The natural world has no intention to cause disharmony nature in the form of cyclones, inun- within itself. Some damage is expected—a tiger, for instance, was found dation by tidal bores, earthquakes, dead on the forest floor following a storm in 1991. It had apparently fallen erosion and degradation of soil when into the current of a large estuary amid incessant rain and strong winds, estuarine rivers changed courses, as when a steep shoreline gave away under its weight. The tiger could have also land subsidence. Early evidences managed to swim ashore but was injured by a sharp, broken stem of a tree of human presence were mostly swept that jutted out at an angle from the river bed. Submerged and hence away owing to subsidence in the whole unseen, the stem pierced the tiger’s abdomen—the strong current of lower Bengal during the middle of bringing about the impalement. 6th century AD. Many popular ports But accidents do not give us a rule. An overall balance is maintained as a and cities have thus disappeared from web of interrelated factors. Take the Sunderbans tiger. It’s a strong swim- our maps! Even in 1688, Sagar Island mer. Its tail base is thicker and more muscular than that of other Indian had a population of 2,00,000 people— tigers, since it habitually uses it as an oar. Plus, the high grounds of the but land subsidence and inundation forest archipelago are not always submerged for a long period. Water swept away the entire population that drains out to the sea quickly, unlike the stagnant, rancid pools we see in year. A major subsidence was again cities. On the flip side, if the peaking time of the cyclonic surge coincides

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 19 OPINION/ Rathin Banerjee

PTI

Amphan destroyed homes and inundated fields in Sunderbans

with the lunar phase, that triggers a fast receding waters of the estuary leave bore tide—and things are on tenter- Amphan holds ample fish in the eddies created on the hooks for the entire wild population. no bias...pulling shoreline and on the large cavities on the On May 20, it was the phase of the forest floor left by uprooted trees. It waning crescent, just one day to the down the high happens in the cities too. In an incident new moon…the time for very high branches for the reported to the BBC on May 21, 2020, a natural tides! So the threat from unique sight had been spotted near the Amphan was extreme—the tidal surge herbivores to gates of Presidency University on College would have swallowed more and more Street, Calcutta. A small catfish, high ground. And seawater did indeed feast on leaves on marooned as the street waters receded push 25 km inland. Shrinking high the forest floor. back to the Hooghly, was being preyed on ground would mean no ‘social by a street dog. So imagine places where distancing’. Putting prey within nature is bountiful! Tigers, fishing cats, reaching distance of predator, with no otters having the time of their life; free meals literally, with no workload escape route, sounds like nature on their shoulders. The Amphan holds no bias, like a herd of elephants playing a cruel joke on one species. But passing through a forest, and pulling down the high branches to the again, a tiger is not a wanton killer. It ground, scattering succulent leaves on the forest floor that would only kills when hungry. This writer has otherwise have been out of reach for the herbivores. As fresh rainwater seen tigers pass by bait without trickles down the trunks of trees and drips off the tips of cupped palms of making any attempt to kill them. leaves, all take turns to sip at the nectar, for they had been drinking Under Amphan, the universe of both saline water till then. predator and prey was equally Why should humans be left out of their share of nature’s bounty? The huge threatened. No one would have been cache of freshwater received by coastal river systems offers a chance for a thinking of just a meal, literally. sizeable influx of the dream fish of Bengal, the Hilsa! Wait for it to happen. O Talking of meals, the day after, the (Views are personal.)

20 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 #BollywoodTalkiesOutlook TALKies with

Episode - 5

Actor nimrat kaur On her experience of working in and Lunchbox and what lies ahead.

in conversation with

Watch on June 5, 2020 (Friday), At 9 PM

Mitrajit Bhattacharya @outlookindia Columnist & Author @outlookmagazine SANS FRONTIERS

WORLD TOUR

FOREIGN UNITED STATES Donald Trump HAND threatened to shift the Republican National Convention from North Carolina because of restrictions on the crowd size due to the coronavirus pande­ mic. The event is due for August 24-27. Trump has threatened to relocate the convention to some other state if the Democrat governor of North Carolina Go granny This does not guarantee “full attendance”. RAINING to compete in the Olympics could Tbe every athlete’s dream. But some are now septuagenarian training to achieve an equally challenging takes up the milestone—the Centenarian Olympics. Unlike centenarian the Summer, Winter or Para-Olympics that are challenge held every four years, the Centenarian Olympics has no fixed date. It is a milestone reached by individuals. Since living to be a 100 is not a given, a new concept about training for one’s own milestone of a century is becoming a popular trend among people over 50 in the US and Canada. Susan Winder, 57, is training for 2062—the year of her own ISRAEL The country’s longest serving Centenarian Olympics. When that year comes, she still wants to travel, prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, garden, play with her great-grandchildren and move around made history when he was made to comfortably. These are things she does now. But she’s getting fit to stand trial for corruption—the first Israeli make sure she can still do them in 43 years. “I walk two to five miles leader to be tried while holding office. The every day. I do some strength training and flexibility work,” Wilder, 70-year-old denied charges of bribery, CEO and founder of a family medicine practice in Arizona, US, told fraud and breach of trust. He was sworn BBC. “Every choice I’m making I’m thinking about things that work in back to office last week in a rare unity my favour. It’s about self-preservation.” When just surviving for a government with his rival Benny Gantz. century is a worthy goal for most, others like Susan have set themselves targets for when they reach 100: staying healthy, active and able. Peter Attia, a 47-year-old Canadian-American surgeon with a medical practice focused on longevity and an aspiring centenarian, said he came up with the idea during the funeral of a friend’s parent, who was unable to do the things he loved, like golf and gardening, in his final years. “We’re sitting there at the funeral, and I don’t know, I’m just thinking there’s got to be a way to stop this,” he told a podcast. “We do all this amazing training for athletes who are trying to go to the Olympics…but why aren’t we training to be kick-ass 90-year-olds?” Felicien Kabuga, who RWANDA Attia listed 18 things he wanted to do when he turned 100: outwitted prosecutors of the Rwandan everyday tasks like carrying groceries up flights of stairs, putting a genocide tribunal for two-and-a-half suitcase in an overhead bin and getting off the floor with a single decades, using 28 aliases and powerful point of support—all challenges for a century-old body. That’s why connections across two continents, he wants to start practising now. was arrested from a Paris suburb. The Unlike the quest for gold in Olympics, one’s Centenarian 84-year-old wealthy businessmen Olympics are different: they’re a personal competition against the evaded arrest for so long that the body’s natural decline. What can be a better prize when you are still international tribunal set up to bring to living your best life, even after a century? O justice those responsible for the genocide, had ceased to function.

22 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 Episode - 5 The Pandemic Politics of Maharashtra

Shaina NC Bhavna Vij-Aurora National Spokesperson Political Editor, and Treasurer, Outlook Maharashtra BJP

Nawab Malik Sudhir Suryawanshi Mirza Arif Beg NCP Leader and Cabinet Author of Checkmate Special Correspondent, Minister, Maharashtra Outlook

join us on @outlookindia @outlookmagazine on May 30, Saturday, 6:00 pm COVID/CONGRESS

PHOTOS: PTI

Rahul Gandhi interacts with migrant labourers Unlocking the Pandemic Vote The lockdown has given the Gandhi siblings enough ammo against the BJP, but scripting a Congress comeback demands much more.

Puneet Nicholas Yadav sented as constructive suggestions Since the Congress’s drubbing in the rather than political criticism, Rahul’s polls last year, the Gandhi potshots at the Centre, over its alleged siblings had rarely exercised their ET us hope this isn’t mishandling of the health, economic vocal chords with such alacrity and another transient hobby to and humanitarian crises in the wake of persistence for a public cause—barring pass the otherwise dull COVID-19 have continued unabated a few speeches during assembly poll “Lhours of the lockdown,” says a senior on Twitter. campaigns and protests against the Congress leader, referring to the While Rahul has been vocal about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Now, vociferous interventions made by big national picture, Priyanka has been the two have found their own Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi focused on Uttar Pradesh, where she is interpretation of the prime minister’s Vadra over the past two months on in charge as a Congress general secre- call for being ‘local ke liye vocal’. While various issues linked to the COVID-19 tary. She extended a cooperative hand asked Indians to speak pandemic and nationwide lockdown. to the Yogi Adityanath government for up for locally made products, Rahul This period has seen Rahul address bringing back migrant workers from and Priyanka have made it clear that three pressers and promise more. He other states in buses sponsored by the they prefer to speak out for India’s has also started an ‘in conversation’ Congress. The offer, though, was voiceless locals such as migrant series on social media platforms spurned and her close associates, workers and others worst hit during featuring experts and common including personal secretary Sandeep the lockdown. citizens. He ventured out to directly Singh and state Congress chief Ajay Congress media cell chief Randeep interact with migrant workers forced Kumar Lallu, were booked for alleg- Surjewala insists “no politics should be to return to their native villages for edly forging the registration numbers seen in the actions” of Rahul and Pri- lack of jobs, money and food. Pre- of the buses she promised. yanka, and that the duo has “always

24 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 COVID/CONGRESS

spoken for the national and public migrants as a whole. If this strategy one of those who wonder whether interest”, but the political messaging works, the reliance on multiple Rahul’s ongoing interventions are a this time is unambiguous—that the strategies to appeal to , OBCs, “transient hobby”. Priyanka too will Gandhi siblings have taken up cudgels Muslims or adivasis will be reduced. “have to be more visible, accessible and for migrant workers and the poor even The BSP and SP will certainly be vocal” in Uttar Pradesh, he adds, as the BJP-led Centre continues to worried if migrants rise above the because “the state still has no cadre to gloss over the hardships faced by this -ST-OBC divide to vote en work for the party in the assembly mass of humanity. The Wayanad MP’s masse,” adds Narayan. polls” due early 2022. demand for direct cash transfer of Rs While all this sounds like sound “Once Priyanka takes up a challenge, 7,500 and free distribution of 10 kg of political strategy for the Congress, she does not abandon it. Her responsi- food grains to every household party leaders are cautious about pre- bility is to revive the party in Uttar excluded from the income tax bracket, dicting the implications of this new Pradesh and she has been working at it both for a period of six months, was with complete dedication,” says recently backed by leaders of 22 oppo- Aradhana ‘Mona’ Misra, Congress leg- sition parties in an online meeting islature party leader in the UP assem- called by interim Congress president bly. “Our commitment is to the people . of Uttar Pradesh and we will not let For the electorally beleaguered them down.” Grand Old Party that was, until Many Congress old-timers, however, recently, unable to articulate its stand feel Priyanka is making the same mis- on politically sensitive issues and was takes in Uttar Pradesh that Rahul has often embarrassed by its leaders previously been criticised for. “Ever publicly airing divergent views, Rahul since she took charge of UP, loyal par- and Priyanka seem to have provided a tymen who have worked for decades simple narrative that is hard to have been sidelined,” says a UP Con- criticise—that “the poor need gress leader. “She disbanded the dis- immediate help”. And, within this trict committees after the Lok Sabha narrative, migrant workers have results and later sidelined many sen- primacy of place. “No political party iors to appoint her own nominees. has ever treated migrant workers as a “If we have no cadre Also, anyone who wishes to meet Pri- composite vote bank,” says political and no leaders, who yanka has to first win over her personal analyst Prof Badri Narayan. “In the secretary (Sandeep Singh). We faced current situation, this community is will Priyanka or Rahul the same problem with Rahul when united by suffering and it appears that rely on to mobilise everyone had to go through Kanishka the Congress wants to rebuild itself by Singh (Rahul’s secretary till 2014) or reaching out to this mass, which support?” asks a other non-political members of his incidentally has a significant presence coterie.” Complaints against Sandeep in Hindi heartland states like Uttar former Congress MP. Singh’s behaviour with Congress work- Pradesh and Bihar, where the party is ers in the state are aplenty. Singh, a the weakest. Rahul and Priyanka can experiment by the Gandhi siblings. “As former JNU students union president improve their party’s position by of now it appears that we are the only who was with the left-wing AISA dur- recasting the old ‘garibi hatao’ (remove party taking on the BJP over its mis- ing his varsity days, had joined Rahul’s poverty) politics in a ‘pravasi bachao’ handling of the crisis, but the impact of team in 2018 and was later moved to (save the migrants) narrative.” what we are doing right now can be Priyanka’s office. The bus row also drew flak from assessed only when normalcy is Party leaders insist that the Gandhi Bahujan Samaj Party supremo restored,” says a Congress functionary. siblings must use the lockdown period Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav’s “Press conferences, interaction with to work on a strategy to rebuild the Samajwadi Party—‘secular’ outfits experts and social media activity are cadre in states where the party has with which the Congress wanted a no substitute for real grassroots poli- been pushed to the fringes; particu- grand alliance just a year ago. Narayan tics and that is where the Congress larly in UP where Priyanka hopes to says the sharp criticism from the BSP loses out.” lead the Congress in the 2022 assem- and SP indicates growing political Many in the party feel both Rahul and bly polls without allying with a insecurity among the two dominant Priyanka will have to lead a sustained regional party. “There is no doubt that regional parties of Uttar Pradesh. “By campaign on the ground to extract the humanitarian crisis caused by the pitting herself directly against maximum electoral returns from the lockdown has given us a plank for Adityanath when both Mayawati and “clear articulation of a strategy for the revival, but if we have no cadre and no Akhilesh were silent on the crisis, poor and for the period after the lock- leaders, what will Rahul or Priyanka do Priyanka has already scored a political down”. “You cannot afford to go off on a when things get back to normal? Who point. The Congress is trying to effect a vacation the moment international will they rely on to mobilise support?” shift in politics by appealing to flights are resumed,” says a former MP, asks another former Congress MP. O

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 25 CRICKET/BCCI

Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah will be able to continue as BCCI president and secretary respectively if the SC agrees to the proposed changes in the petition

THAT NAGGING LINE The BCCI seeks to loosen the tight knots of its new constitution; the SC’s decision will impact the future of Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah as cricket administrators

Soumitra Bose of the betting scandal. Srinivasan finally had to step aside. The BCCI held its general elections in October 2019, 33 months after its affairs was overseen by the Supreme HE Virat Kohlis, M.S. Dhonis, Mithali Rajs or Shafali Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), who Vermas fill the bleachers and headlines, but most of were to put in place the Lodha committee reforms. Now, the the cogs in the giant wheel that’s Indian cricket are BCCI is again at the doorstep of the apex court to know the Tmade of officials and administrators . At times, prominent future of its office-bearers, including former India captain officials have grabbed headlines too, often for wrong Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah, the son of Union home minis- reasons. In March 2014, during the ter Amit Shah. The richest cricket asso- early days of the 2013 IPL match-fixing ciation of the world faces a power and betting case, Justice A.K. Patnaik The BCCI wants the SC vacuum as its president, vice-president, had famously commented that N. secretary and joint-secretary have Srinivasan’s continuance as president to waive the three-year either resigned, stopped functioning or of Board of Control for Cricket in India cooling off clause that at the end of their tenures as per the president was “nauseating”. Srini- new BCCI constitution approved by the vasan, then one of the most powerful stops Ganguly, Shah, SC in August 2018. It’s an unprece- men in world cricket, was in soup George from holding dented situation, where the Board’s top because his son-in-law, a team owner office-bearers are technically staring at of Chennai Super Kings, was in the eye on to their posts. an uncertain future.

