Family’s calls kept them going

Three guest workers survive on biscuits and water and cycle away non-stop to reach home

There were times in their journey when they wanted to give up, but then a call from their family would give them strength. This desire to meet their family, good samaritans along the way and their own perseverance helped three guest workers from the city reach their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

They had left the city on May 14 on second-hand cycles that they bought with all the money they had left. BM has been checking on their progress and had reported earlier that after cycling for 1,000 km, they had got a ride from a lorry driver, who offered to take them till Chhattisgarh. From there on, they cycled continuously for four days, surviving just on water and biscuits for their entire journey.

Binod Bharthi, a guest worker from Uttar Pradesh, and two others used to work as a painter at an under construction building in Whitefield. The three had pooled in everything they had and bought three second hand bicycles at Rs. 2,000 each. BM met the group near the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh border on May 15.

Bharathi said that after going on for several kilometres, they realised they wouldn’t be able to cycle all the way so they got their family to send them Rs 800 and they got a ride in a lorry.

Shylendar, another guest worker from Bihar, said from Raipur, they started off on their cycles once again. “We did not have any problem with food in any of the states as volunteers near the toll gates would offer us food. A group in the Andhra Pradesh border gave us Rs. 500 due to which we survived,” he said.

As the trio reached Uttar Pradesh, they could not find anything to eat. “We spent money on buying biscuits as that was easily available. We kept filling water from wherever we could. For four days, we survived only on water and biscuits while we cycled through UP in the hot sun. At one point, we wanted to give up but the calls from our family kept us going and it encouraged us to continue. We hardly managed to get any sleep and kept riding throughout and on Thursday morning, we reached a village near Gorakhpur where my friends are from. From there I started riding alone and reached my village Pashchim Champaran in Bihar late in the night,” he said.

In both the villages, a 14-day quarantine has been arranged for them in local schools. Shylendar said they have arranged for beds and are giving them good food. “My family also visited me, from far away,” he said.