FIGHTING FIRE FOR LIGHT
Firefighters at Gurgaon’s Sector 29 station talk about call of duty and celebrating Diwali away from home CAMPUS EVENTS CULTURE
Asafe Diwali is unimaginable without firefighters, who work to ensure that the rest of the city can celebrate sans fear. Firefighters at the fire station, Gurgaon, Sector 29, speak about celebrating the festival, saving lives, and dreading worrisome phone calls from home.
‘Earlier, fear crept in whenever the phone rang’ “Diwali par hamare liye bahut tanav hota hai (Diwali is a tense period for us),” says senior fire officer IS Kashyap. “We remind each other of our motto—We serve to save. We have to forget about our families at this time. Earlier, we would fear every time the phone rang to report a sighting of fire. But, my family knows I’ll be safe because of my experience of 38 years,” he says.
‘If I get hurt, I don’t tell my parents’
“I told my mother I can’t come home for Diwali. She assured me that I didn’t need to worry, and wanted me to do my duty properly. ‘Koi shikayat ka mauka na mile’, she said,” says 24-year-old firefighter, Naveen Nehra from Rohtak, adding, “Even if I get hurt, I don’t tell my parents.”
‘Ghar pe dhoom dhaam se manaate the Diwali’
Firefighter Deepak Kumar from Rewari misses celebrating Diwali at home, and adds, “Ghar pe dhoomdhaam se manaate the Diwali. Lekin humein khushi hoti hai ki hum kisi doosre ki jaan bachayenge (What keeps us going is the happiness we get when we save a life).”
‘We are like each other’s family’
“Humara parivar yahin hai. Seniors are like my parents, while fellow firefighters are my brothers,” says 42-year-old Rai Singh, an ex-CRPF personnel and firefighter, who, for the last 11 years, has been part of several firefighting operations.