Lockdown effect: Man sells wife’s mangalsutra to return home in Bihar

Fifty days after lockdown, when Sarvesh Kumar in Rajasthan went to his employer to ask for his salary dues so that he could return to his home state Bihar, he was shooed away by his boss. With no work and no cash in hand, Sarvesh had no idea how he would survive. Until his wife (in Bihar) called him up on his mobile. “Sell the mangalsutra you took to Rajasthan to get it repaired. With that money, purchase a cycle and drive down to Bihar,” Sarvesh’s wife told him.

“When my husband will die due to hunger, what will a suhagan (married woman) do with a mangalsutra?” Sarvesh’s wife convinced her in-laws at Araria in Bihar when someone pointed out the essence of ‘mangalsutra’ for a ‘suhagan’ woman.

Sarvesh did exactly what his better-half suggested. He purchased a cycle and is now pedaling on way to Araria in eastern Bihar, a 1400 km drive from his workplace in Rajasthan.

There are many people like Sarvesh, who have not been able to travel by several Shramik Special trains being run from one State to another. One such person is Harishankar, who waited for days to board a train in Ambala but eventually left for Sitamarhi in a truck along with his wife Rita and two children.

Arvind Kumar’s case is all the more heart-rending. A physically-challenged person, he is walking on his one foot, with a stick and a friend to support him. Arvind has covered around 600 km from Satna (in Madhya Pradesh) to Patna and is on way to Bhagalpur, around 300 km more to be covered.

Taking note of the many migrant workers preferring to use other modes of transportation instead of trains to reach their home state, the railway officials, say the labourers should have some patience and every stranded person will get a chance to travel by train.

“Altogether 69,650 persons will leave for Bihar on May 18 by 43 Shramik Special trains, the highest number on any particular day,” said Information and Public Relations Department (IPRD) Secretary, Anupam Kumar.