26 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 CRICKET/BCCI

Ever since the BCCI’s private broadcast partners, ESPN-STAR Sports, won a landmark Supreme Court Woxsen University: case against on sharing of live sports feed in 2013, the Board has seldom lost a major case in the Telangana’s very Own apex court. Flushed with billions of dollars from the sale of broadcast rights and patronised by major political Global Education Hub parties, the BCCI has never shied away from flexing its financial muscle. Its utter arrogance can be gauged from n autonomous institution, Mr. Veen Pula the fact that it has repeatedly refused to come under the started in the year 2014, Founder & Chancellor RTI Act. The SC might have spoken harshly about its comprising of 3 diverse affairs during the hearing of the 2013 IPL match-fixing schools,A Woxsen School of Business, and betting case, but no court or government, over 90 Woxsen School of Arts & Design, years, have tamed the BCCI fully. Woxsen School of Architecture & Planning, will now be operational HE appointment of Ganguly and Shah as BCCI under the umbrella of Woxsen president and secretary respectively, immedi- University. ately after the end of the CoA’s stint, was an auda- Mr. Praveen Kr. Pula, Founder & Chairman, always had the Tcious riposte to R.M. Lodha, the former Chief Justice of bold vision of building an Institution of excellence in Higher India who was instrumental in scripting a new constitu- education, where we innovate & transform the conventional tion with stringent rules on the tenure of a cricket educational processes through application of knowledge, administrator. Knowing fully well that Ganguly, Shah and joint secretary Jayesh George can function for less research & industry feedback to further scale up community than 12 months each, the Board’s AGM elected them benefit. unanimously on October 23, 2019. The Board members Woxsen University will be built on 4 Core Pillars of Applied were certainly not naïve—senior BJP leaders worked Learning, Academic Excellence, Global Outlook and Diversity dramatically behind the scenes to pitchfork Ganguly, & Inclusivity. Shah and minister Anurag Thakur’s brother Arun Singh Dhumal to the hottest seats in Indian cricket. Top posi- Woxsen University will always remain centred around our tions in BCCI almost always come with certain promises students and shall bring some of the most disruptive PG & and guarantees. UG programs in emerging technologies like Data Sciences, In March 2020, Mahim Verma quit as BCCI vice-presi- Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Robotics. Woxsen dent after being elected as secretary of the Uttarkhand has already invested in setting up a State-of-the-Art AI and cricket association. With the COVID-19 pandemic Robotics Lab to provide simulated case studies & Live projects wrecking BCCI’s plans to organise the IPL 2020, cricket to make its students Industry ready. administration lost steam till the BCCI honchos appar- Woxsen will be blazing the Education field with some of ently discovered mid-April that the days of the the unique, First of its kind Programs in Entrepreneurship office-bearers were numbered. Since CEO Rahul Johri, Development. Centred around giving a whole new global who enjoyed sweeping powers under the Vinod Rai-led business perspective, the programs will provide students an CoA, had already been sidelined, treasurer Dhumal opportunity to win a seed capital of USD 2000 to help nurture became the de facto in-charge since Shah had ‘officially’ their idea to a monetizable product. stopped functioning early May. The BCCI finally filed an online application in mid- May, seeking direction from the Special Bench of CJI Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justice Nageswara Rao on a slew of amendments made to the constitution. Conspicuously, its petition urges the SC to waive the three-year ‘cooling off’ clause that restricts Ganguly, Shah and George from operating as BCCI office-bearers for two full terms of three years each. The new constitu- tion, approved in August 2018 by the SC on the basis of the Lodha reforms, prohibits anyone who has served six years in either a state association or BCCI from contin- uing as an office-bearer. BCCI now wants to delink their officials from any time they might have spent in a state The vision of our Hon’ble Chief Minister & Hon’ble cricket association. Education Minister, Govt. Of Telangana, to make Telangana Prominent among the reforms that Justice Lodha had feature on the Global map when it comes to making Global suggested was one that sought to curb the noxious ‘con- Quality Education accessible within Telangana state aligns flict of interest’ in Indian cricket—preventing sons and perfectly with the aspiration of Mr. Praveen Kr. Pula, who has daughters of erstwhile administrators to occupy posi- set his eyes firm on taking Woxsen University to the FT Global tions of power. “The fact that someone’s son, or some- list of Top 100 Ranked Universities in the world.

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM CRICKET/BCCI

PHOTOGRAPH: BCCI

As BCCI president, N. Srinivasan had great rapport with then India captain and CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni

one’s brother, or someone’s daughter have been elected status quo and deliberate at a later date. “Status quo is a unopposed obviously means that the spirit of the reforms likely option as then BCCI work continues. In all fairness, has been seriously dented. Of course, the letter of the Ganguly or Shah should get a full term,” says a senior advo- reforms has been followed, but the spirit has been dam- cate. There are about six amendments suggested in the aged,” Lodha had said in an interview to Outlook in Octo- 30-page BCCI petition. Apart from the ‘cooling off’ clause, ber last year. Lodha had also taken umbrage to the fact that the Board wants sweeping powers for the secretary and when the new constitution was cleared by the SC, quite a asks that age should not be made a factor in choosing a rep- few reforms were toned down. resentative to the ICC. Indeed, if the SC special bench approves the changes The decision of the bench will not only have its conse- sought in the BCCI’s aggressive petition, there will be very quences in the BCCI but ICC as well. With incumbent little impact left of the original reforms recommended by Shashank Manohar not keen on a third two-year term as the Lodha panel. “I don’t feel like speaking on BCCI ICC chairman, the position will be up for grabs. Although affairs,” says Justice Lodha, when asked to comment on the England’s Colin Graves is pitted to succeed former BCCI fresh application. chief Manohar, Ganguly’s name has done the rounds in Legal experts feel the BCCI petition is “not a priority” for recent weeks. ICC directors are each allowed to nominate the special bench. Justice Bobde has never been keen on one candidate, who has to be either a present or past ICC the BCCI matter; it is learnt that Justice Rao’s role will be director. Nominees with the support of two or more Full crucial. He was part of the Justice Mukul Mudgal commit- Member directors are eligible to contest the election. It tee when the probe into the IPL betting and fixing case had leaves Srinivasan with an outside chance too. Ganguly started. “He knows this case from its won’t mind a stint in this coveted posi- roots. BCCI will really have to tion, given his goal of winning India convince him to win a favourable order If elected ICC chief, the largest share of ICC’s revenue and and it’s not going to happen in a jiffy,” keeping Test cricket alive. says a legal expert. “It also depends on Ganguly would aim The next three months will be preg- who is arguing from the other side.” to win India the nant with possibilities. While cricket- The BCCI application may come up ers wait to return to action, power for hearing in June, since Ganguly has largest share of ICC equations are set to change as winds to vacate his chair by July-end. Legally revenue and keep with strong under-currents sweep the speaking, the bench could either allow cricketing world. A favourable wind the changes straight away or order a Test cricket alive. can get India or BCCI what it wants. O

28 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 Join the WEBINAR ON→ Is it safe to go to hospitals?

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APOORVA SALKADE SURESH K. PANDEY Salik Ahmed

How do you trace the outlines of pain on a gigantic, sub- continental scale…a cartography of pain, if you like? Take as your sketching ink some extremes of the human condition. As it happens, it’s available in plenty in the real world. The basic facts will do. On May 23, a 48-year-old migrant labourer died on the Shramik Express—minutes before the train from Mumbai pulled into the last station, Varanasi. A fabled last station, civilisationally. But why did Jokhan Yadav die? First, there was the heat. Then, he had gone without food or water for over 60 hours, as he moved over the northern Indian plains, like lakhs of others, trying to reach his hometown Jaunpur. No food or water was served on the train during the entire journey. And stick-wielding GRP personnel wouldn’t let anybody get down from the train. It thus became, in a per- version of how it was intended, a moving concentration camp.

Now take such a picture and paint it again and again, or photocopy it a few million times for efficiency. Then we can begin to fathom pain that comes in the size of a country. Of course, given the swiftness with which agony is being cast as heroism, Jokhan too may have been hailed as an icon of endurance, if he had survived. For, trauma is also felt by the classes that 650km have occasion to consume this explosion of dismal news along with their takeway food, delivered by gloved hands, and Dalgona coffee—and still Mukesh Maurya,22, a daily have appetite left over for messianic signs of heroism. Only the softest wage labourer, travelled from nudge is required. Ask Jyoti Kumari, the 15-year-old who cycled 1,200 km from the parody spires and glass boxes of Gurgaon to her real world— Delhi to reach Musafirkhana, in Bihar—with her ailing father on the pillion. The Cycling his village in UP’s Amethi dis- Federation of India offered her a trial! The girl refused the offer citing the primacy of her studies. What can connect the pain in her limbs, the unre- trict, 650 km away. He set off quited hero fetish of Indians who can afford to stay locked down, and the on March 28, determined to sparse economy of that her family had fled in the first place? be home to see his baby What brand of sociology can unpack the paradoxes? Something must. For, now we have an embarrassment of riches in terms being born. It took many of samples. India has turned into a giant lab of extreme sociology ever hours of walking, more hours since the lockdown happened: lakhs of labourers in the cities made a dash for their homes, often hundreds of miles away. Braving—not braving, suf- of waiting and three gruel- fering—heat, hunger and the assault of police batons. On foot, on cycles, on ling, crowded bus rides. “I rickety rickshaws, often crossing forests and rivers. At least a hundred died reached just in time. My wife in accidents, run over by trains, hit by speeding trucks, or when their vehi- cles overturned. Some succumbed to sheer exhaustion—in all the glory of was in labour and we had to the Indian summer. get an ambulance to take her Amrit Kumar, all of 25, suffered a heat stroke while travelling on the back of a truck, from to his native village in UP’s Basti. His friend to hospital,” Maurya said. from the village, Mohammed Saiyub, got down with him midway and took

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 31 TRIBHUVAN TIWARI him to a hospital, but the severe dehydration proved fatal. Other passengers had urged Saiyub to leave the friend. In a sane society, this would have been a story of hardy friendship, but in our mine- field of a society, it attained the semantics of reli- gious amity. Amrit, ironically named in retrospect, leaves behind those who had conferred that name on him: his not-so-able-bodied father and mother, besides four younger siblings. Among those millions in Brownian motion, there were those who made it home and those who could not. There was a third kind too: the likes of Saiyub, who reached home but marked by such deep loss that the torment of the journey paled in compari- son. Ram Pukar Pandit, whose weeping face bec­ ame a symbol of migrant misery, reached home but could not see his year-old son even in death—he hadn’t seen the child in life either. The little body was flown down the waters of the Budhi Gandak by the time he reached. The loss and the voiding will be evened in the full- ness of time. For now, they, and their compatriots in suffering, have reached the villages where they feel safe, and protected, and as Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz noted, where all their attempts to escape cease. Out of four crore migrant labourers, 75 lakh have returned homes, we were informed last week. For those who have crossed the hump, questions of more earthly character loom large. What will they do in their villages and towns, the very places they left for reasons of want? They have the promise of an infinitely basic meal at home, but their needs will mutate. The lockdown might lift soon, at least partially, but will those scarred by this summer ever return? At the other guarantees 100 days of work and a daily maximum end, the comfort and cushion of home might wear wage of Rs 220 to every person in a village. In 50 out soon too, and the limitations of the village econ- days beginning April 1, NREGA received applica- omy might start gnawing at them. For some, it could tions from 35 lakh new workers across India. be a question of if, but for most, it’s a question of Compare with financial year 2019-20: in all its 365 when. They are merely waiting for an opening. days, there were only 15 lakh new applicants. Why? Avinash Kumar, assistant professor at The figures are, in a real sense, a statement on JNU’s Centre for Informal Sector and Labour the terrible paucity of work options in rural India. Studies, takes us back to the basic driver of migra- It’s not only the returnees, even locals who are out tion: the local economy, deficient and unequally of work because of the lockdown are opting for it. distributed, is unable to sustain its working popu- Two weeks ago, the Centre pumped in Rs 40,000 lation. “They are forced to go out and work. crore to strengthen NREGA, in addition to the exi­ There’s also social mobility: better job, better edu- sting budget of Rs 61,000 crore. In the usual cation, better quality of life. So there’s forced mig­ scheme of things, NREGA is often seen only as a ration as well as that driven by a pull.” Mostly, he means of supplementary income and a viable opt­ says, it’s the landless and small and marginal farm- ion for women who can’t go out of the village for ers who migrate to cities. “Within those classes, work for a number of reasons. It didn’t stand up we see people from all castes moving. The more for contest as a primary option because a) the privileged castes, however, have a greater degree of wages are considerably low as compared to city choice in work because of their social capital. You wages, and b) it gives only 100 days of work won’t usually find a savarna carrying bricks at a whereas cities offer plentiful, if irregular, work construction site. You are more likely to find them throughout the year. But in this Covid-bitten sea- working as security guards,” says the professor. son, it has become an option of the last resort. Back in the village, one new variable is NREGA: Rajasthan has the highest number of NREGA the numbers opting for work under the social secu- workers at the moment: 40.3 lakh, as of May 26. In rity scheme are quite telling. As a basic safety net, it the first week of March, that stood at only 10 lakh,

