Speaking at an event, Dutt talked about her book wherein she has compiled the stories of all the people she met, giving names to the data that has emerged in the last two years
When Covid first hit India, journalist Barkha Dutt took her car and her gadgets and set out on a 120 day, 30,000 km journey to document the struggles Covid brought on for Indians, be it the exodus of the migrant labourers, or the food being snatched away from the poorest of the poor. She continued this endeavour in the second wave that hit in 2021 as well.
Speaking at an event moderated by filmmaker Mira Nair, Dutt talked about her book “To hell and back: Humans of Covid” wherein she has compiled the stories of all the people she met, giving names and faces to the data figures that have emerged in the last two years.
What Dutt strongly feels is that while people want to forget about Covid, they cannot heal from its trauma, until and unless they remember and acknowledge it. Says Dutt, “Covid was not the great equalizer we made it out to be. Yes, we all struggled, we all lost someone, but we were still the privileged ones.” She adds that there was no one who had to face more severe consequences of the pandemic than women, Dalits, and the poor in India. The journalist says that it was almost as if Covid was a “new caste system”.
Dutt clearly remembers a small child who told her, “Covid means I won’t get food”. A migrant labourer who wondered aloud, “Is it my destiny to walk home like this because I’m...
Read Full Story: https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/covid-was-not-the-great-equalizer-we-made-it-out-to-be-says-barkha-dutt
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