Sunday Long Reads: 13 stories about what 2021 taught us

Shobha Dilip Kushwha, 39
Worker at IAttire, Pune, Maharashtra

When I used to make clothes on my sewing machine at home in Nagpur and, then, Pune, I never thought that, one day, I would be tailoring PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits. I work for a company called IAttire in Pune, manufacturers of corporate uniforms. I was in the Shirts division. My earnings helped at home, especially with the education of our two children.

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Rahul Kumar: ‘It is as stupid as it is brave to dream with a life like mine’

Rahul Kumar, 18; Worker at the new Parliament building, Central Secretariat, New Delhi (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

Rahul Kumar, 18
Worker at the new Parliament building, Central Secretariat, New Delhi

Of late, at work, I have been hearing about a new variant of COVID spreading in China. The last time the pandemic struck, I was in my hometown in Bihar, and most days, we lived on plain rice from the government’s ration scheme, not even dal was provided. I remember my father, a carpenter, losing his job, after which we had to borrow Rs 1 lakh from a local moneylender for my sister’s wedding. The debt has now piled up to Rs 4-5 lakh. Two months ago, I thought that boarding a train to Delhi from my village in Samastipur would solve my woes. Now, I slog away as a helper at the Central Secretariat Parliament construction site to earn Rs 475 a day, and nowhere am I close to paying back the loan. If I borrow Rs 10,000 today, I am asked to repay Rs 50,000 within two years. If I have to shell out Rs 8 lakh in another two years, how will I settle this debt?

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Henna Hanan: ‘We are 22-23 year-olds and don’t have to put up with restrictions’

henna hanan, henna hanan girls restrictions, henna hanan mbbs student, Sunday eye, indian express (Source: Henna Hanan)

Henna Hanan, 23

Final year MBBS student, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, Kerala

We had been through online classes for more than a year, even though we were on campus during COVID-19. Things had shut down and our movement to the outside world was restricted. So, in 2021, when the scare of a pandemic was waning and college began physical classes, we were really happy. However, even while the world had opened up, our freedom was time bound. We were told, as girls, that we could not stay out after 9.30 pm, while the boys could. This was not something we were prepared to accept.

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Ningthoujam Ibemsana: ‘I want to give a better life to my children’

Ningthoujam Ibemsana, 37; Primary school teacher, Imphal, Manipur (Credit: Yumkhaibam Stphen Luwang)

Ningthoujam Ibemsana, 37
Primary school teacher, Imphal, Manipur

Ever since my husband died of COVID in 2021, I have suffered a great deal, both emotionally and financially. My husband, who was just 38 when he died, was the sole breadwinner of our family and I just didn’t know how to survive with my two children at a time when everything had slowed down and there were no jobs around. Though it was very painful to have lost my husband, I could not even grieve properly as I was so anxious about our future. I was speaking to my mother on the phone even now and was venting my frustration about my husband’s untimely death that has left me to take on the role of both mother and father to our children.

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Ram Nandan Paswan: ‘I have saved… and learnt to stock up for any untoward situation’

Ram Nandan Paswan, textile worker, Gujarat (Credit: Hanif Malek)

Ram Nandan Paswan, 36

Textile factory worker, Surat, Gujarat

Even today I get the shivers when I hear the word “corona”. There were 12 of us, who walked over 357 km, from Surat to Bhusawal, in Maharashtra, for over 12 days. When we boarded a train to Aurangabad in Bihar, our home, I had only Rs 100 in my pocket and no ticket.

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Rajashree Talavdekar: ‘The uniform of a nurse gives you a lot of strength and I want to take that into 2023’

Rajashree Talavdekar, 56; Nurse in-charge, BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra (Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

Rajashree Talavdekar, 56
Nurse in-charge, BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra

I relearned simple mantras of life due to my work as a paramedical frontline worker during the coronavirus pandemic: appreciating loved ones, valuing the time I have with them, and respecting my body and its wellbeing. As a nurse at Mumbai’s BYL Nair Hospital, which was among the first to be declared a dedicated COVID-19 hospital (DCH) in the city in 2020, my job during the pandemic was heartbreaking because I closely witnessed the suffering of the patients I cared for. I still shudder to think of the first few days of the pandemic that brought panic, uncertainty, and heartbreak for us all.