32 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 COVER COVID-19 STORY

APOORVA SALKADE NREGA was an obvious tool for it. “There is no alt­ernative to ensuring a regular cash flow to all those affected. The Employment Guarantee Act would provide work with dignity, and perhaps be the most inexpensive way to rebuild a shattered economy,” she said. Roy had also put forward ano­ther interesting idea. “…an Urban Employ­ ment Guarantee should also be put in place. The shock of the lockdown, and the loss of employ- ment, will be countered only with guaranteed tenure and security of income to help persuade workers to return to their former places of work,” she said. Returning also means forgetting the injustices. Being sprayed with chemicals, being cooped up for days without even food in ad-hoc quarantine cen- tres and errant trains—indeed, their trains being cancelled by chief ministers when wealthy realtors wanted plentiful ‘supply’ of labour. But when have they not forgotten—or should we use the moral word, ‘forgiven’? Many are not even angry with the government; their sense of rights and citizenship too have been economised by the economy of their resources. That’s the other paradox. Are the ordi- nary days in the lives of a migrant worker signifi- cantly better than these days of lockdown? Their years have been filled with the hardest living—the naturalness with which they responded to the crisis, millions opting to walk and cycle for hundreds of miles, speaks of familiarity with physical extremes. Enduring injustice too was perhaps a way of life for them. It was only the accumulated mass of it that made it visible to the privileged classes. Often, the shock and outrage belongs there. As does any sense then fell further to 62,000 by mid-April. That was of the collective betrayal of rights. O because guidelines weren’t clear on NREGA during the first lockdown (March 25-April 14), which res­ ulted in low labour engagement. But the second lockdown guidelines made it very clear that NREGA work could be opened in non-containment zones. “The numbers have soared since then,” says Purna Chandra Kishan, 100km NREGA commissioner, Rajasthan. He attributes Rajasthan’s top rank in enrolment—despite having Migrant labourer Jatin Ram’s only 1.07 crore job cards—to better implementation. pregnant wife, Bindia, who UP, on the other hand, has 1.83 crore job cards but lags behind in the numbers enrolled. “Of the 10-11 walked over 100 km from lakh labourers who have returned to Rajasthan, Ludhiana, delivered a girl 7-8 lakh are already working under NREGA,” child after reaching Ambala says Kishan. The scheme’s success in Rajasthan could also be in Haryana on May 23. But the ascribed to the state being the karmabhoomi of baby died shortly after birth. the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a people’s organisation that spearheaded the cam- It was the first child of the paign for NREGA legislation. Aruna Roy, one of couple in their early 20s. its oldest members, had in an interview to They were on the way Outlook earlier this month suggested that the government needs to ensure a minimal level of home in Bihar. livelihood and income security to labour, farmers and workers in the informal sector, and that

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HOME BITTER HOME A viral photo of a weeping man put the spotlight on his dire circumstances. But by then, it was too late. COVER COVID-19 STORY

SARVESH KASHYAPH

Giridhar Jha poverished family. Since he was not in the vil- lage at the time of his son’s birth, he did not even know what he looked like. AM PUKAR Pandit has at last reunited Busy as he was, working day in and day out as with his family in Bihar, but it is not the a daily-wage labourer at a con- homecoming he was looking forward to. struction site, he wanted to save RAn abiding sense of loss and guilt continues to some money before returning to haunt him ever since he reached his village, his village and see his son. He Pandit’s son Ram distraught and heartbroken—barely a few days wanted to go back before Holi ear- after his 11-month-old son, whom h e had never lier this year, but an ongoing con- Pravesh, born seen, succumbed to a stomach infection. struction project put paid to his The 38-year-old from Basahi village under hopes. And when all activity sud- last year, had Cheria Bariarpur block of is denly stopped due to the lockdown brought yet to reconcile to the fact that he was not from March 25, he was confined to around when his toddler breathed his last his room, which he shared with happiness or, worse, when his body was flown quietly others. As the lockdown was ext­ into a nearby river by his family members in ended in the weeks to come, his to his family his absence. roommates began to leave one comprising wife Pandit’s son Ram Pravesh, who was born last after another and he found himself year, had brought happiness to his family com- all alone, with no money to pay the Bimal Devi and prising his wife Bimal Devi and three daughters, monthly room rent of Rs 6,000. It the eldest nine years old. But he had never seen was at this juncture that he came three daughters. his only son, let alone held him in his arms. His to know that his son was not keep- wife was eight months pregnant when he had to ing well. After receiving an SOS from his wife, suddenly leave to work in Delhi last year. As the he rushed out of his house, panic-stricken, sole breadwinner of his family, he knew that he intending to join the migrants who were out did not have the option of staying back. He had on the highways, marching to their respective to earn every day to support himself and his im- states on foot.

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He had no idea at the time that the distance work regularly, I used to earn around Rs 10,000- between Delhi and his village in Begusarai was 12,000 a month. I don’t know how much I will be not less than 1,200 km. “My only thought was I able to earn here,” he says. “But one thing is would cover the distance to save my ailing son,” sure—I shall not go back.” he says, “Since there was no train or bus availa- This despite the fact that Pandit owns only ble during the lockdown, I had no other option eight dhur (approx 1457 square feet) of land in anyway. I thought I would reach my village in a his village, where his ramshackle house stands. few days. But officials did not allow me to pro- A Kumhar (potter) by caste, Pandit could never ceed beyond the Delhi-UP border.” pursue his family vocation. “My father still Faced with the closure of all exit routes, he got makes pitchers, diyas etc to make ends meet, stranded hundreds of miles away from his son, but I cannot do it due to an accident in my child- whose condition was worsening by the day. On hood that restricted my movement.” May 11, Press Trust of India photographer Atul Pandit hails from a poor village, which has Yadav spotted him sobbing inconsolably on about 30 per cent scheduled caste members. Nizamuddin Bridge while talking to his wife on The areas surrounding his village are dependent his mobile phone. A picture of the grief-stricken on agrarian economy—there are no employment Pandit breaking down over his helplessness avenues in a government enterprise or private soon went viral, making him a poignant symbol industry. A large number of young people, of the migrant crisis during the lockdown. therefore, leave for big cities every year in As fate would have it, a few NGO workers search of jobs. Except for a few families of local came to his rescue, giving him not landlords, most households have at least one of only food and money, but also ar- their members working in faraway places. Faced with the ranging for his return to Bihar on In the face of a massive reverse migration over a Shramik Special train. It was, the past few days, Bihar chief minister Nitish closure of all exit however, too late. His child had Kumar has appealed to all workers returning already died by then. from distant cities to stay back in the state, routes, he Purohit eventually reached promising to find a job for everyone according got stranded Begusarai on the night of May 15 to their skills. Yet, it will be a daunting task for and wanted to meet his family, someone like Pandit to earn enough to support hundreds of but he was first taken to a quaran- his family in the months to come. But he is tine centre. A few days later, he ready to brave all odds. Whatever happens, he miles away from was admitted to a nearby hospital says, he does not want to pay the price for stay- his son, whose for a COVID-19 test. “It was at the ing far from his family again. O hospital that I could finally see condition was my wife and eldest daughter cry- ing from a distance,” Pandit says. worsening. “I was discharged and allowed to go to my village after the test re- km sults were negative.” 1,400 “It never occurred to me that I would never Razia Begum, a teacher see my son while I was leaving for Delhi last year,” says Pandit, unable to hold back his tears. from Bodhan in “And when I finally returned, he was not around. Telangana, rode 1,400 His body had been flown into the Budhi Gandak km on her scooty to river after his death. Due to my misfortune, I could not come back in time to even perform his bring back her son—a last rites properly.” Class XII student— Even as he continues to grapple with his trauma, Pandit now vows to never return to stuck in Andhra’s Delhi or, for that matter, any other place to eke Rehmatabad, 700 km out a livelihood. “I will not go anywhere, I will away. She started on only stay with my family. I have three daughters to marry, but I will try to find work closer to my April 6 and navigated village.” via Google Maps and Pandit has since received free ration for two months from the district administration, but he asking locals. She was does not know what is going to be his next back home on April 8. source of income at home. “In Delhi, if I got

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Grit On The Handlebar Stranded in Gurgaon, Jyoti Kumar cycled 1,200 km in eight days with her father on the pillion to reach home

Giridhar Jha

ERS is an extraordinary tale of triumph against insurmountable odds and institutional apathy. Riding an old bicycle Hwith her injured father perched precariously on its rear, a doughty 15-year-old pedalled to her native

place in Bihar in just eight days to pull off a rescue SONU KISHAN mission that has got the world talking. Described by The New York Times as ‘lion-hearted’, Jyoti While her mother, an anganwadi worker, and Kumari, a resident of Sirhulli village under brother-in-law returned home in February, Jyoti Singhwara block of , and her had to stay back to look after her father. But it feat have become emblematic of the crisis the was getting increasingly difficult for the fat­her- lockdown has engendered for migrant workers duo daughter to survive, especially during the and the lengths to which they have to strive for the lockdown. “After the lockdown was extended, my comfort of home. landlord asked me to clear the rent, but I had run Ever since she returned to her village earlier short of money,” Paswan says. “I this month, people from all walks of life—from did not know how to return home government officials and politicians to volun- because there was no train or bus teers of charity organisations—have been mak- available at the time. But Jyoti Mohan Paswan ing a beeline for her house, offering all kinds of suggested we could return tog­ says his daughter support, including monetary help. The Cycling ether on a bicycle.” Federation of India also invited her for a trial. After convincing her father to might go for Jyoti, however, has rebuffed the offer. She first ride pillion, Jyoti bought a sec- wants to complete her studies, which she had to ond-hand bicycle and started her cycling trials in leave after Class VIII due to her family’s finan- journey on May 10. Pedalling fur­ future, but cial condition. “I want to pass the matriculation iously for hours for eight consec- examination now,” she says. utive days, at times getting help at the moment Impressed with her heroic feat, the district edu- from a tractor or a lorry driver, cation officials have already enrolled her in Class she finally accomplished her mis- education IX at a nearby high school and also given her a new sion to bring her father home on is Jyoti’s bicycle. Her father, Mohan Paswan, says that she May 17. “We stopped at a few may take part in cycling trials in the future, but at places to take short breaks,” she only priority. the moment, education is his daughter’s priority. says. “Many people helped us Jyoti, of course, had not expected fanfare, rew­ with food and other things dur- ard, adulation or accolades when she set out for ing the journey.” an arduous journey along with her father on May Hailed as a modern-day Shravan Kumar, the 10. All she wanted to do was take him home to mythological figure known for literally shoul- mitigate his mental and physical suffering. “My dering the burden of his parents in their old age, father was quite apprehensive about my plan to Jyoti received a grand welcome on arriving at return home on a bicycle during the lockdown, her village. Her father, who had to leave for but I reassured him that I would bring him back Gurgaon because of the dearth of opportunities to the village,” she says. in his flood-prone village, has now been offered Jyoti, along with her mother and brother-in- jobs by some good Samaritans. Once he recuper- law, had gone to Gurgaon in January this year ates, he may not have to return to Gurgaon in after her father, an e-rickshaw driver, sustained search of a livelihood. And he will owe it all to grievous injuries on his knee in an accident. his tenacious daughter. O

