After the pandemic induced lockdown forced migrants to leave the cities to their native towns, they resorted to unimaginable ways to reach their destinations, including walking barefoot. One of them was the now infamous ‘cycle girl’, Jyoti Paswan, who carried her injured father riding a bicycle for 1200 km.
The cycle girl journey started in Gurugram and ended in Darbhanga of Bihar in May. The family was finding it extremely difficult to meet ends meet as their meager savings too had also exhausted. While many shared the story of the daughter on social media, she soon received monetary help from people as well.
Cycle girl Jyoti and her family belong to the Dalit section in Bihar, where untouchability is still practiced in some regions. According to her, none of the upper caste villagers considered coming to their homes or even talking to them previously. However, the tables turned after Jyoti gained popularity through her earnest efforts to bring her father home on a bicycle.
People had queued up outside their mud house to give them gifts, cash, and many other offers. She also appeared on the children’s reality singing show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, as a special guest. She says that their life has changed completely after the cycling incident.
The Cycle Federation of India even offered to train her for the Olympics. Her story gained international attention as well. Ivanka Trump had tweeted about Jyoti, calling it ‘a beautiful feat of endurance and love’. However, many criticized this remark as they said that the ‘feat’ was a reflection of how the government has treated the migrant workers of the country, leaving them to fend for themselves during these harsh times.
However, many politicians, NGOs and film-makers have been visiting Jyoti, offering her and the family support and help of all kinds. One of the film-makers has also signed a deal with her to transform the lives of migrants into a commercial movie.
The family which used to live in a mud house has now shifted to a three-story concrete bungalow, built with the money received as the signing amount for the film.
As she couldn’t afford to continue her studies due to financial issues, Jyoti had apparently dropped out of school. Knowing this, the famous mathematician, Anand Kumar, offered to give her free coaching at his institute. His Super 30 classes are world-renowned and have also been elucidated through the movie, Super 30, starring Hrithik Roshan.
“I am proud of what I did. I want to study and make something of my life,” Jyoti said.
Mohan Paswan, Jyoti’s father says that the villagers are now jealous of them because of their new found financial help and popularity. However, the upper caste residents of the village do not want to accept him and Dalits in general as their own or give them equal stature in the society even though they might have enough money.
ShravanChoudhary, the former village council head, who identifies himself as a Brahmin told Al Jazeera, “Caste is a way of life in Bihar. All this money that Mohan Paswan has got is not a big deal. There are many in the village who have much more money so if he thinks he has become an important person, it means nothing.”
Except Jyoti, the lives of none of the migrants have got better, only worse than what it previously was. Over 10 million migrant workers had walked to their homes, covering hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers. Many people raised questions on the government’s lack of actions and measures to help the migrants. Hundreds of them lost their lives due to starvation, weakness, and accidents even before reaching their destinations.
