The expatriate Indian community is trying to mobilize all resources to help relatives back home. They are scared, hurt and helpless when they can’t be with their loved ones when they need it most.
In discussions on social media, Indian communities across the globe are fervently pleading, seeking help, and sometimes mourning for loved ones who have just passed away at home. New York Times .
From England, more than 8,000 km away from home and 5 time zones, Anuja Vakil struggled for 12 days to manage and care for his father who was in critical condition. Mr. Jatin Bhagat is fighting Covid-19 at a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, in western India. Ms. Vakil felt that her father was very lucky because he was finally hospitalized for treatment. The number of new infections and deaths caused by Covid-19 in India has increased continuously, making the overseas Indian community extremely concerned about their loved ones. Photo: Reuters. Before that, Vakil had to call everywhere to find a bed for special care for his father. Followed by the defiant costs, only hoping to get the therapeutic injection. Finally there were countless hours of phone calls with doctors, family and friends to resolve procedural issues. “I pray for my father every day,” Ms. Vakil said. The helplessness is halfway around the world India is currently in the serious Covid-19 crisis, the number of new infections daily for nearly two weeks has been continuously over 300,000, even up to 400,000 today. This number is expected to continue to increase, along with the common pain and anxiety of the Indian community around the world. According to UN figures in 2020, about 17 million Indians are far from home, and millions more have relatives in India. Accordingly, overseas Indians are considered the largest overseas community in the world. In the latest census in America, the country has about 4.8 million people of Indian descent. From afar, they watched in horror as their homeland was devastated by disease every day, heavier than any other country since the attack of Covid-19. For many people, their pain is accompanied by the greatest fear of their hearts: being unable to be around, not being able to help loved ones in times of need most. Anuja Vakil, who lives in England, has had to scurry to take care of her critical father a hospital bed in her hometown in India. Photo: New York Times. Indians all over the world are working diligently to find ways to help sick loved ones back home. Many people and organizations even collect money to buy oxygen generators, connect those who need care with their doctors, and use social media to share resources. Aid from the overseas Indian community is starting to arrive in India, with government aid from the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, among other countries. However, the return to relatives is very difficult. Ms. Vakil tries to focus on these positives. She said the Indians in her neighborhood in London were very enthusiastic to help. Some of her friends in New York also had relatives sick. She and they both try to revive the spirit of the family by daily video calling. Father Vakil couldn’t speak because he had to breathe, but he always nodded in response when she spoke. She could see the small wrinkles in the corners of his eyes every time she tried to make him laugh. Though he wanted to go home to take care of his father directly instead of talking on the screen, Vakil seemed unable to. “My sister told me to go home, but she didn’t understand it was very difficult,” Vakil said. The Indian community lives in large numbers in Southall, England. Photo: New York Times. India was added to Britain’s “red list” last week. This means that nearly all direct flights from the UK to India are suspended. Some people returning to the UK from India are subject to compulsory quarantine for 10 days at the expense of expensive hotels. On May 1, the US said it would begin to restrict movement to India. Travel restrictions, high costs, work obligations and the fear of getting a virus have left many people unable to return. As Covid-19 infections continued to rise, many people reported painful conversations with friends and family at home. They were helpless as they watched the horrors unfold in their homeland halfway around the world. “Every time I call back, someone dies” Jyoti Minocha, a writer and teacher living in Fairfax, Virginia, USA, is concerned about her mother and sister in New Delhi. She lost a cousin. Currently, she calls every day to find out about the situation of her relatives. “The street is as quiet as a ghost, my sister said. The only sound one can hear is the ambulance siren, ”Ms. Minocha said. “I talk to my mother almost every day,” said Ansh Sachdeva, 23, a student at the University of Bolton in northwest England. But every time I call back, I hear that someone dies, someone is infected ”. The Indian member of a Sikh church in Southall, London, provided thousands of meals a week to the community during the outbreak in England. Photo: New York Times. Sachdeva says in the New Delhi neighborhood where his family lives, not a single family is without sick people. He returned to India in November 2020 to help look after his parents and grandparents. Then they became infected. Now, I worry they will re-infect. More worryingly, travel restrictions could prevent him from returning if that happens. In January, Sachdeva’s mother also expressed concern when he returned to England. At that time, the country was experiencing the second wave of Covid-19. “For them then, the Covid-19 in India had ended.” But not! Many Indians abroad anxiously watch over their homeland as the government allows sports competitions in crowded stadiums, crowded election campaigns, and the attractive Kumbh Mela festival. millions of people participate. Following the brief joy after defeating the first wave of Covid-19, the number of infections began to increase exponentially. In England, the Indian community seems to be able to feel the pain of the people. In a residential store in Harrow – a community in northwest London inhabited by native Indians, two employees painfully recounted they had just lost loved ones last week. Harmeet Gill, 31, was born and raised in London, but had a paternal background in the northern Indian state of Punjab, also experiencing the same pain. His family is still extremely close and regularly in contact with relatives in India. “It was a double blow. We went through the Covid-19 crisis here, and we thought ‘Well, at least India is protected’. They are very anti-epidemic, ”said Gill. Harmeet Gill had a few relatives who died in his hometown because of Covid-19. Photo: New York Times. Then a little while later, bad news came. On April 26, his uncle in India passed away because of Covid-19. His aunt was hospitalized on April 29. Shortly before the second outbreak, his whole family had to return to India to mourn an uncle, the head of the family. “It is impotence. It shouldn’t have happened this way, ”he said. Gill, a volunteer at a Sikh temple in London, commented: “The terrifying scale of the pandemic shows that we have been paralyzed by it.” The temple was a center of aid during the UK’s plague, offering thousands of meals a week. Now, members at the temple are now looking for ways to help their homeland. Indian doctors living abroad also provide medical expertise and advice to dozens of friends and family members. Many people wake up early to respond to text messages asking for help, and some even call video counseling. The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.
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