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SURESH K. PANDEY

“He lay with his head in my lap. His body was burning, I could feel the heat,” says Saiyub. He told his friend to hang in there and that they’d As He Lay find a doctor somewhere on the route. But, see- ing Amrit’s condition, other passengers in the truck started growing uneasy. Suspecting that Kumar was a COVID-19 patient, they told the driver to get rid of him. Saiyub insisted that they be dropped near a hospital at Dying least. But the frayed nerves ranged against him were overpowering, their demand heartless. Amrit and Saiyub’s bond of friendship, forged in The two were dropped about 50-60 km from the district hospital in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. childhood, would break cruelly on a hot, dusty As they got down, the driver told Saiyub, “Leave highway. This is their story. him. Why are you getting down with him?” It was a thought Saiyub couldn’t countenance even for a moment. All he wanted was his childhood friend Salik Ahmad in Basti, UP to get well and their safe return to Devari—they mostly travelled together. Fortunately, they were dropped where a few good samaritans were serv- T was the morning of May 15. Mohammad ing food and water to migrant labourers in transit; Saiyub (22) and Amrit Kumar (25) had been they called an ambulance for the duo. travelling atop the roof of a truck for over a When Amrit was wheeled into the hospital that Iday. They were returning from Surat in Gujarat, evening, he could barely speak. He and Saiyub where they worked in a textile unit, to their were isolated and kept in different wards. Saiyub village Devari, 1,500 km away in Uttar Pradesh’s couldn’t sleep that night—the first of four sleep- Basti. Amrit had developed a raging fever; his less nights that were to follow—haunted by condition deteriorated as the blazing day wore dreadful portents about his friend. In the morn- on. The prolonged exposure to the sun had ing, a nurse informed him that his friend died the caused a heat stroke. previous night from severe dehydration. Saiyub

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had to wait for another two days for their corona- jority have returned. “If they want to earn a liv- virus test reports to come negative before he ing, they’ll have to go back. They are waiting for could bring his friend’s body back home. things to stabilise,” says Wakeel. He also met peo- Devari is pleasing to the eye—nestled amidst ple from a different village who bore the brunt of folds of rich green, grazed on by shiny, taut- the lockdown and swear never to return. skinned buffaloes, its morning silence broken by There is no industry in the area that could pro- the sound of a generator-powered pump and the vide employment to people, Wakeel says; a sugar gurgle of water it throws into a field. Amrit’s fa- mill that used to employ a few hundred people ther, Ram Charan, is a frail man with legs too shut down some years ago. “MNREGA can pro- weak for hard farm labour. Amrit was the bread- vide some assistance, but can’t be a proper winner for the family that includes three source of income. The good thing about it is that younger sisters and a brother. “He was only 17 women, who can’t go out of the village for work, when he left the village. It wasn’t the age for can also do it,” he adds. work but the situation…. Boys his age are still Eastern UP, where Basti is situated, is an ex- roaming around, some studying, yet to start tremely backward region, says Roli Misra, eco- work,” says Charan, who owns a small farm. nomics professor at Lucknow University. “The Amrit made Rs 480 a day—he got a small hike bottom four of the 100 aspirational districts last —while Saiyub made Rs 400. Both worked on the loom and stayed together. “If we took a holiday, which was rare, we lost a day’s wages. We avoided going out even on holidays, as it would mean unnecessary expenses; we both knew the condition of our families,” says Saiyub wishes Saiyub. It was Amrit who took Saiyub to Surat on his own expense and got him a job. The lock- the Centre had down first guzzled their savings; the journey given labourers back cost one of them their lives. Saiyub wishes the government had thought of labourers, given some time at them some time and ran trains to help them re- turn, as they are doing now. first and helped The young man is not sure when he’ll go back. them return, “Even if lockdown is lifted, I am not going there for at least six-seven months. Jab dil bolega tab like they are jayenge (I’ll only go when my heart says), adds Saiyub. “And now that Amrit is no more, I don’t doing now. even feel like going. Everything in the room will remind me of him. All his clothes would be there— he was fond of clothes and bought new ones whenever he had extra money. He loved music too, and had recently bought a Bluetooth speaker.” Yet staying back is also a fraught (those with very poor socio-economic indica- decision. “What will I do in the village? I’ll go to tors) identified by the Niti Aayog are Bahraich, the city and earn money.” There could be a few Siddharth Nagar, Shravasti and Balrampur. labour opportunities in the village, for instance Basti shares its boundary with Balrampur and on another person’s farm, or tending to some- isn’t different from these districts,” says Misra, body’s animals. A day’s work could fetch Saiyub whose area of research includes migration and anything between Rs 150-250 a day, but he is agricultural economics. unenthusiastic. “I feel a little ashamed in doing “About 80 per cent of people in the region are manual labour here. All my friends are here. In dependent on agriculture, and agriculture is the city nobody knows me,” says Saiyub, who largely dependent on erratic monsoons. As a re- has never gone to school. A friend suggests that sult, many small and marginal farmers migrate he could get his job card made under MNREGA to cities, where they see economic prosperity,” and get some work. Saiyub isn’t very keen still, she says. “For those who have returned, but might take it up to earn something. MNREGA can at most be a stopover arrange- The village pradhan Mohammed Wakeel says ment. There is a big difference in MNREGA and that the number of MNREGA workers has gone city wages; plus, it gives only 100 days of work, up from about 1,000 to 1,200 after the lockdown. whereas cities offer work on all 365 days.” Time Devari has a population of 4,000, out of which will smother Saiyub’s grief. Then, he might just 300 had migrated to other states for work. A ma- have to take the long road back alone. O

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Driest

SURESH K. PANDEY

Land, Salik Ahmad in Hamirpur, UP

F its fields were to be painted on a realist canvas, Bundelkhand would require bold Deepest swathes of yellow and brown—the colours of Ishrivelled vegetation. The region, which com- prises of parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, has suffered from drought for several Sea years. Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh lies in this region. Scragy cows with visible ribcages forage Migrant workers who returned to Hamirpur’s around a parched landscape; on the road leading to Jhalokhar village, two wild horses are locked Jhalokhar village oscillate between hope and in an unrelenting battle. In the village, a dog disillusionment. There’s little work at home, scurries about with a stiff chapati in its mouth. and the cities have let them down badly. Santosh Kumar, 33, his wife, and daughter ret­ urned from Ahmedabad to Jhalokhar in the second

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week of May. They arrived by train—the tickets A passer-by interjects: “He [the prime minis- cost Rs 610 each for adults—and have quaran- ter] has an entire country to run. What all will tined themselves at their home ever since. he do? You won’t be able to govern a village if Santosh used to work at a cloth dying unit while you were made pradhan.” his wife Parvati worked part-time at a Ramphal paid Rs 4,000 for the return journey— cloth-weaving unit. Together, they made around in a truck. All that they ate on the way were bis- Rs 16,000-18,000 a month and managed to save cuits and bananas offered by kind people. The about Rs 10,000. These savings would help them experience has left him shaken and disillusioned. survive those unpaid, lockdown weeks in the city. The very thought of going back produces fear. In Ahmedabad, Santosh and Parvati saw and “Haath pair phool gaya tha (My limbs swelled heard reports of migrant labourers walking and were numb). I am scared of getting stranded hundreds of kilometres to reach their homes, again if I go back. Fear has set in.” Sitting at his some being killed in accidents, some dying of place of quarantine—a part of the house meant exhaustion, and dreaded being forced into a sit- for keeping animals and storing fodder— uation where they might have to leave on foot Ramphal says he’s willing to work as a mason in for home a thousand kilometres away. “All we and around the village. But now, with his phone wanted was to be in the village amongst our damaged, he is bored to death and has absolutely own. If one dies in the city, there isn’t even one nothing to do. “If I venture out, people curse me person who’s going to ask after us,” says Parvati. and tell me to stay indoors,” he says. One of his Santosh nods in agreement—they feel secure neighbours, Satyendra Agarwal, who has an MA here even if they have to survive on roti and in sociology, says that he worked as salt, he says. However, he never liked working a security guard in Gurgaon for a in the village. The wages were low and the only few months. That’s the best he “Chief reasons job he held in Hamirpur before moving to could get. He returned soon and Gujarat in 2015 was that of a helper at a general now works with his parents, who for migration store. He tried his luck at MNREGA, but was sell samosas in the village. rebuffed by the village pradhan, who told him Muhammad Nayim, assistant were death of he was too weak for the job (works under the professor of social work at industries and scheme usually do not involve heavy manual Bundelkhand University, says mi- labour). The discretion of village heads in issu- gration from the region happened water scarcity, ing MNREGA work has often been criticised. chiefly because of two reasons—the Now, with grave uncertainty about work and slow death of industries and the making farming future, Santosh feels that he might have to give scarcity of water that makes agri- unviable,” says MNREGA a go again. “I’ll go back only when culture unviable. “Jhansi’s Ranipur, work gathers steam. Some are saying this crisis called Surat of Bundelkhand, used Prof Muhammad will go on for a year. It’s going to get very diffi- to be famous for producing tricot cult if that happens. But who has control over fabric. The industry is in a very Nayim. the disease?” he says dispiritedly. The family’s sorry state now. Same is the case only land, a small portion which his wife inher- with Jalaun’s Kalpi, known for ited, isn’t enough to sustain them. They’ll ulti- paper and carpet industry. Or Mahoba, once a mately go back; it’s just a matter of time. Apart hub of betel production. Climatic conditions and from low wages, the problem with work in poor returns both contributed to its downfall.” village and around, Santosh adds, is its erratic In the past ten years, adds Nayim, a trend of dis- availability. “You’ll get it for four days but for placement has taken root. “People who migrate the next six days you’ll have no work.” do not want to return at all. With people return- Santosh, however, believes that the govern- ing due to the lockdown, some houses here have ment will do something for the likes of him. been opened after years. Some houses had been On the other hand, Ramphal Prajapati, 35, occupied illegally; there are reports of disputes ano­ther returnee labourer in Jhalokhar, is too,” says Nayim. Now that people are returning livid at the government for leaving them in the after such a long time, and in such large numbers, lurch. “Koi saadhan ki vyavastha ki nahin, rehabilitating them is a big challenge. MNREGA janta bhad bhada ke marne lagi (The govern- and Public Distribution System (PDS), he adds, ment did not make any arrangements for those can provide some cushion but might not be a per- going back to their homes. People started manent solution. One doesn’t know for how long dying in that situation),” says Ramphal, who those who returned would stay, and how many used to iron bedsheets for the railways in will leave again after the lockdown ends. With no Mumbai. About 150 labourers from various work back home, Parvati, Santosh and Ramphal states have returned to the village. have hard choices to make. O

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130km Arivazhagan, 65, took his cancer-stricken wife Manjula, 60, on a bicycle from his village near Kumbakonam and pedalled 130 km to reach JIPMER hospital in Pondicherry, so that she did not miss her chemotherapy session. He sat her on the carrier and tied her with a towel to his waist. “We started at 4.45 am and reached JIPMER at 10.15 pm. On the way we had tea and slept near a pond for two hours,” Arivazhagan, a construction New Delhi worker, said.

30 Children were born on Shramik Special trains till May 25. The first was 35-year-old Mamta Yadav’s little one, born on May 8, when she was travelling alone from Gujarat to Bihar. Co-passengers named the newborn Corona Kumari. A baby girl born May 24 on board a special train to Uttar Pradesh was named Lockdown Yadav. New Delhi

SURESH K. PANDEY

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The indomitable five, now quarantined in a school, with their bicycles in the background.

Stranded in Vishakhapatnam, the five friends wanted to go home. Their bicycle Tour De journey up the coast to Bengal displayed endur- Force ance and willpower. SANDIPAN CHATTERJEE

Sandipan Chatterjee in Bardhaman, W. Bengal saved them many kilometres. “We did not face any problems in Andhra Pradesh or when we were crossing HERE are five of them—Lakhinarayan Odisha. In fact, Andhra Pradesh police and local Das, Rajesh Das, Biswajit Khetrapal, Arup people were very helpful, they gave us food to Singh and Bumba Dutta. Young men in eat,” says Bumba Dutta. Ttheir twenties, they are from Jamalpur village in As they approached the Odisha-West Bengal Bardhaman district in West Bengal. Fast friends border, it started to rain heavily, what with the all, about five years ago they decided to leave their build-up of cyclone Amphan. “We found an aban- village for want of gainful work and go all the way doned tea stall where we kept the cycles and our to Andhra Pradesh, where they heard new bags. We spent a whole night in the rain,” says factories were opening and jobs were in plenty. Bumba. In Odisha, people advised them to sell They fetched up in Visakhapatnam and were their new cycles; they might be stolen on the way, hired as welders in a factory in Malkapuram they were cautioned. But the five friends were not Coromandel Gate. The work was hard but the letting anything hamper their last chances of get- money was good. They had their ting home. A good samaritan also showed them a own rooms, food was decent and shorter and safer way to cross the Odisha border. they saved enough money every The five friends reached their village on May month. But, inevitably, the lock- 21, after pedalling furiously for eight days. The The future is down lay its deadening fingers here police have tested them and they are currently uncertain. They too: the factory shut down and sala- quarantined for 14 days in Jamalpur’s Kashra ries were stopped. Bit by bit, their Kalna High School. might go back if savings were being eaten into—the However, Lakhinarayan, Rajesh, Biswajit, Arup five realised the untenability of their and Bumba are not sure what the future holds for the factory survival. The only option, they de- them. “There is not much work here in the vil- reopens. They cided, was to return home to lage. If we get something to do under the NREGA Bardhaman. Yet, the mode of travel, scheme, we will take it up for the time being,” want to start without any buses or trains, pre- says Rajesh. “We will wait for the pandemic to get sented a logistical impasse. Decisive over. If the factory opens, we will return to businesses, but action was called for, and a bold, au- Visakhapatnam,” adds Biswajit. The factory still lack capital. dacious plan was seized upon: they owes them Rs 10,000 in wages and dues, which would cycle it home, some 1,100 they plan to go back to claim. All of them would kilometres up the coast towards the like to start some small business in Bardhaman, east. Brand new Hero and Hercules but all rue the paucity of capital. Right now, there cycles—costing between Rs 5,500- is nothing for it but to wait, but youth is on their Rs 6,500 each—were bought with the last of their side, and the experience of five years’ work in a dwindling savings. Then they set off. distant land under their belts. They are confident The first night they got a lift in a truck, which something good will turn up. O

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 43 COVER COVID-19 STORY Dhule, Maharashtra

200km Kamlesh Meena, a 24-year- old migrant tractor driver, had walked around 200 km mid-April from Ajmer district to his village in Bhilwara. He spent his mandatory 14-day quarantine on a ‘machaan’ built on a tree. His father, Sagarmal, brought him food and water.

