It was a phone call made out ofdesperation, to a wrong number, but help still arrived for stranded labourers from Jharkhand in certain southern towns, when they were feeling the pinch of the ongoing national lockdown enforced as part of India's fight against COVID19.When a labourer from Jharkhand, stranded in Hosur in Tamil Nadu, made the phone call with hope, little did he realise that it will fetch help from a good samaritan from distant Chennai, although it was not the government helpline he hoped would help him tide over the crisis.But, when city-based Aarti Madhusudan, who runs a not for profit initiative, attended the phone call, she had no second thoughts to reach out to her unknown compatriot miles away from home.Instead of directing him to someone else, she chose to respond.Incidentally, Madhusudhan received more calls from such stranded persons in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka too, and has no idea how they got her number."He sounded very desperate and said he had been going without food for two days," Madhusudhan told PTI.She immediately turned to her Facebook friends and sought assistance, and within hours a social media post was shared by many users who came forward to help.Later, she received a call from Sri City in Andhra Pradesh, with pleas from similar persons for help."I would have received 15 to 20 calls from the beginning of the month. And since the last two days I have not been receiving any calls," she said, adding, she had no idea how they happened to get her number.The Hosur call was followed by another SOS from a person on behalf of a group of 198 construction labourers from Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.After spending the little money they had with them, the workers decided to ask for help. And it so happened, the 'helpline' number turned out to be Madhusudhan's this time as well.Another social media post, this time on workers from Sri City was picked up by a cyber specialist from Hyderabad and the labourers were reached out to by his friends, she said.On April 3, the labourer from Hosur called to thank Madhusudhan for the gesture but what was more heartwarming was he refused further help for himself, saying it may be directed to others who were suffering elsewhere.He said he and his associates had stocks that would sustain them for two to three days.When she urged him to accept dry rations, as no one knows when the situation would improve, he replied in Hindi, "kai log abhi bhookhe Hain. Unko khana pahunchana zaroori hai. Hum unse baat karatein Hein." (Many are hungry now and food must reach them. I will link the callers to them).
