Ex-techie hikes 1000km from Kolkata to meet wife

Kolkata: Love for his wife and his unborn child drove a 25-year-old former IT employee to hike nearly 1,000 kilometres — from Kolkata to Guwahati — during the lockdown.

Sandip Sarkar had resigned from his position at a Sector V firm to move back to his home state of Assam. However, the national lockdown set in as he was serving his notice period, preventing him from travelling. Sarkar joined a WhatsApp group formed by Rituraj Choudhury, also from Guwahati, who urged the Assam government to arrange for evacuation on behalf of 10-12 people stuck in Kolkata.

But, worried about his five-months’ pregnant wife and aged parents, Sarkar decided not to wait. Determined to be home for his wife’s 24th birthday on May 7, he set out on foot on April 25. He kept his journey a secret till he reached Guwahati, fearing intervention.

“I walked from Kolkata to Dankuni. There, I paid Rs 1,500 to the driver of a courier company’s van to give me a lift till Bolpur. I requested a few other trucks there, but they were asking for Rs 20,000-32,000,” he said. From Bolpur, Sarkar walked to Moregram in Murshidabad. “Locals saw me walking with two bags on Tuesday and grew suspicious. They assaulted me, alleging that I was spreading coronavirus. Thankfully, a few civic volunteers nearby came to my rescue and put me in a toto, which left me stranded on the highway after sometime,” he said.

From there, Sarkar walked till Cooch Behar, eating whatever he could find on the way. Sometimes he would rest at roadside ATMs where he would charge his cellphone as well. “I couldn’t sleep at night for fear of being robbed. I also needed my phone as I was totally dependent on Google Maps,” he said.

At Cooch Behar, he was helped by a truck driver, who gave him a decent dinner and dropped him a few kilometres past the Assam border, where he was screened. Once inside Assam, he walked till Fatasil Ambari police station in Guwahati on Saturday to get tested as he had arrived from a

Covid-19

Red zone. “I did not want to put anyone at risk,” he said.

Fatasil Ambari police station OC Saidul Islam told TOI: “We provided him lunch and arranged for an ambulance. We shall extend every possible help.”

Sarkar was taken to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital where he was screened and his swab sample collected for testing. GMCH superintendent Ramen Talukdar said: “Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officials will be monitoring him and he has been advised 14 days’ home quarantine. We shall decide on further action once his test results are out.”

Sarkar’s wife, Bindu, said: “I am extremely happy that he is back. But we are also worried about his health as he has walked a long way and is very weak.”