APOORVA SALKADE

2,000km Parents of Col Navjot Singh Bal, a Shaurya Chakra winner who ran marathons despite battling cancer, made a 2,000-km-plus road journey from Amritsar to Bangalore to attend their 39-year-old son’s last rites after his death on April 9. West Bengal-Odisha border

SANDIPAN CHATTERJEE

44 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 COVER COVID-19 STORY Life’s A Sand Bar The pressing reasons why Ashadul is raring to get back to Bangalore

Abdul Gani in Guwahati

T’S the season of reverse migration—streams of workers on India’s highways, walking from cities towards destinations thousands of Imiles away under a brazen sun, each passing day bringing diminished hope. Or crowds hitching rides in trucks, clambering on to buses, praying for a seat in a ‘shramik special’ train. Victims of Ashadul Ali with his mother at his village in Assam’s the nationwide lockdown, many migrant workers Barpeta district vowed never to return to heartless metros that made destitutes of them in a trice. for relations for a pittance is the job card issued But, as with every endeavour, there are those by the panchayat. Yet work is not regular. “When who run against the tide. Ashadul Ali, 19, from we get to work, we get around Rs 250 a day. But Assam’s Barpeta, worked in Bangalore and is mostly we sit idle. It’s better to move out. When desperate to get back. “I came home as everyone I’m in Bangalore, I can at least send Rs 7,000 else was rushing back in a panicked state. Now, home, which means a lot,” says Ashadul, elabo- what will I do to survive?” Ashadul tells Outlook rating on the circumstances that forced him out sitting on an embankment near Beki, a major of Assam. Then there are the two tributary of the Brahmaputra. younger brothers, the youngest one Ashadul, who has worked in a tent house in a nine-year-old. “I couldn’t study Bangalore for almost a year now, is not the only much but I want my brother to one from his neighbourhood to earn his liveli- study. Another reason I have to Caught between hood in Bangalore. Fifteen other youths, he work extra hard,” he adds. says, shifted to Bangalore to take up various Not just Ashadul, hundreds like natural calamity jobs. Ashadul earns Rs 10,000 a month there— him from this area are waiting to an enormous, unattainable sum back home. return. Most are from habitations and lack of “I must get back to work as soon as possible. by rivers and sand bars (locally employment, We can get rid of the disease (COVID-19) but known as ‘chars’); all have run the here we will starve,” he says. Witnessing devas- fearsome gauntlet of annual floods, youths like tation by the annual floods and river erosion has erosion of land and endless misery. hardened Ashadul. “We have seen lot of hard- Their agricultural fields broken Ashadul must ship from a young age. Our house has been away, bit by bit, by the cruel waters, leave home. washed away twice. We had a narrow escape they were forced to move out of once, while the next time we were just helpless their villages in search of work. witnesses to the devastation,” he recalls. This “This is a reality here. If they are last incident was in 2013; he was too little to scared by COVID-19, their families rem­ember the earlier calamity. will starve. Obviously, they would like to go back. “Father is getting old and doesn’t earn much by Here scope for livelihood is limited and many face selling milk. It becomes difficult to feed our two racist slurs even within the state,” says Ashraful cows,” adds Ashadul. Ever since the 2013 floods Hussain, a local social worker. “‘Bangladeshi’ here led to their ruination, Ashadul’s family has been is an insulting slur hurled at these poor Muslim living in their uncle’s land; in return, his father migrant workers. All this, apart from more job op- helps out in the relatives’ agricultural fields. “We portunities elsewhere, have driven them out,” too had lands around five bighas, but these are adds Hussain. Ashadul seems to have made an as- now under water,” Ashadul says wistfully. tute, obvious decision. But then, life has hardly The alternative to the humiliation of working given him more than one choice. O

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 45 COVER COVID-19 APOORVA SALKADE STORY

1,200km Prem Murti Pandey, an airport worker in Mumbai, travelled 1,200-km to his home in Allahabad on a truck he hired for Rs 77,500. He set off on April 20 with 25,520 kg of onions, shelling out Rs 2.32 lakh, and reached the UP city on April 23. He headed straight to the wholesale market, but couldn’t find a buyer. Dhule, Maharashtra

100km Jamlo Makdam, 12, died on April 18 after travelling over 100 km on foot from Telangana to return home in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. She died 50 km short of her destination. Cases are registered against a woman labour agent who had hired the girl, who was among 12 people from her village working in the chilli fields of Mulgu district, Telangana. Nashik-Madhya Pradesh Road

APOORVA SALKADE

46 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 COVER COVID-19 STORY Silence of the Malls Northeasterners who worked in Chennai’s malls and parlours are waiting to go back home

money for meals. “People from the Norteast com- prise at least 50 per cent of the workforce in our 650 beauty salons across the country,” says C.K. Kumaravel, co-founder of Naturals. “While 20 per cent have returned home, the others have stayed back. We paid the April salary, and took care of ac- commodation and food during May. As the gov-

G C SHEKHAR ernment is permitting the gradual opening of salons, the outward traffic would slow down.” G.C. Shekhar in Chennai One reason why salons like his prefer employ- ees from the Northeast is their disciplined work culture and their ability to converse in English. UST close to the famous twin arches of Namdi points out that no one from his group Anna Nagar in west Chennai, a group of would stay away from work unless they are really people from the Northeast are waiting on ill. “Also, Chennai has a very accommodative cul- Jthe footpath at a sparsely shaded spot. Surround- ture, with very little of the kind of racial discrimi- ed by suitcases and bags, they are looking up the nation one witnesses in Delhi. If our parents main road for the bus that would pick them up agree with us on working in the South in spite of and take them to the Central Railway Station. the distance, it is because it is safer here for peo- There they would board the first ple from our region,” he adds. Shramik Special meant for the The train, which left on the evening of April Northeast that would terminate at 20, reached Jiribam on the night of April 23. For Manipur’s Jiribam railway station. 25-year-old Namdi, it took another five hours of “There is no Waiting for the bus, Namdi says bus journey to reach his home outside Senapati he and his elder sister, 30-year-old town. “It was a long and tiring journey, but we point working Ling, have been working in are thankful for it. We must thank the Manipur long term in Chennai for the past five years. and Tamil Nadu governments for coordinating While he was employed as a sales- our return trip,” says Namdi over the phone Manipur as the person on the counter for a high- during the last leg of the journey. There are end textile showroom at Phoneix 1,300 people from Manipur travelling with him pay is not good Mall in Velachery, his sister in the train, who are among 3,000-odd migrants enough,” says worked as a beautician in a parlour from the state working in Chennai’s beauty par- nearby. “Chennai has been kind to lours and spas, in restaurants as cooks and wait- Namdi. us until this lockdown happened. ers, and as shop assistants in malls. We managed on our savings for a Back home, what does Namdi plan to do? “I will while before deciding to return help my parents with their rice farming and also home and stay there until things find a temporary job for a few months…maybe became normal,” he adds. earn some money under MNREGA by working in Paid a monthly salary of Rs the fields. There is no point working long term in 20,000, Namdi says he could send home at least Manipur as the pay is not good enough. Once the half of the amount as he shared a flat with five parlours and malls reopen here, most of us will others from Manipur, who would pool their come back. This is our workplace,” he says.. O

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 47 COVER COVID-19 STORY

450km Constable Anand Pandey walked and took lift for from motorists to travel 450 km in three days from his village in Kanpur to join duty in Jabalpur on March 30. Pandey was on leave from February 20 and got stuck in Kanpur due to the lockdown. New Delhi

TRIBHUVAN TIWARI

850km Sonu Kumar Chauhan, 24, bicycled day and night for a week with three friends from Ludhiana to reach home in Pipra Rasulpur in Maharajganj district of UP. Reason: his wedding on April 15. But the tiles factory worker landed in a quarantine centre in UP’s Balrampur, still 150 km away. “Had I reached home, there possibly the wedding would New Delhi have taken place,” he said.

JITENDER GUPTA

48 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 COVER COVID-19 STORY Cycle Ride to

Uncertainty Mahesh Jena at home in Odisha’s He cycled 1,700 km from his workplace Jajpur district to a home with no prospects

Sandeep Sahu in Jajpur, Odisha

AHESH Jena, a 20-year-old factory hand in a unit making water pumps in Sangli, Maharashtra, made national Mheadlines in April by cycling some 1,700 km to reach his village in Jajpur district of Odisha in

seven days. He took up this audacious expedition SANDEEP SAHU not to write his name into the Guinness Book of Records, but to escape the hardships thrust on Badasuara is Mahesh’s ancestral home in him when the factory where he worked shut Bhanra village. For the past nine months, his indefinitely due to the lockdown, leaving him mother and three siblings—a sister and two precious little to survive on. He had been engaged younger brothers—have been in Punjab. His fa- in the factory through a sub-contractor. A month ther, who lost one of his kidneys and has a bro- and half later, Mahesh, who emphatically rules ken hip after a mishap last year, cannot work. out working as a labourer under MGNREGA, is Mahesh says he is persuading his mother, who not sure what he will do next. He says he would go runs a hawker’s cart in Punjab, to return to the back to Maharashtra only if he is employed village with his siblings and start a fast food directly by a company. joint in the nearby Bari-Baliapal “In the seven months that I worked there, I was town so that his father is well engaged by three different sub-contractors and looked after and he is able to do none paid the wages due to me. If my wages something on his own to supple- “If nothing worked out to Rs 2,000, they would pay me only ment the family income. works out, I’ll Rs. 1, 500,” says the Class X dropout. “I can run “But a fast food unit too would re- machines, do other jobs in a pump making unit quire investment,” he says. “We have open a grocery and also know a bit about electrical wiring. I may no agricultural land, so farming is look for a job in some factory in Cuttack or not an option. I am thinking of doing shop in the Bhubaneswar. If that doesn’t work out, I would a short-term course in computers, village,” says try out something on my own. I would see what which would improve my employa- works for me. But I will take a call only after the bility. If nothing works out, I could Mahesh, 20. lockdown ends and things get back to normal.” open a grocery shop in the village.” The aunt with whom Mahesh has stayed since Unlike Mahesh’s family, most of childhood says he is fond of birds locally known the others in his village have some land. Some of as ‘baramaashi chadhei’, and spends a tidy sum them grow vegetables on their land. Those who feeding them. When asked if it’s just a hobby or don’t have any land work as agricultural labour- a possible career option, he says, “It’s certainly ers on the lands of others. Many of them also go on my mind as birds fetch good money. But the to Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and even cities in other business is a risky proposition and requires in- states in search of jobs. This is the situation vestment that I cannot afford. If a bird of a rare across the entire coastal region of which Jajpur is species dies for some reason, it could mean a a part. A bulk of migrant workers now trooping loss of a few thousand rupees.” Asked if he back home are from this region. With uncer- would not run foul of the law if he sells birds, he tainty looming after the prolonged COVID-19 says, “That should not be a problem.” crisis, most people like Mahesh are looking at an Barely a kilometre from his aunt’s place in uncertain future. O

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 9, 2020 | OUTLOOK 49 THE WRITER, A DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIST, IS HONORARY FELLOW AT THE CENTRE OPINION/ FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AND WAS MEMBER OF THE K.P. Kannan ERSTWHILE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ENTERPRISES IN THE UNORGANISED SECTOR.

