Bollywood actor Sonu sood/ who made his career by playing a mean villain:: is being hailed as a real--life hero in India......
- introducktion..
| Sood has been helping thousands of migrant workers, stranded by the [Covid-19] lockdown in [Mumbai] return home.|
""It gave me sleepless nights when I saw visuals of people walking hundreds of kilometres to reach their villages"
[the actor told the media]
India announced a sudden lockdown on 24 (march) leaving migrants in the lurch:: millions found themselves without jobs or a source of income. And with state borders sealed and trains and buses suspended: thousands of men, women and children were left with no other option but to walk: sometimes more than (1,000km) (620 miles) to reach home.
More than 100 have also died / either in accidents or through sheer exhaustion. [Sood] who won prestigious awards for his role as a wily villain in the 2010 superhit [dabangg] has worked with some of Bollywood's biggest names such as [Salman Khan] [Shah Rukh Khan] [Hrithik Roshan] and [Aishwarya Rai] For the past two months; the actor, along with his childhood friend [Niti Goel] has been actively involved in helping people impacted by the lockdown.
[We started in March by distributing food, we started with 500 packets of cooked meals and groceries. Today we are distributing food and groceries every day to 45,000 people in slums; those stranded on the roads and those walking on the highways: [Sood] told me over the phone from Mumbai] And since 11 May, he has arranged hundreds of buses to take stranded migrants home.
(We were out distributing food on 9 May when we came across a group of people who said they were going to their homes in the southern state of Karnataka)[Sood told me]
(We asked them how would you go? They said they would walk. But it was 550km so I requested them to give me two days. I said- I'll make all the arrangements for you to go home. I managed to secure all the permissions in Maharashtra and Karnataka)
[When buses carrying the first batch of 200 people left on] (11 May) [Sood] and [Goel] were there to flag them off. Before the buses began rolling; [Sood] broke a coconut on the road__a ritual to wish them a happy journey.
(When they left they had smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes)
[the actor said]
Since then, he has helped thousands of migrant workers and their families get to states across India. And requests for help continue to pour in. Ihave been getting thousands of mails and messages on my phone daily from people asking for help. Thousands have also been reaching out on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram-
[ he says ]
_At a time when families are spending time together we are working 18 hours a day/ says Goel. _We are both getting a lot of flak from our families but we do it because it has to be done/
[Sood] says he feels that he's /blessed to be a tool of almighty\ and sees it as a {rare moment} because he has been given the opportunity to help his fellow beings. On Saturday when I speak to him; he's just heading out to see off 14 buses which will transport 700 migrants to the northern states of {Uttar Pradesh} and {Bihar}
--I feel strongly about the migrant issue because I came to Mumbai as a migrant--- he says. --I just boarded a train one day and landed up here. Everyone comes here with a dream, they want to make their family proud; and everyone should be treated well.-
