IT was day three of the lockdown. Mumbai, always bursting at the seams, found itself straitjacketed, or so it seemed; its crowded, chaotic streets almost deserted and quiet.
Actor Sonu Sood and his childhood friend, Neeti Goel, were heading home after distributing food to the homeless who had found shelter under the Eastern Express Highway. While driving through Kalanagar (Bandra), they saw a woman bent over a stove, stirring a pot. As the car drove past, the woman ran towards it, waving frantically to stop. When Sood and Goel stepped out of the car, the woman broke down. She showed them the pot. It was empty, save for some stones. Shantabai had been stirring an empty vessel so that her five children—aged between one and seven—would fall asleep in the false hope that food would be served soon.
Shantabai’s situation left Sood feeling hollow. He realised that her plight was shared by many daily wage earners who were jobless because of the lockdown. The thought that thousands of children were going to bed hungry kept him up at night. He decided he had to do something. What followed was an outpour of compassion.
In April and May, as the lockdown kept extending, desperate migrants started walking home. Sood launched the Ghar Bhejo campaign with Goel and reportedly arranged transport for 7.5 lakh migrant workers. He equipped frontline workers with masks and face shields, airlifted students stranded abroad, and helped farmers in distress. He also launched Pravasi Rojgar, an app to help skilled and unskilled workers find jobs.
This story is from the December 20, 2020 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the December 20, 2020 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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