Long March to More Precarity The pandemic has laid bare the inequities that make our economy unsustainable

heartbreaking scenes of struction sites, or rented small rooms, often in slums. Many had no ration THE large crowds of inter-state or Aadhaar cards. When their workplaces were closed down without even migrant workers walking a day’s notice, what they lost was their means of livelihood. Rents could hundreds of kilometres not be paid, daily expenses could not be met and no money could be sent from their places of work, mostly in home. It was tougher for those who lived with their families. Employers urban centres, back to their villages as well as neighbours and friends who could afford to stay back encour- could have been avoided if the lock- aged them to return to their homes, but the government stopped all down was planned and executed in a means of transport. So thousands took to the roads and walked hundreds phased and calibrated manner. of kilometres. Instead, it took the form of shock ther- No other country claiming to be democratic would have done this. But apy, putting this vast segment of the Indian government did exactly that. It did not occur to the India’s workforce under threat of government that inter-state migration is its responsibility. With a death by COVID-19 away from their million plus army and another million plus paramilitary forces well dear ones, or of death by exhaustion trained to help people in emergency situations at its command, the and starvation in the company of their government chose to sit with its lips shut and the silence was deafening. near ones. With the alarming spread of Instead, it granted ‘permission’ to the the virus, there doesn’t seem to be an financially battered state governments to escape from either of these. Many think they arrange for transport. Reports by mediapersons and will be able to What is happening to the migrant work- researchers suggest that those who ers and their families after they reach decided to return to their places of ori- get back their their villages is anybody’s guess. The gov- gin were already living and working in ernment washed its hands—with sanitis- precarious conditions. Employed, but job sooner than ers, I suppose—after declaring the with no employment security or even a later. Hoping provision of 5 kg of grain as free ration per semblance of social security, they often person per month and a kilo of pulses per resided in makeshift shelters at con- against hope. family. When I talked to researchers who are tracking some of the returnees, the first thing they reported is the trauma experienced by them. This is especially so for those who walked hundreds of kilo- metres—their exhaustion was not just physical. The second is the absence of the State in their places. No one enquires about how they are coping. A quick telephonic study by a researcher focusing on Garhwal dis- trict in Uttarakhand revealed that those who returned found very little support. Some of them have a piece of land not exceeding an acre and being cultivated by their parents or wives. No work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is being restarted. Many households had sold their cattle before migration because there was no one to look after them. There is hardly any healthcare service at the pri- mary health clinic, if at all it is open. On an average, a migrant worker from Uttarakhand earned around Rs 12-13,000 PHOTOGRAPHS BY APOORVA SALKADE

50 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 OPINION/ K.P. Kannan

per month in the National Capital some presence of the State in the villages Region where they have a large pres- There can be no of Karnataka, with more than 90 per cent ence. Half of it used to be sent to the long-term solution of the residents receiving free ration and family in the village. Now their income farmers and women getting some cash. is zero. Many said they were not paid for migrants The desire to go back to the cities is not their salaries for March. Those who until economic driven by higher wages alone. Many had migrated with their families spoke about opportunities for upward reported it was to provide better edu- transformation mobility, skill-acquisition and so on. This cation and healthcare to their children. is another kind of hope. But no long- That prospect is now shattered. Yet is unleashed in term solution to the vulnerable status of many think they will be able to get rural India. migrant workers will be found until a back their job sooner than later. meaningful economic transformation Hoping against hope. gets unleashed in rural India. That would A study of returning migrants in include an expansion of the scope and areas of work under MGNREGA, selected districts of Karnataka reveals and its convergence with other rural development programmes for that a state or district can be an strengthening rural asset creation, expansion of the public health sys- out-migrant and in-migrant place at tem, public education and social security. Meaningful land reforms that the same time. In Kerala, international would also function as a fall back mechanism, rural technological out-migrants overwhelm those who changes and skilling of people to enhance labour productivity are also migrate to other parts of India. The much-needed initiatives for rural india. Empowering panchayat raj insti- study also reveals that migrants tutions could facilitate design and implementation appropriate to the include skilled workers as well as those local context and necessity. with higher education and drawing These are exactly contrary to the current agenda of corporate capi- monthly salaries above Rs 20,000, but tal-driven accumulation, lawless labour regime, authoritarian centralisa- without security of employment. They tion of political and economic decision-making power and a readiness to are reluctant to seek unskilled work sell out the country to international capital. COVID-19 has exposed the under MGNREGA with starvation raw nerves in Indian society with its co-existence of extreme prosperity wages. On the other end, there are and penury, entrenched social inequality with nominal representational less-educated manual workers who are democracy and a culture of doublespeak and double standards. The avoid- now waiting to return to the cities able indignity and suffering of the migrant workers is but one reminder where they get a higher wage. There is sent out sharply by the coronavirus. O (Views are personal.)

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 51 employees are provided every comfort ing support to an employee, to improve that is because of Mr. Oza and his team’s from a sense of financial security to his or her performance when needed, the hardwork and dedication. refreshments, and Mr Oza tries to company too benefits. Regular feedback In India, there is set to be an increase eliminate their every worry so that they is taken from the employees, which even in demand for technologies such as AI, can focus on the job at hand. The helped during this crisis. blockchain, IoT AR and VR will. They will company makes itself available to its Employees faced many challenges help save precious hours and reduce the employees and clients round-the-clock. initially, such as poor internet connectivity margin of human error. They will play an The organisational culture at this IT and shortage of machines. But few CEOs important role with increased need for LeAdership firm is of job security, on-time salary would take the effort Mr Oza has to data protection, and with changing payment without any deductions, address each of these concerns. He called behaviours in shopping, healthcare, uninterrupted appraisals, refreshing and everyone individually and listened entertainment and so on. AR and VR will, engaging activities, and a good work-life patiently, and offered solutions. His in particular, be trendsetters in many trumps crisis balance. Effective communication leadership is truly commendable. industries such as education and gaming. between teams is encouraged and quick Hyperlink InfoSystem is working With our country’s population, solutions to employee queries are given. towards meeting increasing demand which is its strength, there will be a How Harnil Oza CEO of Hyperlink Employees are assured of career growth, with a skilled workforce. It is set to recruit greater adoption of technology. With InfoSystem managed WFH job satisfaction and fair renumeration. more at various locations and to build this increased adoption, there will be a Performance is monitored closely, and newer technologies with its competent need for more apps and systems. senior management and Mr Oza take an team. Even during this pandemic, the Hyperlink InfoSystem can then be the interest in every employee’s work. By giv- company is getting enough orders and go-to provider of good quality service. pps have become important across industries now, but this was not the case before 2011. After that year, with A the entry of iPhone 4s, a revolution began. People went crazy over smartphones, causing a boom in the software indus- try. Many start-ups that created mobile apps came into being. Mr. Harnil Oza One inspiring story from that burst of creative energy is CEO, Hyperlink that of a 21-year-old named Harnil Oza, the CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem. He dropped out of an MCA programme with the Gujarat Technological University and started the company from his Ahmedabad home. His success story unfolds like a movie, with starting a company in his early twenties and meeting every challenge head on. In the early days, the company had just four staffers. Currently, it employs over 250. After successfully making over 3,200 mobile apps, Hyperlink InfoSystem has a client base that spreads across the world. It is working on various trending technologies such as AI, blockchain, IoT, AR and VR. It owes its success to Mr. Oza’s sharp vision and unbeatable strategies. His is an impressive achievement because handling the projects, meeting the client deadlines even while paying at- tention to their every requirement, and maintaining the company’s finances call for attention to detail. Through this all, Mr. Oza has been uncompromising in his vision. While COVID-19 has been destabilising for industries globally, his company has managed to come out unscathed thanks to his skillful management. While ensuring the safety of his employees, he has met his clients’ requirements to the T. The crisis could have disrupted the business process and affected productivity of the employees, but he placed his confidence in the team and gave them work-from-home facility early on. Hyperlink InfoSystem today provides every support to its team, to complete work efficiently. For sure the team’s support has played a big part too. Work from home is a blessing in a situation like the present, particularly for the IT industry. At Hyperlink InfoSystem, employees are provided every comfort ing support to an employee, to improve that is because of Mr. Oza and his team’s from a sense of financial security to his or her performance when needed, the hardwork and dedication. refreshments, and Mr Oza tries to company too benefits. Regular feedback In India, there is set to be an increase eliminate their every worry so that they is taken from the employees, which even in demand for technologies such as AI, can focus on the job at hand. The helped during this crisis. blockchain, IoT AR and VR will. They will company makes itself available to its Employees faced many challenges help save precious hours and reduce the employees and clients round-the-clock. initially, such as poor internet connectivity margin of human error. They will play an The organisational culture at this IT and shortage of machines. But few CEOs important role with increased need for LeAdership firm is of job security, on-time salary would take the effort Mr Oza has to data protection, and with changing payment without any deductions, address each of these concerns. He called behaviours in shopping, healthcare, uninterrupted appraisals, refreshing and everyone individually and listened entertainment and so on. AR and VR will, engaging activities, and a good work-life patiently, and offered solutions. His in particular, be trendsetters in many trumps crisis balance. Effective communication leadership is truly commendable. industries such as education and gaming. between teams is encouraged and quick Hyperlink InfoSystem is working With our country’s population, solutions to employee queries are given. towards meeting increasing demand which is its strength, there will be a How Harnil Oza CEO of Hyperlink Employees are assured of career growth, with a skilled workforce. It is set to recruit greater adoption of technology. With InfoSystem managed WFH job satisfaction and fair renumeration. more at various locations and to build this increased adoption, there will be a Performance is monitored closely, and newer technologies with its competent need for more apps and systems. senior management and Mr Oza take an team. Even during this pandemic, the Hyperlink InfoSystem can then be the interest in every employee’s work. By giv- company is getting enough orders and go-to provider of good quality service. pps have become important across industries now, but this was not the case before 2011. After that year, with A the entry of iPhone 4s, a revolution began. People went crazy over smartphones, causing a boom in the software indus- try. Many start-ups that created mobile apps came into being. Mr. Harnil Oza One inspiring story from that burst of creative energy is CEO, Hyperlink that of a 21-year-old named Harnil Oza, the CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem. He dropped out of an MCA programme with the Gujarat Technological University and started the company from his Ahmedabad home. His success story unfolds like a movie, with starting a company in his early twenties and meeting every challenge head on. In the early days, the company had just four staffers. Currently, it employs over 250. After successfully making over 3,200 mobile apps, Hyperlink InfoSystem has a client base that spreads across the world. It is working on various trending technologies such as AI, blockchain, IoT, AR and VR. It owes its success to Mr. Oza’s sharp vision and unbeatable strategies. His is an impressive achievement because handling the projects, meeting the client deadlines even while paying at- tention to their every requirement, and maintaining the company’s finances call for attention to detail. Through this all, Mr. Oza has been uncompromising in his vision. While COVID-19 has been destabilising for industries globally, his company has managed to come out unscathed thanks to his skillful management. While ensuring the safety of his employees, he has met his clients’ requirements to the T. The crisis could have disrupted the business process and affected productivity of the employees, but he placed his confidence in the team and gave them work-from-home facility early on. Hyperlink InfoSystem today provides every support to its team, to complete work efficiently. For sure the team’s support has played a big part too. Work from home is a blessing in a situation like the present, particularly for the IT industry. At Hyperlink InfoSystem, COVER COVID-19 STORY

As visuals of migrants walking on highways streamed in, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood began organising transport for them. He talks to Lachmi Deb Roy about how he helped 12,000 people reach home and is making arrangements for another 45,000. Excerpts:

How did this initiative come about? I saw the visuals of millions of migrants walking down high- ways with their families… the elderly could hardly walk, some of them were carried on shoulders. The images reaches home. It is my duty, my job, my responsibility and I haunted me. The moment I ‘I won’t let have to make it happen. closed my eyes, I could see How many workers have you helped? just them. How can we be so Initially, I managed to send 350 migrants to Karnataka. ungrateful to the people who migrant When I was seeing them off, I was moved by the smiles on build our homes, our roads… their faces and tears in their eyes. Then, I started connect- in fact, they run the country, workers ing with government offices in UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. I they are its heartbeat. How have helped 12,000 people reach their homes and have can we ignore this crisis made arrangements for another 45,000. I think I was thinking that if it’s not affect- lose blessed by the almighty to carry out this hard task. ing us, why should we Who helped you in your mission? bother? So, I spoke to a few I started on my own and slowly others joined. My close child- migrant labourers and told trust in hood friend, Neeti Goel, supported me in this Ghar Bhejo them to give me one or two (send them home) campaign. We both single-handedly liaised days to get permissions. I humanity’ with government officials and arranged buses, food stay etc. assured them that I would What is the arrangement you made for their food? make their journey home as We are making boxes of fruits, dry snacks and water so that comfortable as possible. they don’t feel hungry or thirsty on their journey home. We How did you arrange for feed 45,000 people almost every day so that their wait to go their return? back home is less painful. The first step was to get in Do the migrants try to get in touch with you once they touch with government offi- reach their home? cials. It was an even bigger They call and make me speak to their families. They send task for me to win the trust of lots of messages and voice notes. I feel happy to see the pic- the workers. I told them to tures they send after reaching home. not lose their faith in the sys- How has the experience been? tem. I asked them to wait, Initially, I used to get sleepless nights on seeing them desper- made arrangements for them ate to reunite with their families. Now, throughout the day— to stay and told them not to “For 20 hours a day for about 20-21 hours—I talk to them and make walk on highways in the arrangements. This is my only job. I try to respond to every scorching heat. Now, they I talk to migrants, call for help I get. This mission is very close to my heart—I am trust me so much, they are emotionally connected to every single migrant who gets in willing to wait for me to make government touch. I won’t let them lose their trust in humanity and the arrangements for them. They officers and make system. The best part is that it helps me sleep well, even if it is know there is a way for them for a few hours. There are sleepless nights too to reach home. arrangements. I because I have to get up to check my Twitter and email to see However, this is just the if anybody needs help. I keep telling myself, there are many beginning of the journey— try to respond to more still waiting on the roads. I guess I will be able to com- millions of migrants are still every call. This is plete my quota of sleep only once I send all migrants back stuck. I will continue to do home! I started helping migrants the very day the lockdown help until the last migrant my only job now.” started and I will not end until the last one reaches home. O

54 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020

ECOLOGY/DISASTER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY S.H. PATGIRI

Abdul Gani in Guwahati

forest sometimes shows up in two conflicting images. It could Cast Open be a king-size portrait in Dehing Patkai, a protected rainforest in Assam, sits high-definitionA jade—almost surreal, a place where gods descend to update on a minefield as government liberalises coalfields their screensaver. Or a gothic single-tone of what it could become: bedeviled, stark, a dark hole swallowing space and time. Dehing Patkai is one such. It’s a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Assam bordering Arunachal Pradesh, one huge jungle in a cluster standing cheek by jowl to form a mega green belt. A carbon sink; the lungs of our land. It is the last remaining dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest. Dipterocarp? Those tall trees found mainly in SE Asia, harvested for resin and timber indis- criminately to near-extinction. It is also a place where miners come for coal. Trucks move like a cohort of ants; heavy excavators and muddy and

