Most of the 125 lightning victims worked on farms
PATNA/LUCKNOW: As many as 125 people in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — most of them farmers and labourers — have died since Thursday when lightning and heavy rains lashed the states, officials said on Friday. With officials failing to sound the alarm, the victims were working in the fields when lightning struck.
BHUBANESWAR: Soon after the lockdown in March, famous Odia film actor Sabyasachi Mishra received a message on Twitter from Dhariti Patra, a Mumbai resident. Patra’s mother was a cancer patient and was due to be operated in AIIMS Bhubaneswar on March 28, but before it could happen, the hospital turned all its resources towards managing Covid-19. Desperate, 21-year-old Patra tweeted to the 35-year-old actor to help her mother get the treatment. “Everyone thinks movie actors can work miracles in real life, but it does not happen that way. So I ignored the messages. But a few days later, I thought if I can help her in any way, let me try,” said Mishra.
He contacted a private hospital in Bhubaneswar and arranged for the mother’s transportation from her village in Ganjam, Odisha, to the capital city, where she underwent chemotherapy. “When [Patra] called from Mumbai to say she can never forget the help, I felt I can be of some help to people apart from entertaining them in movies,” said Mishra.
“I had become desperate as AIIMS had refused to operate my mother. Luckily, Sabyasachi bhai saw the tweet and decided to help out. I can’t be thankful enough,” Patra said.
Two and half months later, Mishra, who is known for his romantic lover-boy roles, has helped thousands of migrant workers. Turning his home into a control room, he coordinated the return of Odia migrant workers from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, among others. Since May 11, the actor has helped transport close to 3,000 people through buses, trains, flights and car.
“The biggest loss [the migrants] have suffered is loss of willpower and dignity. They think they will die walking. It’s important to talk to them,” he said.
It started on May 11 when the actor received a message on social media from Rosalin Mishra, a student of Central Sanskrit University in Rajasthan seeking help for 80 stranded students there. “It was beyond my imagination to handle the arrangements for buses, getting travel permits and passes for inter-state borders. Initially, bus owners were reluctant to travel to Odisha and they wanted more money. But that was sorted out eventually,” Mishra said.
Mishra hired two buses to ferry the students between Jaipur and Bhubaneswar on May 21, and paid for those who couldn’t arrange their own fare.
Rosalin now helps manage his social media profiles. Together with two other students, they trawl through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and communicate with people seeking Mishra’s help. “Last week, I coordinated the return of 44 girl migrant workers who lost their jobs in Kerala and were desparate to come back,” she said.
Mishra said he set an expenditure target of Rs 20 lakh for philanthropy and he is about to reach that amount. Luckily, people are also keen to help out, and Mishra is directing them to his trust, which he set up last year.
“Though film actors do reach out to people in times of natural distress, Sabyasachi has gone several steps ahead. What is creditable is he has done it when the film industry has had no business and actors are unlikely to get any work for quite some time due to lockdown issues,” Odisha Cine Artistes Association president Kuna Tripathy said.
Noted sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik recently made a sand illustration in praise of Mishra’s efforts at the Puri beach.
On Twitter, when someone tagged Sonu Sood – the Bollywood actor who helped migrants by organising buses – another user tagged Mishra. “Brother.. when you have wishes of the entire nation with you then nothing is impossible. We will make sure everyone reaches back to their family. Keep the good work going,” Sood replied.