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Amid the nationwide lockdown, 13-year-old Jyoti Kumari was left with no choice but to travel on a bicycle for 1,200 kilometers with her ailing father to reach home from Gurugram in Haryana.
But, reaching home was not the end of her troubles. There are two loans that have to be repaid, and her father has lost his job. Her family has no money, not even for food.
What Forced Jyoti to Take This Bold Step?
Resident of Bihar’s Darbhanga and a student in the eighth standard, 13-year-old Jyoti’s father was a driver in Haryana’s Gurugram. He had met with an accident in January following which Jyoti, along with her mother and four siblings, had come to Gurugram to stay with her father.
Jyoti’s mother is an Anganwadi worker in Bihar. She had taken a leave from work to visit her husband. But soon, she had to return with her four children while Jyoti stayed back to take care of her father. After the nationwide lockdown was announced, his treatment stopped and he lost his job as well.
To add to their trouble, their landlord in Gurugram gave them two options – pay the rent or vacate the apartment. That’s when Jyoti started insisting that they must go back home. It took Jyoti and her father seven days to reach home.
“Father said the journey by cycle is not possible. I insisted that I would take him home. The landlord threatened to throw us out of the apartment and asked us to pay the rent. He gave us two options – pay the rent or leave. What would we do? So, I told my father that we would go back home on a cycle.”Jyoti
Speaking to The Quint, Jyoti’s mother Fulo Devi said that she didn’t even have money for the cycle but somehow managed to buy it.
“Trains and buses were not plying. Their landlord started harassing them. jyoti’s father had no money left but he received Rs 1,000 as aid from the government. Jyoti managed to purchase the cycle from a resident of Gurugram and insisted that they travel back home on the cycle. Her father was reluctant in the beginning but later agreed.”Fulo Devi, Jyoti’s Mother
No Money, No Food But Two Loans to Repay
Jyoti’s mother told The Quint how she had to take two loans from two banks for her husband’s treatment. Jyoti’s parents were making ends meet and feeding the children with the money they got as loan. But, after her husband lost his job amid the lockdown, she is worried as to how she would repay the loans.
“We don’t even have a toilet in our house. Me, my wife and our five children are forced to go to the fields. I had applied under the government scheme but no money was transferred to my bank account for the same and I was asked to apply again. But then, the lockdown was announced. Let’s see when we can have a toilet at our home.”Mohan Paswan, Jyoti’s Father
Jyoti’s father now doesn’t want to go back to Gurugram. He wants to somehow find a source of income in his own village and stay back with his family. He doesn’t want to take the risk of staying away from his wife and children.
“Father will now drive an auto here. What else can he do? I don’t know how we will manage his treatment. We will have to manage with whatever he earns from driving an auto.”Jyoti
Ivanka Trump Praised Jyoti’s Feat on Twitter
Invitation From Cycling Federation of India
Impressed with her extraordinary feat, the Cycling Federation of India sent jyoti an invitation to go for trials as a trainee at the National Cycling Academy in New Delhi.
But jyoti told The Quint that she is tired and physically weak after the long journey and has asked for a month’s time from the federation.
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