19TH DAY OF MY SOCIAL
ISOLATION
2010 POSITIVE, 55 DEAD, 169
RECOVERED
General feeling: “It was a pretty
volatile day. From being aloof to being extremely low to finally recovering
towards the evening. It already feels like the lock-down is making some of us complacent.
We’re beginning to shift focus from a larger problem to our personal
first-world issues like boredom, loneliness and anxiety. For many more others,
food and shelter is still a task at hand.”
Spoke to one of my oldest and
closest friends today after a long time. The thing with the two of us is that
we hardly speak about ourselves. We only speak about what’s happening around. I
guess that’s normal when two empaths talk. He’s in Delhi and was apprising me
of how the ground-situation of migrant laborers is. This guy has been trying to
do his bit. Trying to find genuine ways to help. With food, with money or just
by lending an ear.
I quote him here: “Everywhere you
turn, there’s a glaring tragedy to hear. Some people haven’t eaten for 3 days.
They have no money. Some have been beaten by the police. Some have been looted
by the police. Some kids have been starving and crying. The society has
completely dis-owned them. The government, even perhaps with good intentions
has been unable to deal with the scale of the problem. The civil society, the- you
and me, are busy taking Instagram challenges. Thousands, not just from Delhi,
but across the country are now walking thousands of miles, devoid of
information, communication, protection, food, shelter and empathy”
That’s the state of this
lock down. While I agree that the lock down was unplanned and not operationalized
well (just like most policies of our central government), I wonder if planning
for it was even possible. Locking down an entire country is not an easy
decision to take for any state’s premier. And I am certain that minute to
minute consultations with experts led to a decision as sudden as this.
The poor and the voiceless,
however, should not become the collateral to give away in this scenario. We
know what the governments must do. We should however also think, what we must
do. It’s not possible for most of us to help them physically. But what we can do is below:-
1. Give
them voice – Speak out on issues. Report ground realities. Empathize with
people. Keep them in your prayers. Most importantly, inform those who are not aware. And
please, do not bring in communal biases.
2. Help
local groups who are trying to provide essentials to this stranded lot. Help
them with money, water, food, soap, masks, basic medicines, anything. Over this
week, I’ll be collating a list of several such groups and posting it in this
blog.
3. Avoid wasteful usage of anything. Food, water, electricity. These resources are
limited and we’re lucky to have them handy.
4. Do
not hoard. While I understand, it makes for safer next few weeks, it’s really
more peace of mind and the option of gulping down as much as we’d like.
Security of food is a basic human right which is not available to many.
So let’s respect rationing, for now at the least.
5. Donate
blood. Blood banks are being organized in a very careful manner by local authorities,
ensuring 6 ft spacing, time-slots with appointments etc. There is no substitute
for human blood and there are treatments which can’t be stalled. Cardiac
surgeries, deliveries and cancer treatments, all require blood.
How do you do it?
It is not necessary that each one
of us gets down to the streets. In-fact, it is not recommended either given
that lock-down is meant so we socially isolate.
There are big organizations and funds like ISCON and PM Relief Fund etc.
but the transparency and tractability of these is always surrounded with
skepticism. Therefore below are a few groups who you can reach out to (I will
continue to update this list).
1. Insta
Handle : Anaa Peshimam
Donate INR 1000/- for a food kit for a
family of four
https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/helping-families-of-daily-wage-earners-affected-by-job-loss-due-to-covid-19?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=whatsappShare&utm_campaign=helping-families-of-daily-wage-earners-affected-by-job-loss-due-to-covid
19&utm_content=370665445e89646487b5c2139f8fd26e&shby=1undefined
2. Insta
Handle : srloveandcar
Donate any amount starting from a meager INR 50/-
Donate any amount starting from a meager INR 50/-
3. Roti
Ghar
Donate to feed across Mumbai Metropolitan Area
Make donations to 9769181218 via
Paytm or Google Pay.
4. Insta
Handle: officialyuva
Donate INR 600/week for a bag
that includes wheat, rice, oil & soap.
5. The
Rasoi on Wheels Foundation
Insta Handle: -
rasoionwheels
Can
paytm/bank-transfer
6. For #Aurangabad:-
During current lockdown most affected are the people who earn their livelihood daily. Waste paper & plastic pickers, house maids, labourers on daily wage etc are few of them. Government help has not reached to these people so far. Therefore we are trying to reach support to at least about 500 such families in first phase. It costs aruond Rs 1500 / - for one family for 15 days ration. Thus for 500 families Rs. 7,50,000 /- will be required.
We, the following signatories, appeal to you to contribute as much as you can for this cause.
Regards,
Principal Pratap Borade, Adv Prakash Paranjpe, Subhash Lomte, Dnyaanaprakash Modani, Adv Manohar Tankalsal, Prof. Vijay Diwan, Pradeep Khelurkar, Dr. Rashmi Borikar, Mangal Khinwasra, Dr. Iqbal Minne, Dr. Surfaraj Sheikh, Prof. Sriram Jadhav, Dr Nirmala Asolekar.
Pl transfer your contributions to following account.
A / C Name: Aurangabad Zilla Sarvoday Mandal,
Bank : *Saraswst Co-Op Bank ltd, Garkheda, Bank A / C No: 098200100002870.
IFSCode: SRCB0000098.
7. Seeds India
Link:- http://www.seedsindia.org/covid19/
Donate 500/- for a week's ration of a family of 5
Donate 1500/- one family's hygiene kit for a month
Donate 5000/- Support daily wage earners who have lost their jobs and shelters to stay
You can bank transfer/paytm here:- https://www.seedsindia.org/donation/?donation_for=covid19
PS:- Giving money is the easiest way to help. Please do not consider
yourself absolved and done if you’ve made a bank transfer. Physical help,
getting supplies, managing to get essential items and delivering them to the
last mile takes selflessness, courage and a great deal of emotion. Money is an
important but just one part.
Until then, peace to everyone
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