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Neha Sharma: ‘Children need to bring gratitude back into their lives’

Neha Sharma, Teacher, Veer Savarkar Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, New Delhi (Credit: Abhinav Saha)

Neha Sharma, 32

Teacher, Veer Savarkar Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, New Delhi

This is my first year of being back in the classroom since the start of the pandemic. It’s been a learning experience for me, too. Being with my fifth-graders online over the last nine months, teaching and observing them, has given me direction on where to focus my energies next year.

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Dr Kush Sharma: ‘Hopefully, there will be an end to violence against doctors and healthcare staff’

Dr Kush Sharma, Associate Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Tahirpur, New Delhi (Credit: Praveen Khanna)

Dr Kush Sharma, 33

Associate Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Tahirpur, New Delhi

It was the first time we had seen so many patients dying. The pandemic had struck in 2020, and Lok Nayak hospital — where I’m a resident doctor — had started receiving patients; nobody knew anything about the virus at that time.

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Suresh Choudhary: ‘In the end, everything turns out fine’

Suresh Choudhary, photographer, Mumbai (Credit: Pradip Das)

Suresh Choudhary, 33

Photographer, Gateway of India, Mumbai, Maharashtra

One of Mumbai’s most iconic landmarks is the Gateway of India and being a photographer for over 10 years at this site has allowed me to document people’s lives and emotions. It’s been my passion, and I have never regretted this job. I have seen the city change and so much has happened in this last decade, but nothing prepared me for the pandemic.

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Mumtaz Saifi: ‘I started taking care of my personal growth and want to keep learning’

Mumtaz (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)

Mumtaz Saifi, 21

Entertainment Service Provider, PVR: Vegas LUXE, Dwarka, New Delhi

Towards the end of 2019, I began working at PVR. I sell tickets to customers at the box office, make popcorn and serve them drinks, and, overall, ensure they have a good time at the theatre. When I joined, I was also a year into my undergraduate studies at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning, and was managing both responsibilities. I stayed with my family in Palam, worked nine hours a day and got one day off. I worked only for a few months, from December 2019 to March 2020, and then the pandemic started.

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Ghulam Ali: ‘I have realised that if one door closes, another usually opens up’

Ghulam Ali is a Sarangi player (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)

Ghulam Ali, 47

Sarangi player, New Delhi

When Covid hit the world, it affected everyone, but in its wake, it brought din and disaster for performing artistes. For an artiste, his/her art form is the only way to earn a living. Besides performing with classical artistes in various parts of the country, I have also performed as an accompanying musician in reality shows such as Indian Idol and Saregama.

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Bilal Ahmad Kaloo: ‘I hope for a classroom full of students’

Bilal Ahmad Kaloo (Credit: Bashaarat Masood)

Bilal Ahmad Kaloo, 39

Coordinator, Department of Teacher Education

University of Kashmir, North Campus

Baramulla, Kashmir

On a quiet summer morning three years ago, I felt a little dizzy with an occasional bout of cough. On a normal day, I would pop a tablet and relax in the company of books. But it was the summer of 2020 and every bout of cough brought with itself long periods of anxiety. COVID had arrived, and only a day before, a neighbour had died of it. He was literally thrown into a ditch without a funeral bath. I didn’t want to die of COVID.

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Rahul Kumar Singh: ‘I hope to buy a motorcycle so I can do more deliveries in a day’

Rahul Kumar Singh (Credit – Soumyarendra Barik)

Rahul Kumar Singh, 24

Zomato delivery worker, Delhi

I migrated to Delhi from Balia in Uttar Pradesh after completing my graduation in science. This was just before the pandemic had started in 2020. My first job was at Maruti Suzuki in Gurugram as a store keeper-in-charge. Later, I joined Amazon in the same capacity. But I lost both those jobs during the first and second wave of the pandemic when the country was completely locked down.

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Also in this week’s edition:

In this season of countdowns, a list of charismatic creepy crawlies

Butterfly (Photo credit: Ranjit Lal)

Considering that they more or less run planet Earth for us, we give them far less credit than they deserve, and deem them to be “creepy crawlies”. Of course, they do creep and crawl (and scuttle and scoot) but they also have vital functions such as pollination and recycling, without which nothing much on earth (including stock exchanges) could survive.

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