The events that took place in India 2 days prior to the lockdown, said otherwise.
While everyone resided safely at ‘home’, there were foreigners left ‘homeless’ due to the sudden shutting down of hotels. With no where to go to and being frowned upon as carriers of Coronavirus, the locals didn’t do much for the very foreigners they once looked upon.
Shubham Dharmsktu, a young Indian being a traveler himself, whilst stuck in Jaisalmer resonated with the foreigners. Envisioning the likelihood of him being stuck in another country with nowhere to go to and language being a barrier, spoke volumes to him and so he took the onus of rescuing the abandoned foreign nationals himself. On completing their health checkups he was able to book the last train to Delhi for him and the fellow 12 foreigners. However, another challenge impended ahead as they reached Delhi on the day of the Janata curfew and it was a hassle to find and commute to their locality of residence.
On understanding and grasping the horrific situation, the young Indian, Shubham, gave out his contact details on social media, available to any and all foreigners facing similar circumstances. To his surprise, he got numerous calls from foreigners all across the nation crying for help and probably is yet, as we speak.
He has now successfully been able to create a network allowing any foreigner in distress to find housing and daily essentials all across India during this coronavirus pandemic.
Mid-way into the lockdown, he began receiving distress calls, but this time from across borders, in foreign lands, by Indians that were trapped waiting to be rescued. Shubham began ‘reverse networking’ a term he coined to help the Indians stuck abroad, by reaching out to the foreigners he rescued in India to contact their home towns and make arrangements.
He has successfully saved over 1000 lives including Indians and foreigners from all across the world. He was able to get several on the evacuation flights and has been invited around the globe by all the people he saved to come visit their homes. It is true that what you give comes back to you in unexpected ways!
He is not only a ray of hope to foreigners, but a true hero of humanity to us all.
