Walking, Dodging, Hiding, Waiting: Delhi in the time of the Virus

It isn't as if people aren't bothered about the deathly coronavirus. We are more bothered about a question that has been thrown at us in the throes of the lockdown: Where do we belong? And to whom? A ...

Apr 02, 2020, 14:37 IST3 min

1/16

The images of migrants crowding the inter-state bus stations to take the first bus out had its effect: A total lockdown of highways. By late afternoon, policeman Satendar Singh had emptied ...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

2/16

An anxious Bhanwari Devi rushes to a bus near Ghaziabad border that might take her to Moradabad. Her husband is there, is all she would say.

Image by Madhu Kapparath

3/16

Potato wholesaler Majid Khan points to the rickety buildings around in Ghazipur. The labourers, mostly from Bihar are gone, he says, and there&rsquos no buyers even at half the price. He&rs...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

4/16

Like illegal migrants who cross borders elsewhere in the world, people heading out to their villages walk, wait, run and dodge behind residential complexes adjoining the Delhi-UP highway. T...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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So many samaritans on an afternoon doling out food and water, that this could rewrite the book. People on the move were refusing food offered from vans that pulled up frequently and from ca...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Muskaan walks on an empty road in Kalindi Kunj with provisions on her head, turning occasionally to look for a vehicle that might offer her a lift towards Tughlakabad. The 34-year-old mothe...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

7/16

Saurabh Bidhuri and his posse of cousins pace around his &lsquogold-plated&rsquo car, parked in their narrow galli in Khadar, Delhi. Grounded now due to the lockdown, Saurabh says it is &ls...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Babban scrambled to get on this bus to Bareilly that the police allowed on a sudden whim, to prevent the state border from getting choked with stranded migrants. Why the hurry? Because his ...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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&lsquoSocial distancing&rsquo, chuckled Arun Narasimhan, a retiree, earlier in the month, pointing to his wife sitting in front, awaiting their checked in baggage, &lsquoyou don&rsquot nee...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

10/16

The warnings about the virus&rsquos spread in india had begun early this month. The humour was palpable among some on boarding&mdashthose jokes about the superhero dusting off a fleck of co...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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The humble &lsquorumaal&rsquo is the Great Protector of sorts in these times. Ask Bechan Kamat, vendor of handkerchiefs and &lsquomata ki chunni&rsquo (a fabric offered to a Goddess) for th...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

12/16

The bus stand at Shaheen Bagh that housed a busy library during CAA protests now stands empty. Who would&rsquove thought that an invisible germ would uproot the firm protestors from their ...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Riyaj sits down after an afternoon spent handing out cups of water to families on a long walk back to their homes in Delhi after arriving in Noida by bus from Uttar Pradesh. Riyaj, whose fa...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

14/16

The food delivery guys are warriors of the night too. Sachin Verma from Swiggy and Rakesh Singha from Zomato wait for their delivery orders from Burger King in Connaught Place. &lsquoWe fee...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

15/16

Ramesh Kumar, an attendant at the Bharat Petroleum pump in Connaught Place says he has never seen anything like this before. They sell less than 20 litres a day, mostly to the delivery-wal...

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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A crow, considered a vehicle of the God of Death in mythology, at dusk overlooking the Raisina Hill. The authorities are tackling a logistical nightmare as the virus rides on many, to state...

Image by Madhu Kapparath