‘I DON’T WANT A SINGLE PIC OF ME DISTRIBUTING RATIONS’

The long lockdown has brought Gautam Gambhir some family time, but he ensures his duties as an MP are also fulfilled

He gets disturbed while talking about the plight of migrant workers, irked by the mention of those who boast about their contribution for a good cause. Balancing his duties as the Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi, and spending time at home with his family, former cricketer Gautam Gambhir is calm. In the third phase of the lockdown, the 38-year-old talks to us about the measures being taken in his constituency “to control the crisis”, relief work done by the Gautam Gambhir Foundation, and urges everyone “to be united to win this battle”.

Over 40 days into the lockdown... how are you holding up?

I’m doing everything I haven’t done throughout my life, first because of cricket and then due to politics. I’m spending some time with my little ones — making them sleep, playing with them — seeing them grow is the best feeling. Everyone should look at this lockdown from a positive point of view.

Are you being over active on social media during this time?

It depends on what you want to gain out of this lockdown. I’ve always kept things private. I’ve posted certain pictures and videos of my daughters on Instagram, but I don’t believe in putting everything out there.

That way, not much is known about the contribution your foundation is making...

I’ve made it clear to my team that whenever we distribute rations, I don’t want a single picture of me. I hate it. I see a lot of people distributing kits with their own photos on them, I don’t believe in it. When you’re giving something to someone, why do you want to have your marketing stuff on it? We’ve got carry bags with my foundation’s name on it, but not my photo. Do a good cause for self-satisfaction, not for people to talk about it. We distribute 8,000-10,000 cooked food and ration packets everyday, wherever it goes, we give them slips and they give us their IDS, which slum they belong to. We’ve given around 4,500 PPE kits and have got the receipts from four hospitals.

Do you feel some people are flouting lockdown guidelines in the name of religion?

At this time, the country needs to be united, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and social status. If there are advisories, follow them otherwise strict action needs to be taken. I’ve seen videos where doctors, nurses and police officers were attacked. My heart goes out to them. They’re fighting on the front for us, they need support more than anyone else. They haven’t gone back home for days and also have families.

What about people without masks and in poor hygiene conditions roaming on the streets?

They need to be put into shelter homes where they get food and are monitored regularly. We have two shelter homes — Ghazipur and Yamuna Sports Complex. We’ve provided them bedsheets, soaps, sanitizers and a lot of things for hygiene.

The haunting visuals of stranded migrant workers are still fresh. Did they deserve that pain?

It was in my constituency, at Anand Vihar bus stand. Our CM, in a press conference, said they’re feeding one crore people everyday. And then we saw the amount of migrants. They were two completely contrasting things. Just give the right data. Don’t give numbers for the heck of it. You’re only trying to fool yourself by doing that. Nothing wrong in accepting we haven’t done it, but will do in future.