NEW DELHI (AP) – The government’s order on the night of March 24, 2020 was abrupt but clear: in four hours, India and its 1.4 billion inhabitants would be locked up entirely because of the coronavirus.
When the clock struck midnight, the second most populous country in the world stopped abruptly, isolating everyone in their homes.
In the days that followed, millions lost their jobs, devastating the economy. The health system, already in difficulties, became even more tense. Social inequalities have surfaced, pushing millions more into poverty.
India’s blockade, one of the toughest anywhere, lasted 68 days, and some form of it remained in place for months before it was finally lifted. Since the start of the pandemic, India has had 11.6 million cases and more than 160,000 people have died.
One year after the blockade, its ripples are still visible. Some people shrugged and managed to get back to normal. For many others, however, their lives have changed a lot.
THE ACTOR
First, Neelesh Deepak watched her food drop. So, the actor was unable to pay the rent for his apartment in New Delhi. Penniless, he returned to his parents’ home in Madhubani, a village in eastern Bihar state.
There, he tried to deal with his isolation from work, colleagues and friends. When he returned to the Indian capital in October, things had changed for the worse. Most of the theaters were closed and those who tried to stage plays had a hard time attracting the audience back. The programs were suspended indefinitely and thousands of co-workers were left without a job.
Without work in the middle of the pandemic, the 40-year-old man soon began to feel anxious. When a friend committed suicide, Deepak began to see a psychiatrist, who prescribed medication. He began to recognize, with painful understanding, that he faced a painful struggle to make a living outside the theater.
This continued for months until he joined a nonprofit group as a researcher. His income has dropped from $ 500 to $ 600 a month to just over $ 150. He struggles just to buy food.
“My family barely survives,” he said. “The fear of the blockade did not leave me. I don’t think this is going to leave me anytime soon. “
MIGRANT WORKERS
When Nirbhay Yadav, 50, and her 25-year-old son suddenly went out of work because of the blockade, they became part of the biggest migration in modern Indian history: 10 million people started leaving the big cities in the countryside .
Fearing hunger, Yadav and his son left New Delhi and went to Banda, a village in the center of the state of Uttar Pradesh. They walked 600 kilometers (372 miles) in the scorching sun along the highways on an exhausting and distressing journey.
When they finally arrived in Banda with their feet blistered, residents did not allow them to enter for fear of catching the virus. The father and son were forced into a 14-day quarantine.
But many who fled the cities failed – some died in accidents and others died of exhaustion, dehydration or starvation.
“I pray to God that he will never show these days again,” said Yadav.
In the months that followed, the blockade drained all of Yadav’s savings, forcing him to delay the marriages of his two daughters he had planned for years. It left him with a broken heart.
Local nonprofit groups provided some food, but it soon ran out. The state government announced that it would provide the equivalent of $ 13.80 a month for each family of migrant workers for half a year, but Yadav never received it.
After 11 months, he returned to New Delhi, where things were no better. Now he can’t find a job for even a day. He is eating less and sleeping under an overpass.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever go back to this city.”
THE HEALTH WORKER
Kavita Sherawat, who administered coronavirus tests to patients, obediently wore masks and always washed her hands.
Even so, the 30-year-old health care professional was infected, as were her husband, parents and in-laws. Only his 4-year-old son avoided it. But that is because she has stayed away from seeing him in person for many weeks.
“I couldn’t even feed my son during those months,” she said. “It hurt me.”
She thought about quitting her job, believing she was neglecting her parental duties. But she remained steadfast, even when others in her family kept their distance from her.
While doctors and nurses were hailed as heroes during the blockade, people avoided it, fearing an infection. She tested thousands of sick and gasping people in hospitals, unsure whether she was adequately protected.
“This fear changes you as a person. You start to value your life more, ”she said. “Those early days still scare me.”
THE TRANSGENDER MODEL
Tashi Singh said it was the most difficult decision he ever made. And she chose the block to do that.
For years, said the 21-year-old, she knew she was “a woman trapped in a man’s body”.
I wanted to tell my parents that I was a woman, how I loved wearing makeup, and how I always wanted to be a model.
But Singh said he never had the courage. Until the blockade.
When she told them, they were hostile and unsupported. It didn’t take long before she found herself caught in a spiral of abuse.
“I wanted to escape, but where would I have gone? The entire country was closed, ”she said.
Abuse at home sparked new struggles. She was locked in her room for days. Your father shaved your head. When she once managed to escape, he found her and beat her in front of the neighbors, she said.
Days later, she managed to escape, but struggled to find a place to live or make a living. There were no jobs for a trans model. Having access to sex hormone drugs was difficult.
“The blockade made me realize how to live life,” she said of an apartment she shares with six other trans women. “But I think it was also a blessing in disguise.”