Bhayandar: As the nation entered into lockdown mode to combat the deadly coronavirus, a large section of people started figuring out ways to procure essentials to sustain till the lockdown period as several others – mainly the affluent who were gripped by the stock-home syndrome resorted to panic buying by emptying the shelves of supermarkets.
However, the twin-city can also boast of person who not only refrains from stock piling the freebies he gets from donors but also has the heart to distribute it and share the meager amount he saved from doing odd jobs and sometimes even forced to beg for earning a hand-to-mouth income.
Meet, physically challenged and poor, yet generous - Mangru Bedu Rajput. Sprawled on the floor with his two legs useless because of the polio that crippled him during his early childhood days in Uttar Pradesh, 36-yearold Rajput, stays alone on the pavement near Balaji Nagar in Bhayandar (west).
As roads remain deserted and desolate because of the lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, Rajput is amongst those who now survive on the charity by organisation’s some distributing a month's supply of essentials like basic staples such as wheat flour, rice and pulses.
However, Rajput does not pile up the commodities in his makeshift hut but moves around in a tricycle in the night to find other needy and homeless people. Moreover, he is even reluctant to get himself clicked like others do for publicity.
“Isme hamara kya yogdaan hai, jo milta hai dusro ko de dete hai ( what is my contribution, whatever I get I give it to others,” says Rajput. What he’s doing assumes significance, as though there are many people distributing food during the day, there is hardly anyone doing it at night due to the curfew.
