Delhi: An extra dose of effort to keep you healthy

NEW DELHI: The

lockdown

may have left many people wondering how to idle away the hours at home, but the national closure due to the novel coronavirus has only meant more toil for Kishore Kumar. Not that the 28-year-old Sangam Vihar resident is complaining. The roads are empty and riding his motorcycle is a pleasure. Besides, he gets extra thanks from the people he meets every day.


Kumar works for a

medicine delivery platform

which serves households in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon. The Sangam Vihar resident, who operates from Healthskool Pharmacy in Saket, south Delhi, is considered a saviour by many these days, especially the elderly and ailing who can’t step out even for activities permitted during the lockdown.

“A majority of our customers are senior citizens, and everyone wants same-day delivery,” he smiles. “We try to do our best.” Life isn’t too different from what it used to be, Kumar says, the change being the face masks, hand sanitisers and, of course, the unhindered rides on the streets.

These days he makes more deliveries than earlier, though his working hours — from 9am to 9pm daily — has actually come down by two hours. “Before the lockdown, our duty hours were 8am to 10pm. Because of conveyance problems, we are working for 12 hours, instead of 14,” Kumar says.

He has been delivering medicines for a year and a half now, having earlier worked for courier company BlueDart. After six days, he gets a day off on rotation with his colleagues. He is off usually on a Wednesday.

Kumar — who chuckles when asked if his parents were fans of singer Kishore Kumar and says he was named by his grandfather — has struggled in life. He studied till Class XII and discontinued further academic pursuits to earn a living. He points out, however, that his

younger brother

is halfway through his undergraduate course.

Does he worry about passing on the infection to his parents, both in their 50s, and his brother? And is the risk of going out worth it, given that he earns just Rs 14,000 a month for his exertions? “Scared? Not really,” he starts. “It does, of course, make me slightly nervous, but I have to earn. It’s also a job I have to do, like the cops are doing theirs, the doctors and nurses too.”

He does make an effort to maintain as much distance as possible from his customers. “When I reach a delivery address, I call to let the receivers know that I am waiting at the gate. Some take the delivery directly, while others ask me to leave the medicine packet somewhere from where they can pick it up. Everyone is careful these days, so am I. We have to be,” he says.

He avoids receiving cash payments and encourages people to pay online or through digital wallets. “Some people, however, hand me currency notes. I can’t avoid it. I am extra careful when this happens,” he says, playing down his daily proximity to the virus.