As cases surge, Good Samaritans lend a helping hand in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: As the city struggles to cope up with surging Covid-19 cases, Good Samaritans in Bengaluru have come forward to extend a helping hand to those in need. Volunteers from a range of backgrounds, including software industry, films, police department and others, have been providing all kinds of support to people in Bengaluru, which has become one of the most impacted cities in the country during the second wave of infections. The efforts of volunteers and frontline workers, both organised and individuals, included dissemination of information, supply of food and other essentials and even helping ferry the large number of migrants who left Bengaluru back to their home states fearing the uncertainty.

Actor working as an ambulance driver

At a time when cases are increasing exponentially, Kannada actor Arjun Gowda put on a new hat, not in reel but real life, working as an ambulance driver to help Covid-19 patients in Bengaluru. He has started also started ‘Project Smile Trust’ that aims to reach out to those who are stuck without any help during the pandemic.

“We want to ensure that we help out anyone in need irrespective of where they come from or what religion they practice. I’m also ready to travel across town for help. I plan on continuing with this help for the next couple of months as the current situation is quite bad and I want to do my bit to people in whatever little way that I can,” he said.

A senior cop who hasn’t touched his new-born

Anuchet MN, deputy commissioner of police, central, became a father soon after the second wave of Covid hit the city. Responsible for one of the busiest regions of the city, Anuchet has been on duty to ensure enforcement of lockdown, arrange essential services and most importantly, ensure the men serving in his division were safe. But, amid all these, he still hasn’t been able to hold his newborn so far.

“Because I’m out in the field, I see my child only from a distance. I use a different room and have little physical interaction with family. It is tough, but that is what every policeman is going through. We are out on the streets, and we are highly susceptible to the virus. But this is what we signed up for,” he said.

A transwoman lending helping hand

Veena, a transsexual woman is a familiar face in Okalipuram area in Bengaluru. At a time when the pandemic is wreaking havoc, she visits from house to house, checking on people and providing food to those in need. In the second week of April, when she realised there was an increase in the number of deaths in her locality, she took onto herself to ensure that people were tested. Last week, when the Indira canteens began demanding Aadhaar cards for providing free food, she led an agitation outside one of the canteens.

“In such a situation, it is the poor who suffer the most. I initially started helping the transgender community in my area, because I know what they go through. Over a period of time, people started seeing my work and came to me for help. Once the Covid started, I started using my contacts to get free food for people who had lost their job. I have goodwill with people, something that I now use to spread awareness about vaccination and testing,” Veena said.

Scaling aide work with tech

Sneha Vachhaney, who has created a platform for home chefs providing food for those in need, is a key link in the food distribution in the city. “In the initial days, I was cooking around 50 meals a day to distribute around the area I lived in. Soon, I realised that there was a large demand for meals for those who are in quarantine. Then we put out a call for home chefs and so far around 200 of them have responded,” she said.

Sneha, who comes from a corporate background, said soon she realised that just cooking meals won’t be enough and her expertise could be used for scaling this process. “With help of my friends, we have created a platform where home chefs can join, and this process is streamlined. We also contacted food delivery companies like Swiggy and Dunzo for our deliveries as the numbers increased,” she said, adding that Bengaluru’s tech background came to help after all.

An ambulance that never stops

For 12-year-old Daniel, helping his father in hospital was all he knew, and which later became his profession, something that has now become one of the most sought-after services during the pandemic.

“My father used to conduct post-mortem in Bowring hospital. I used to go with him after it in the hearse van to conduct last rites on unknown and unclaimed dead bodies,” Daniel said.

Now 33, Daniel drives an ambulance that has ferried hundreds over the last 12 years and several more since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Daniel and his two brothers, Kumar and Stalin, are among the hundreds of ambulance drivers who have looked beyond individual and their family’s safety and tirelessly worked during the last year of the pandemic, which has impacted thousands in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India and globally.

A recruiter who helps bury bodies

Tanveer Ahmed, a recruiter by profession, is among a select group of volunteers in Bengaluru who have helped conduct the last rites of people whose families are in dire need of help during the pandemic.

Ahmed, a 45-year-old father of four, is part of Mercy Angel’s, a volunteer-driven organisation that has helped in providing relief like food distribution, helping distressed and Covid- 19 infected families find medicine, hospital beds and oxygen as well as helping with last rites.

The team helped with the last rites of the first-ever casualty in Bengaluru on March 23 last year and has since teamed up with the BBMP as one of the most experienced and adept groups to carry out Covid-related relief work.

Ahmed starts his day at 5.30am and goes on till around 8 pm. “Since last year, we must have helped with the last rites of over 1,500 persons. There are days when we handle up to 20-25 deaths,” Ahmed said.