Disabled woman rides 18 hours to bring son home amid lockdown By Nikhil Deshmukh
An accountant with a private firm, Sonu Khandare hadno idea that the lockdown would force her to make the journeyof a lifetime.
On April 25, the 37-year-old disabled woman rode herscooter for 18 hours to bring her son home from a village inMaharashtra's Amravati district.
"My son Prateek had gone to my in-laws' place at avillage in Anjangaon Surji tehsil on March 17 and was stuckthere after the lockdown was announced on March 22," Khandaretold .
The Khandare couple was initially not worried aboutthe boy's well-being, but when the lockdown was extendedfurther till May 4, they got restless.
Khandare approached district authorities, applied fora travel pass online and even considered hiring a car for thejourney, which would have cost her an exorbitant sum of Rs8,000.
After none of these options seemed viable, shepersonally went to the police commissioner's office to getspecial permission.
"When I was granted a travel pass for 48 hours onApril 24, I just headed home, packed some food and water andleft on my two-wheeler without thinking twice," the 37-year-old said.
The trip proved to be a test of her grit andperseverance, as she had to encounter harsh weather conditionsand dry terrains of Marathwada and Vidarbha along the way.
"I kept riding my two-wheeler even at night, with nolight except the dim one coming from the headlight and to makethings worse, I was stopped and questioned at every check-postalong the way," she said.
In order to break the journey at night, Khandaremanaged to make a pitstop at a petrol pump along the highwaynear Khamgaon, where she slept on the sidewalk under thewatchful gaze of a CCTV camera.
"When I noticed the CCTV cameras near the petrol pump,I decided to rest there on the open ground, as I believed thatif anything were to happen to me, it will be recorded," shesaid.
Khandare made an early start on April 25 and reachedher in-laws home in the afternoon.
"I hardly spent a couple of hours there, as I keptthinking about getting back home safely, before my travel passexpired," said the mother of three, who had to tackledehydration and hunger, apart from the rough terrain andpotholed roads.
Khandare managed to reach her home in Bhosari area ofPune, with limited stops, at around 11 pm on April 26, just anhour before her travel pass expired.
"My son and I immediately rushed to the hospital tocheck if we needed to be quarantined, as we had travelled,"she said, adding that doctors only advised her home quarantinefor 14 days and bed rest.
The trip took a toll on Khandare, who is pursuing herpost-graduation in commerce in a bid to get a government job.
However, knowing that her son was under the same roofduring these unprecedented times, made the journey worth it,she said. NDARU ARU