circa 2020
PUKAAR's journey in the covid-circa 2020 started immediately after Cyclone Amphan ravaged South Bengal with a ferocity not seen in three centuries. Kolkata remained without internet, phone lines and electricity for weeks. The PUKAAR duo set out to make calls, collect funds, procure relief material, and then go to the interiors of Bengal to reach it to the needy.
28 May, 2020, FRAZERGANGE, Sundarban (Eight days after Amphan)
Frazerganj is a tiny dot on the
forehead of the Indian Ocean in the Bay of Bengal.
On the eighth day of the deadly Amphan, the PUKAAR trustees set off to Frazerganj - from a badly rattled Kolkata - amidst terrifying rain and strong winds.
The women of Frazerganj had waited patiently to receive the relief.
They had lost a lot, but when hands reach out, tears often flow.
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3 JUNE, 2020, L-PLOT, Sundarban ( less than 15 days after Amphan)
L Plot is one of the most remote islands in the Sundarbans. So remote that it hasn't been renamed since the British named the islands alphabetically. Reaching L Plot meant driving two and half hours from Calcutta and then two hours on the river. L Plot was an eye opener for us. It proved yet again the human zeal and zest for a nest, no matter how remote.
11 JUNE, 2020, MATHURAPUR, Sundarban ( 21 days after Amphan)
25 June, FATEPUR, Diamond Harbour (A month after Amphan)
4 July, PURBA CHANDIPUR, KULPI, Sundarban ( 6 weeks after Amphan)
Purba Chandipur is green, verdant and desolate. A survey of six villages had identified widows and elderly women in need: the MOST vulnerable section of any society. The oldest member among the beneficiaries was a centurion, one hundred and three years of age with a Aadhaar card to prove it too. Perfectly in her senses, she came with a great grandson who helped her carry back the relief material.
10 July, GABBERIA, Sundarban ( not even 7 weeks after Amphan)
Gabberia is a small village, near Gocharan station, popularly known as Charan, in South Bengal. Like all other villages in the area, it abounds with ponds and water-bodies, mostly private, some public. Most of the women of this particular area work as maids in Calcutta. The men folk rarely ever hold a steady income.
Poverty abounds.
12 July, Saantragachi, Howrah
Santragachi is a den of the urban poor where poverty and industrialisation compete with each other. Yet again, its the most vulnerable who get left behind.
The women, specifically the elderly widows live on the periphery of a city, both literally and figuratively.
16 Oct, JHARKHALI, Sundarban
The Tiger Widows: Their husbands were snatched away by the fleet footed Bengal Tiger as they went out to fish or catch crabs It's an extremely uncertain life they live, living one day at a time, and yet, the zeal of human existence is here in abundance.
An amazing group of young girls from MAHADEVI BIRLA WORLD ACADEMY contributed majorly to
this reach out. PUKAAR is overjoyed at this superb spirit instilled in her students by MBWA Principal Ms ANJANA SAHA.
13 Dec, Piali, 24 Pargnas (S)
Once upon a time Piali - a railway station on the suburban Canning Train line in South 24 Pgns in West Bengal - was infamous for having one of the largest numbers of trafficking cases in India. The areas surrounding Piali are rural in nature. In the absence of any guidance and/or education, these young girls are easy fodder for 'boyfriends' who first befriend, then 'marry' and finally sell them off to brothels in far off parts of India. This infamy has been curbed to some extent by the presence of NGOs that have created infrastructure that supports girls with education, meals, vocations and sometimes even with residential facilities. On one such sunny winter morning PUKAAR and The BSS School - one of Kolkata's leading girls' schools - visited Piali and handed over 6 months worth sanitary napkins, snacks, dental hygiene kits, notebooks and stationary to 64 girl students. A day very well spent indeed!
17 Dec, Midnapur (W) 11 villages
This outreach has a special place in Pukaar's heart given the energy and thought that went into this planning and executing this trip. None of it would have been possible without nthe logistic support provided by the ever sincere and ever credible Sarada Kalyan Bhandar, who not just supported PUKAAR with the use of their premises but also lent their efficient and able staff members who practically distributed the tonnes of material that had been carried from Kolkata. Owing to the pandemic, parents of students from class I to IV collected the food kit on behalf of their wards. As it is, it was much too heavy for the little ones to have carted back. The other students all came in uniform and collected their food kits, 20 notebooks each, stationary, and in the case of girl students, sanitary napkins for 6 months. Seeing the middle school girls sign their names fluently in English washed away every bit of physical stress that these trips almost often entail.
03 Jan, Khas Shakdah 24 Pgns (N)
Yet another day out with girls from rural Bengal. In addition to sanitary napkins and food kits, notebooks and stationary, school bags and sweaters were distributed too. girls ranged from Class I to XII. their enthusiasm is to be seen to believed.