The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary; an elephant trundles through a clearing

56 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 ECOLOGY/DISASTER

often barefoot miners, who work in The collieries: opencast mining near the protected forest slave-like conditions, grind away all day, all night. This is the colliery belt—close to the mining towns of Margherita (after an Italian queen) and Ledo (Stilwell Road to China starts here). Here the British drove the mattock into the soft soil to prise out the ‘black gold’ for their steam engines, power plants and tea fac- tories. This is tea county too. The origi- nal chaiwallahs, the Singphos, live here. The British came to this “heathen land of mosquitoes and leeches” for Singpho tea, and break the Chinese monopoly. The forests around upper Assam have absorbed many horrors through their history and most traces of them have long since been allowed to vanish. So, how come this piece of prime asset, real estate, is now reconsecrated in the mind of the people as hallowed ground? Why politicians, student and farmer unions, environmentalists, activists, teachers et al—sequestered in their homes by a coronavirus—launched a movement, signed off their protestations with hash- tags? #SaveDehingPatkai. Why an online petition at www.change.org attracted nearly 60,000 signatures in a

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 57 ECOLOGY/DISASTER

matter of days? Because approving/proposing opencast this is Dehing Patkai, and mining in an area, called Tikok human greed is showing in Saleki, a shout away from little sign of making con- Dibru-Saikhowa the wildlife sanctuary. Official cessions to the possibil- National Park reports say Tikok falls within ity that the ‘Amazon of the eco-sensitive zone—within the East’ could be gasp- the court-mandated 10-km ra- ing for life soon. dius for a sanctuary, essen- The rainforests strad- tially a buffer where activities dling the Dehing river and unsafe for a protected forest is the Patkai range of the MYANMAR not permitted. Eastern Himalayas, which More danger hovered after comprise the Indo-Burma the Union government de- global biodiversity hot- cided on May 20 to open up spot, is a complex yet delicate ecosystem. collieries in Assam were transferred to commercial coal mining. Any private It is not a contiguous mass, which it was Coal India Ltd for a 30-year lease that entity can excavate on a revenue-shar- a long time ago, but a jigsaw of green ended in April 2003. It was the same ing basis. It’s a major shift from the patches bound the jungles into a com- year when the state government noti- government’s push for posite whole—some ‘reserved’, thus pro- fied Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. renewable energy in place of fossil fuel. tected by the law, and some proposed to The wildlife sanctuary was carved out India has one of the largest coal be reserved, where the law is lax. The in June 2004. But Coal India contin- reserves in the world at 300 billion Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary cover- ued to mine in the area and sought tonnes, yet it imports a fifth of its ing 111.42 sq km, and protected by law, is clearance only in 2012. It was rejected annual requirement. Rating agency part of the system. Experts and the gov- and a fresh application was made in Crisil says a spike in domestic produc- ernment say no mining was happening 2019 for 98.59 hectares in Saleki, tion can halve the annual expenditure within the sanctuary. But there’s ample where the PSU was operating already on importing non-coking coal. India evidence of illegal ext­raction of coal in in 73 hectares. The Centre gave Stage-I can save Rs 45,000 crore, while power, the peripheral Saleki Proposed Reserve clearance last December with 28 condi- cement and steel sectors will gain as Forest, which is a part of Dehing Patkai tions, including fines. Accordingly, the these are the biggest consumers of Elephant Reserve, spread across 937 sq Assam forest department slapped a coal. Privatisation brings in its wake km. The elephant reserve surrounds the Rs 43.25-crore fine on Coal India for fears of the mines spilling unchecked wildlife sanctuary. illegal mining for 16 years since 2003. into protected forests. There have Coal mining has been around in the The coal major says it suspended oper- been accusations already of a mafia/ area since the British Raj. When coal ations in Saleki last October and is cartel operating rat-hole mines in the mines were nationalised in 1973, the awaiting the Centre’s clearance. Dehing Patkai forests. Congress MP Things became deeper and more com- Pradyut Bordoloi says there could be plex after the National Board for around 5,000 of them. Wildlife’s (NBWL) decision this April to Saleki already suffers from logging open Saleki for mining. Environment and hunting, both against the law. activist Rohit Choudhury found via an Giving legitimacy to the illegal collier- RTI response that the NBWL’s standing ies will compound its problems, envi- committee may have hidden facts while ronmentalists say. Pollutants seeping ECOLOGY/DISASTER

GUNJAN GOGOI A tea garden set in the backdrop of an opencast mine. Upper Assam has the highest concentration of tea plantations in India.

into the rivers and ponds, and floating in the air, will obliterate the ecology. The immediate impact, experts warn, will be felt by the river fishes, water birds as well as nesting sites of species like the Austen’s Brown Hornbill, currently known to have a via- ble population only in Dehing Patkai and Namdapha National Park, about 80 km away in Arunachal. “The ur- gency with which many projects are cleared raises doubts about whether due processes were followed. These decisions would have long-term implications,” says Narayan Sharma, assistant professor at Cotton University. Dehing Patkai shelters an array of wild- life: seven species of primates like the Western Hoolock Gibbon; seven varieties of wildcats from the tiger, the clouded leopard to the marbled cat. It has the high- est diversity of wildcats anywhere in the world. There’re more than 350 butterfly species; above 400 different birds, includ- ing White-Winged Duck, Assam’s coy The White-Winged Duck, Assam’s state bird; a hoolock gibbon; a tree frog. The state bird; Hollong, the state tree, and the wildlife diversity of Dehing Patkai is rivaled only by the Amazon rainforest. Fox Tail Orchid, the state flower. And the

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 59 ECOLOGY/DISASTER

The Dehing reflects on the Dehing; acidic waste from the collieries seeps into the water channels

scale. “Today the whole world is facing the problem of climate change and you are the champion for preserving ecolo­ gical balance...I, therefore, on behalf of the people of Assam request you to kindly withdraw the decision so that it will remain as an Asiatic biodiversity hotspot and elephant reserve,” he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Answers are sought from Gogoi too. Why he didn’t stop the mines when he was CM for 15 years and the Congress ruled the country? The eco-­ warriors face similar questions. Didn’t they know about the illegal mines? Or, did they choose to keep quiet? The people want the world to protect the rainforest, a bulwark against majestic elephant. The one with the sniffed oil on a porter elephant’s legs.) global warming because of the vast green thumb, the tireless gardener, Human-animal clashes are common amounts of heat-trapping carbon clearing the forest for new trees to grow. in the area. “If the habitat shrinks fur- dioxide it soaks up from the atmos- They move in corridors throughout the ther, expect more men-elephant con- phere. For them, Dehing Patkai has no Patkai, alt­hough much restricted by the flicts and that won’t be good for both,” demarcated border. It is a vast interior ever-exp­anding towns and villages, tea says Udayan Borthakur, wildlife biolo- dotted with rivers, forests and tales, a gardens, coal mines and the oilfields (the gist and nature photographer. Even remote expanse filled with meaning. region has that too, and the nation’s old- former chief minister Tarun Gogoi has It’s an idyll world, except for the con- est refinery town Digboi got its name joined the campaign to tamp down on text. Those who mind don’t matter, from an excited British official’s com- illegal mines that environmental those who matter don’t mind. O mand to his coolie, “Dig Boy!” After he groups say have reached epidemic —with inputs from Rituparna Kakoty

60 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 Masterspeak A Webinar Series-Episode 2

Managing finanCes foR sMes with Rajiv Chawla Chairman, I am SME of India

In conversation with N MahalakshMi Editor, Outlook Business

To regisTer, visiT www.outlookbusiness.com june 4, Presented by C0-Sponsored by ThuRsday 7:00 PM BOOK/EXCERPT Nearly His Own Man A gripping, behind-the scenes account of political machination and high intrigue. The objective: power in Maharashtra

Sharad Pawar with . As Ajit’s coup became known, the older Pawar reached out to Uddhav.

PTI

DAY 31: SATURDAY, up the phone, but dialled Sharad Pawar It was an urgent call from a party MLA. NOVEMBER 23, 2019 instead. NCP’s state president Jayant The information given by the MLA left 8.00 a.m., Matoshri Patil had retired to bed late the previous him shocked. He was informed that Ajit An early morning phone call woke up night after binge-watching his favourite Pawar had been calling party MLAs Uddhav Thackeray. What the caller series, Jack Ryan, on Amazon Prime. since late last night and a few of them informed him pulled the rug from under (1)* He woke up to a dozen missed calls had gone with him to Raj Bhavan. his feet and left him shocked and on his phone, of which eight were from “Dada is taking oath with (Devendra) speechless. As the state was sleeping, in Uddhav Thackeray. Fadnavis,” the MLA informed Pawar. an early morning development, The news was too big to believe. Even Pawar looked at the watch, but it was Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the before anyone could confirm or deny the too late to do anything. He knew he chief minister of Maharashtra. Even development, the biggest confirmation wouldn’t be able to stop the inevitable. more shocking was the name of came in from none other All he knew was that he had to stop any the deputy chief mMinister than Prime Minister further damage. sworn in with Fadnavis. The Narendra Modi, who at 8.16 Pawar started gathering information man was none other than Ajit a.m. tweeted congratula- on who all had gone with Ajit. The previ- Pawar, who was sitting in front tions to the new chief minis- ous night he had sensed that something of him in the meeting the previ- ter and deputy chief was not right, as Ajit had disappeared ous evening. At 8.01 a.m., ANI minister of Maharashtra. suddenly after the meeting. Pawar now tweeted about Fadnavis and The and started to make calls to Ajit’s close aides. Ajit Pawar taking the oath. Congress camps were left Dhananjay Munde, Ajit’s close confidant, Sanjay Raut, who had devastated by the news- had also gone incommunicado. By this recently undergone angio- break, with both camps time, the news of Ajit Pawar’s coup had plasty, could feel his heart pal- believing they had been spread like wildfire. The first thing pitating. It was he who had Kamlesh Sutar backstabbed. For both of Pawar had to do was to regain his allies’ been coordinating with Sharad 36 DAYS: A them, the man at the centre trust. He immediately called Uddhav Pawar’s NCP. He had assured Political Chronicle of suspicion was the same! and informed him that he had nothing to his party president that the do with Ajit’s move of going with the BJP. of Ambition, NCP will not ditch the Shiv 6.30 a.m., Silver He also made a lightning call to Congress Sena. And now here he was, Deception, Trust Oak Estate president Sonia Gandhi. trying to gather the courage to and Betrayal | An early morning phone A senior Congress leader, Abhishek speak to Uddhav. Raut picked Rupa Books call woke up Sharad Pawar. Manu Singhvi, had already taken to

62 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 BOOK/EXCERPT

Twitter to attack Sharad Pawar, saying, was scheduled to travel to Delhi for the getting suspicious, but the key aide ‘Waah Pawar Sahab, Waah!!’ (This was two-day governors’ conference. He can- ferrying them whispered in Shingne’s deleted later.) Uddhav Thackeray and celled his trip, as he was informed about ear that this move has the blessings of Sharad Pawar decided to meet “an important development”. He was ‘Saheb’. Around 5.30 a.m., Ajit Pawar and urgently. Meanwhile, Pawar started told late in the evening that he needed to Devendra Fadnavis had already arrived gathering information on what had stay back in Mumbai. Fadnavis commu- at the Raj Bhavan. happened till now.... nicated to the Raj Bhavan that he intended to stake claim to form the next ✤ ✤ ✤ 11 pm, November 22 government. After receiving the intima- The game had begun almost two weeks tion, the first step for the governor was A team from ANI had got a message late ago. Friday’s was the last nail. After to seek the letters of support. He had to last night that Devendra Fadnavis excusing himself suddenly from the follow the procedure or at least show would be giving a sound byte early next meeting at Nehru Centre, Ajit Pawar had that it was being followed. Ajit Pawar morning. In the last few years, this had come out and changed his car. then submitted the requisite letter, become a norm. Whenever Fadnavis Bhupendra Yadav and Ajit Pawar met at extending support for the Fadnavis-led wanted to issue a statement, he pre- an undisclosed location to finalise the government. The next step according to ferred speaking to the ANI. For the ANI swearing-in. Ajit had already consented the rule book was to recommend to the team, this was a routine assignment till to join hands with the BJP a few days ago. Immediately after Pawar’s refusal to Narendra Modi, ‘Mission Ajit Pawar’ was expedited by the BJP. An NCP leader who was friends with a top state BJP leader had already tipped Fadnavis on how Ajit Pawar had once insisted on the possibility of thinking of BJP as an option in the initial days of the political logjam. The lines of communication with Ajit Pawar were opened from then and there. Bhupendra Yadav started working the deal with Ajit. During Ajit’s visit to Delhi, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar taking oath; Uddhav with Amit Shah. a meeting was also organised between him and Amit Shah to give Ajit the confi- Centre to lift the president’s rule. they reached Varsha, where Fadnavis dence that the BJP’s top leadership was At around 12:30 a.m., Governor was still staying. The TV crew with their closely involved in the developments. Koshyari sent a petition to the Centre live source was ferried to Raj Bhavan. Ajit had since started to identify MLAs for lifting the president’s rule in When they entered the governor’s office who would join him in the coup. It was Maharashtra. The Centre was more than with their cameras, they were stunned not going to be an easy rebellion. After quick in obliging. At an unusual time of to see Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit all, it was going to be against one of the 1:30 am, the central government gave its Pawar together. Just as they were gath- most astute politicians. Add to it that Ajit nod to the petition and without wasting ering their thoughts, the national was rebelling against his own uncle and any time, it was forwarded to President anthem started playing with the gover- mentor Sharad Pawar. Ramnath Kovind. The president’s office nor’s arrival. Permission was sought to Like the BJP, Ajit too had his Plan B. He acted on the petition without any delay. start the proceedings. knew that as the leader of the Legislative At 5.47 a.m. president’s rule in At 7.45 a.m., the governor began the Party, he had all the powers to issue the Maharashtra was revoked, paving the swearing-in ceremony. The first name letter of support. He was sure that a big way for the swearing-in. The gover- that was called was of Shri Devendra chunk of party MLAs would follow him in nor’s office by that time had already Gangadharrao Fadnavis. his move. He started making phone calls. informed chief secretary of ‘Mee Devendra Gangadharrao First on his dialler list was Sindkhed Raja Maharashtra, Ajoy Mehta, to arrange Fadnavis, ishwar saksh shapath gheto () MLA Rajendra the swearing-in at 6.30 a.m. ki.…,’ Fadnavis started his oath as the Shingne. (2)* “We have an important CM. After he completed his oath, the meeting tomorrow. Reach Dhananjay’s ✤ ✤ ✤ second name was called out—Shri Ajit (Munde) Bungalow before 5 a.m. And Anantrao Pawar. ‘Mee Ajit Anantrao since this is top secret, keep this to your- NCP MLAs started arriving at Pawar, gambhirya purvak drudh self,” Ajit warned Shingne in his baritone Dhananjay Munde’s residence. When kathan karto ki....’ NCP MLAs, who till voice. More such calls followed. Rajendra Shingne reached, he saw a few now had any doubt left in their minds, MLAs sitting there already. They were now got a clear idea what they were Raj Bhavan, made to sit together in a vehicle. part of. It was a coup! O The BJP, meanwhile, had already made Majority of them were told by Ajit all preparations for the overnight takeo- Pawar’s key aides that they had to reach *(1 + 2) Source-based information on ver. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Raj Bhavan. Some of them had started condition of anonymity

