Man of the migrants, Sonu Sood shows the way
   Date :02-Jun-2020

Sonu Sood _1  H
 Actor Sonu Sood has turned migrant crisis ‘Hero’ as he helped thousands reach home by arranging buses and flights for them.
 
 
By Maithili Bisne
 
NAGPUR,
THESE are unprecedented times. A war against an unseen enemy that is inflicting suffering and hardships on an entire population. But it is rightly said that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Bollywood actor Sonu Sood is the proof. The man of the moment, Sood has emerged as a messiah for thousands of people, mostly migrant labourers, stuck in the labyrinth of lockdown norms. Thanks to Sood, around 20,000 people have reached back to the comforts of their home across India through buses, trains and even a plane. ‘The Hitavada’ caught up with Sood, an Electronics Engineering graduate from Nagpur, in the midst of all the hustle-bustle of sending another batch of migrants home from Mumbai, on Monday.
 

Sonu Sood say bye to migr 
 
 
When asked what triggered his Good Samaritan movement he said, “The very thought of poor labourers walking for thousands of kilometres to reach their hometowns along with small kids and elderly parents, under most appalling of conditions, pained my heart. I did not want those children to carry these difficult memories with them for a lifetime. It was like I wanted to help some of them, then I wanted to help many more and now I want to help all of them.” So Sood just took a plunge in the dungeons of their woes and since then the list of people he has helped is only growing longer. “
 
I decided I would not let these people walk so precariously on the highways and face all the difficulties,” he said. But even before the migrant movement started, Sood had started doing his bit by allocating his hotel in Juhu, Mumbai for medical staffers to stay. Since April he has been feeding some 45,000 needy people every day in parts of Mumbai. Then one day he came across labourers from Karnataka who were determined to walk back to their villages. He and his team of trusted volunteers somehow convinced them to stay put and then after a permissionseeking marathon of sorts from Governments of both States, 350 labourers and their families were sent back home in 10 buses from Mumbai on May 11. That number is nearing 20,000 migrants now.
 
Recently, he even airlifted 170 women and girls from Odisha, who worked in a garment factory in Kerala and were abandoned by their employer post lockdown. “Initially, it was difficult to convince people that we would keep our promise. But after the first batch left for Karnataka the trust was established and people in need started contacting us. We started a toll free number and lot many people from my professional team then got into the picture,” Sood revealed. “There were people collecting data, people segregating batches of migrants to be sent to different parts of the country, a team of 50-60 volunteers feeding these people every day,” he added. The actor’s besties, Neeti Goyal and Ajay Dhama, besides his family members have been Sood’s pillars of strength. So does this talented actor from Moga, Punjab think being a celebrity makes it easier to help? Soodrepliesin affirmative.“Things move fasterif you are known to people but actually every individual can help in his/her own capacity. Every family canatleastdonate freshlycookedfoodevery day and that way noon e will go hungry in this country,” he pleads.
 
Sood’s Twitter handle these days is filled with messages from people thanking their saviour. He too graciously responds to most of them. He was thrilled to share that a migrantrecently called him up and informed that a newborn in their family had been named Sonu sood Shrivastav and that many other families that he had helped also planned to do the same in future to show their gratitude. In the parting comment Sood mentions how he missed hanging out with friends in Sadar and Dharampeth areas of Nagpur during his college days and would like visit the city soon.And pl audits apart, he deserves a real hero’s welcome this time!