The threat of COVID-19 reunited a tribal youth of Odisha’s Nabarangpur district with his family after a gap of nine years, even as the family thought that the boy had died.
Bhuben Majhi, 27, is in Gujarat and works in a paints manufacturing unit in Ahmedabad. His father, Amruta Majhi, mother Dhanabali Majhi, and elder brother continue to live at their home at Dalabeda village under Chandahandi block of Nabarangpur district.
In 2011, at a tender age of 17 years with an education only till class IV, Mr. Bhuben migrated to Gujarat in search of employment. Since then, he had not made any contact with his family or relatives in Odisha. Suspecting that he may have died somewhere, Bhuben’s parents had even performed his funeral rites.
Recently, amid the continuing COVID-19 lockdown, as Mr. Bhuben got worried after his company closed down, he thought of returning home. However, he was unable to register with the Odisha government’s portal as he did not have any document to prove that he was from Odisha. He then managed to contact Nabarangpur’s Lok Sabha MP, Ramesh Majhi, requesting him for help.
The MP passed on the information about Mr. Bhuben to some local leaders and a journalist named Muhammad Hussain of Chandahandi block. Mr. Bhuben was then connected to his family in Dalabeda villlage through video call. “Tears flowed from our eyes. I was unable assess whether it was due to sorrow or happiness,” said Mr. Bhuben, when contacted over phone.
But Mr. Bhuben decided to wait for few more months before returning back home. His company has reopened and he does not want to take the risk of getting infected by travelling from Gujarat to Odisha. “I have not yet given anything to my parents or family. So, I do not want to get back to them with possibility of infection”, he said.
“After reaching Gujarat in 2011, I had lost my bag that contained all my documents and phone. I did not remember any phone number and was unable to write a letter to home,” he said.
Mr. Bhuben and his parents wait for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, so that they will get united again. Mr. Bhuben is hopeful that he will get married when he will return back to his village. “I will surely tell my children that they should not repeat the mistake that I made and escape from home leaving the worrying parents behind”, he said.