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 63 Review / ART AND CULTURE

‘We wanted to make the characters realistic instead of perfect’

Nupur Asthana, director of Hip Hip Hurray and Four More Shots Please! Season 2, in conversation with Lachmi Deb Roy

How is the lockdown treating you? Who’s That Girl > Not bad at all. Since the release of Four More Shots Mairembam Ronaldo Singh: In the Please! Season 2, things have been quite a blur. I am in web series Paatal Lok, I play the role high spirits and working on a feature script now. Also, a of Cheeni, a trans-woman aban- lot of writing, reading and watching. doned by her family at a young age. How has the experience of directing the second Her character is close to my heart—I season been? could easily identify with her for I > The four women of Four More Shots Please! have too have faced difficulties as a trans evolved into far more confident and fierce women in woman. The negative perception Season 2. In Season 1, they were not sure of what they that society has of people like us wanted from life. For example, the character of Siddhi makes me unhappy. Discrimination, in Season 2 is about self-acceptance. She realises that oppression and isolation are the becoming a stand-up comedian is the way to go. That challenges we need to overcome helps her resolve many issues in in our quest for justice. I hope to her life. She is finally able to talk spread awareness regarding trans about things that have affected issues and fight for equal rights. her for years. This season was I have always been passionate about self-love for all the characters. Damini, the fierce journalist, about acting. I used to perform and becomes a fierce author. mouth dialogues in front of a mirror The characters had already been fleshed out a certain way in before I started working with theatre the first season. How did you improvise? groups in Manipur. When I was audi- > Their transformation was gradual. The creator, writer and I tioning for the show, I never wanted to cut a little closer to the bone. We wanted to get imagined I would be selected. into their minds a little more and figure out the different Though the experience was wonder- shades of their personalities. We constructed storylines ful, it was quite challenging due to that would allow us to do that organically. You see Anjana differences of language and culture. dealing with casual misogyny in her old office and com- The producers had to hire a trainer ing out victorious. Again, she encounters a rough patch to teach me Hindi and help me when she becomes intimate with a colleague. It wasn’t prepare for the role. I am glad people the right step, more so because he was married. This liked my performance—it is definitely kind of relationship is like heading towards a car crash. the most unforgettable and We tried to make the characters as realistic as challenging role of my life. O possible instead of perfect beings. —As told to Abdul Gani This is the first Indian web series depicting the marriage of two women… > In Season 1, Samara and Umang had a con- nection. Samara leads an extravagant life and Umang surrenders to love. It was lovely to see two women getting married. Though Umang runs out of the wedding, there was a sense of relief because she realis- es that they are different people. But the fact that they came to the point of getting married was powerful. And when Umang walks out of the marriage, it was a relief for the audience as well. She was trying to ascertain the balance of power in the relationship. When she realised they were not equals, she walked out. Any plans of remaking Hip Hip Hurray? > Everybody has asked me this question. But I feel you shouldn’t tamper with a story that has been told well. Let people be nostalgic about the show! O

64 OUTLOOK | JUNE 8, 2020 #BollywoodTalkiesOutlook Bollywood TALKies with

Episode - 3

with Actor Taapsee Pannu on her career in films and future plans

in conversation with

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON

Mitrajit Bhattacharya @outlookindia Columnist & Author @outlookmagazine la dolce vita

The Coolest Inferno They make dames like this in the East, women whose beauty and glamour wouldn’t overwhelm their entire persona, but are in tantalising balance with intelligence and strength of character. Such is the way, partners, with Anindita Bose, who’s captivating audiences with her emphatically bold turn as Chanda Mukherjee in the series Paatal Lok. In Bengal, she first popped eyes in the genteel, design- er milieu of the serial Gaaner Opaare. Look into those eyes again…fancy a descent into her netherworld?

Love In High Places As the sun flings a tired smile over Tehran, they leaned into each other for a kiss—legs dangling over the edge of a highrise roof, passions teeter- ing at the brink. The apparent daredevilry, though, is but toffee for parkour athlete Alireza Japalaghy and his stunt partner. As their spectacular clinch went public, the Islamic state’s police raised a stink and arrested them. Among the high-minded charges were “improper and unreligious behav- iour”, “advocating vice” that is “contrary to Sharia law”. Liberal Iranians complained as usual, but to little effect. God help the doughty duo. la dolce vita

Shut Your Eyes What else holds Amyra Dastur’s attention when she’s not donning a floral-printed swimsuit, kneeling in a gurgling brook, showing off that jawline, making eyes at us like that? Well, it’s an ‘evil eye’ tattoo (not, unfortunately, in this picture) that is guaranteed to make her feel safe from all nazar. Those who are breaking into a smug smirk must keep this in mind: in Bollywood, where eyes, and hands, often stray from the straight and narrow, such prophylactic measures are necessary armours.

Tall Boots To Fill This one is about the guy, so pay attention. Do you see a sliver of like- ness in that lowered, defiant gaze, the mop of hair on the forehead, the lumbering stature? If Namashi Chakraborty wants people to compare him favourably with dad Mithun, he ought to junk that denim coat, the horribly sprinkled shoe and the awkwardly torn denim (if you want bling, go watch Disco Dancer, boy). The girl is Amrin, who is debuting with Namashi in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Bad Boy. Now that’s a weighty moniker to bear—the possibilities are boundless. Can Namashi live up to it?

OUTLOOKINDIA.COM JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 67 Episode - 4

The Modi Government is Moving Towards a Welfare State

Bhupender Yadav MP and BJP General Secretary on Six YearS of Modi Sarkaar

In conversation with

Bhavna Vij-Aurora Political Editor, Outlook

Watch the full intervieW on @outlookindia @outlookmagazine AMPHAN

Rituparna Sengupta is a National Award winning actress and producer who works in Bengali and Hindi cinema

5,000 trees—that’s almost an entire generation gone. It is bound to upset an already tottering ecosystem. Trees are the hallmark of some of Calcutta’s streets. The Southern Avenue, for example, is probably the leafiest road in south Calcutta. It abuts the Dhakuria Lake and the two world-class golf courses—Royal and Tolly—where Calcutta’s lungs reside. Heart-breaking stories of tragedy abound. Two young men electrocuted by an unseen live wire, the asphalt sheet swept off a village street, a tree slicing a minibus into half on the Golf Green-How- rah route…these vignettes are simply horrifying. When I hear that my manager Sharmistha has been without electricity for five days and paid Rs 180 for two candles, I am aghast. When I hear that my maids, who hail from South 24 Parganas, have lost their huts and their humble belongings have been washed away, my mind goes numb. We are trained to act. We laugh, we cry, we go ecstatic and we can sink to the depths of despair on screen. But I am now caught in a belligerent crossfire of emotions. This script is for real, you don’t need to act. Mother Nature is the ultimate producer and director. Whom Do I Grieve For? As an actress, there is no clear definition of ‘family’ for me. My husband, my children, my mother, my mother-in-law, my in-laws…is that Rituparna Sengupta all? Not quite. From the spot boy to the tech- at Kumartuli nician to the make-up artist, the directors and producers, my co-actors and of course my thousands of fans, they are all family. My extended family is like an ocean and my heart goes out to each Candle In The Wind one who has suffered from the fury of the cyclone. In our lifetime, I sometimes wonder why cyclones Amphan has been the worst natural calamity we have seen. Calcutta was often have bizarre names. Fani immedi- certainly not prepared for it. And coming as it did at a time when millions ately reminds one of a serpent and its are suffering from a deadly virus, Calcutta’s back was broken. My profes- deathly fangs. Amphan, pronounced sion has taken me across the world but there is nothing like Calcutta. ‘um-pun’, means sky in Thai. As actors, There is life in every leaf, every brick and every whiff of air you inhale. we accept or reject movies on the That’s why Calcutta is the City of Joy. I am devastated because the city’s strength of a script. But why an appar- heritage spots have been ruined. ently innocuous name like Amphan—a I had recently shot at College Street in North Calcutta for Agnidev name that Thailand proposed in 2004— Chatterjee’s Jihad with Rohit Roy. We went to the famous Coffee House decided to strike a rather laidback and and used hand-pulled rickshaws in a few scenes. I reckon College Street benign city like Calcutta confounds me. is the world’s biggest repository of old books. Every shop is unique. It’s a Mother Nature probably wanted to test bibliophile’s paradise. To see books floating in dirty water is tragic. Not the City of Joy’s limit of perseverance. far from College Street and across the serpentine Central Avenue is The sheer destruction that Amphan has Kumartuli. We were shooting here for Sujit Mondal’s Anweshan with left in its wake is there for all of us to see, Ronojoy Bishnu. It’s the place where artisans mould the clay from the but the emotional distress it has caused is river Hooghly into shapes of the gods we worship round the year. Amphan unimaginable. The city has lost over did not spare many sheds under which the idols of Durga and Kali are

JUNE 8, 2020 | OUTLOOK 69 AMPHAN

College Street, Calcutta, after Cyclone Amphan

made. That leaves me with a question— wreak havoc and as hunger and panic build up, the urge to survive reveals why did Mother Nature attack artisans the true nature of every person. People contemplate suicide as well. I who create gods with their own hands? think Calcutta is facing something similar. No aid will be enough. The Calcutta may not keep pace with the mental destruction will be irreparable. glitz and glamour of New York or Singa- pore, but it’s probably the only city in the The Biggest Screenplay world that has learnt to live with its her- I have twice come close to facing nature’s fury. But one incident that itage and old charm intact. College Street remains vivid in my mind is a flight from Calcutta to Singapore when I and Kumartuli are fine examples. I really was expecting my second child. It was three hours of mayhem in the skies. don’t know if these book shops will ever The aircraft was rocking under the impact of the storm. I have experi- recover. The clay artists probably will. enced air pockets many times, but this was different. All the passengers were screaming, the flight attendants were terrified, but the pilot kept his This Night-Bitten Dawn cool. I was virtually staring at death and I was more concerned about my Sandip Ray’s Nishijapon (After The baby at that advanced stage of pregnancy. Fortunately, we landed in Night…Dawn) comes close to resem- Singapore in one piece. bling the devastation Amphan has But that was only three hours of horror. I can imagine what Calcutta must caused. The 2005 movie was a mul- be going through. The city has looked beautiful in recent years. There has ti-starrer and I was playing the lead role been a lot of work done to improve the civic amenities. Now all that is lost. It alongside Soumitra Chatterjee, will take a lot of time to rebuild Calcutta. It was good to see the Prime Min- Dipankar De and Parambrata Chatter- ister conducting an aerial survey. This is the right time to come together—not jee. It was the story of a dysfunctional just for our national leaders, but for the masses too. Religion, caste, class family stranded in a forest villa in the should not divide us. In the eyes of an Amphan or a coronavirus, everyone is mountains for days after a sudden equal and only a united front can help salvage the situation. There are at least earthquake envelopes the area in dark- a dozen movies either on the floor or waiting to be released. But in Amphan, ness. The bridge that connects the I have seen the biggest screenplay ever. It’s been a harrowing experience but house with civilisation is destroyed. humbling too. It’s time to accept nature’s fury and move on. O Landslides and incessant downpour (As told to Soumitra Bose)

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