They light up Delhi’s deadly dark

Something miraculous happens when an incompetent government gives up and steps back into its darkness The people start lighting their own candlesIn just one month we have seen the callousness of those we call our leaders They allowed 4 million people to congregate in a superspreader event while a pandemic raged The tsunami of Kumbh Mela infections has not even started itrsquos only April and itrsquos only the worldrsquos worstever daily tally of new casesWe have seen the countryrsquos leader marvel and gloat over the size of the crowds that met him maskless and socially undistanced in Bengal I have heard the Health Minister smugly declare like some grandmaster who had planned all his moves that the country was ldquoin the endgamerdquo of COVIDThat game alas has turned out to be a massacre The government that promised the world ldquomost ambitious vaccination programmerdquo reached barely 937 of its people before running out of vaccines In Delhi where the darkness is darkest not only had vaccines run out but also beds medicines and oxygen for the dyingYou could subside into sadness and anger Many do I did Someone called Amina didnrsquotShe works by herself in a spartan apartment in Arpora Goa cellphone in hand and laptop open in front of her She is looking for lives to save in Delhi her hometown where parking lots have become crematoria and sports complexes are being repurposed for the critically ill Amina and her friends are a vibrant demonstration of a spirit this government never had mdash resourcefulness compassion and initiativeAmina and two friends formed their WhatsApp group Fighting Covid just four days ago That may not seem like much but COVID19rsquos second wave in India is not much older either Three women became eight and that became 15 It was a simple idea mdash they would compile a live list of beds oxygen cylinders medicines food deliveries plasma donors labs chemists who did home deliveries and so on They would make sure this information reached those who desperately needed itAmina started with hospitalwise information about vacant COVID19 beds updated regularly in a Delhi Municipality app called Delhi Corona Her friends began scavenging through Facebook and WhatsApp posts locating other availables mdash an oxygen cylinder here someone willing to deliver homecooked food to families isolated by COVID a plasma donorThey posted an appeal on their colonyrsquos WhatsApp group with about 300 families Two of their phone numbers were accidentally includedIn a city starved of succour even a glimmer is promising The post went viral and the phone numbers began to get passed around mdash and the calls started By day two the Fighting COVID WhatsApp group had become one of the many lifelines between stricken stranded families and rapidly dwindling resources and amenities The list swelled up so rapidly that they set up a Google Docs file to hold all the data updating it in real timeldquoI learned quickly that the situation is completely fluid Nothing is valid for more than half an hourrdquo she told meFive volunteers were put to work verifying each item of data They worked the phones tracing each post back to its origin They very quickly learned the first lesson of the pandemic mdash donrsquot call hospitals pharmacies oxygen suppliers labs They donrsquot answer their phones any more Theyrsquore overwhelmed and helplessOther selfhelp groups sprang up in the night mdash IITians launched an app Miranda House began posting on Instagram Art of Living groups posted realtime updates On Monday morning a Radha Soami group announced that they were setting up 2000 beds at the Yamuna Sports ComplexThe trickle of information stopped completely at about 3 pm on Sunday Nothing has moved since then on Aminarsquos mobile screen Delhi finally had nothing left for the sick and the dying mdash no beds no oxygen no nothingHeartbreaking news came from the Radha Soami group They had the beds but could not find the oxygen and so had to delay their planned COVID hospital TV vultures swooped down to show long lines of families with their dead and dying some gasping inside ambulance vans who had lined up hoping that a bed and oxygen would finally be there for themAmina has no idea how many hundreds found help from the information they passed on to themI am moved and shaken by these strangers in Delhirsquos darkness reaching out with flickering candles to others struggling in the same darkness They are doing with determination what this government has walked away from immersed in its political ambitions and absolute powerWhy does she do it Amina did not think very long ldquoSomething in me does not want devastation to be the last word I want to make this mean something more than random deathrdquoHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper