“Diya de dena, jala lenge (Give us the lamps, we will light them),” said Phoolwanti Devi, smile writ large on her face, as she walked up the Mohan Nagar flyover with wooden sticks to light up her hearth.
She knows of the Prime Minister’s appeal to the people on Friday but right now she has bigger concerns. She is one of the 30-odd daily wagers from Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh who decided to stay on during the lockdown.
“We are running out of food. People come and offer small portions of khichdi. It doesn’t quench our hunger. It would be better if we are given rice and dal separately. We will cook ourselves. Kids of the poor are also difficult to convince when it comes to taste,” she said.
Ms. Devi said the administration took them to a shelter home on Meerut road but they returned as they found the place too crowded. Here near the railway line, beneath the flyover, they felt better placed.
‘We need food’
Guddu, a construction worker, chipped in. “When I work, I eat 10 chapatis in one meal. My appetite can’t change overnight. I need at least two-three. We believe in the PM, but we need food as well.”
Speaking to a cross-section of daily wagers in Ghaziabad revealed that Narendra Modi’s appeal was intact. Almost all the workers The Hindu spoke to knew about what the PM asked them to do on Sunday, right up to the duration. It is just a minor adventure in their arduous lives. After the exodus, they are getting used to the attention of the administration.
Jag Pravesh, a construction worker residing in a Vasundhara slum, said the lockdown has turned the focus on the poor. “I guess the rich feel that we might bring the disease to them. I see scared faces around. That’s why the police want to keep us inside. In the last 10 days, we have once received 5 kg flour, a packet of tea and sugar. I didn’t expect it.”
As for lighting the diya, Mr. Pravesh, who hails from Sitamarhi in Bihar, said what was the harm in it. “This man (PM Modi) knows how to bring people together,” he said.
A few blocks ahead, at another cluster of the slum of construction workers from Mahoba, Mahesh said for the first time he had seen residents and police taking note of their presence. “A few days back, locals came with puris but the police stopped them as they came with their own supply. We voted for Modi and we would do whatever he asks us to do. But I fear that even he is running out of options.”
