From feeding migrant workers to making a short film, the top social stories of the week

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

This week, Social Story saw the selflessness of people from different walks of life – doctors, cinematographers, corporate officials, students – who came together to improve the situation of those affected by the pandemic.

Here are the top Social Stories of the week

This doctor-turned-IRS officer fed 5 lakh migrant workers during coronavirus lockdown

In early April, when Lockdown 1.0 was in full force, Dr Aditya Prakash Bhardwaj, along with millions of other Indians, tuned into the daily news, and saw with dismay images of thousands of migrant workers making their way back home on foot after the government suspended transportation.

Moved by their plight, doctor-turned-IRS officer Aditya, sprang into action, and formed a local activism group, WeCare.

Others had the same idea too. Humanitarian organisations started mobilising and distributing rations and survival kits to aid the migrants. WeCare too realised that the workers’ requirements were more short-term. It provided migrants with essentials that helped them get through the next day, so as to enable them to reach home safe.

Pandemic Heroes: Meet the 16-year-olds who are helping children keep fit amid COVID-19

With schools not functioning and restrictions imposed on stepping out for travel, sports, or extra-curricular activities, many young adults are exposed to stress, isolation, and undesirable habits like binge-watching shows, as well as gaming addictions. 

In order to provide a solution, Rohan Ray and Akash Raghavan — two 16-year-old students from Bengaluru — have launched an online fitness initiative to enable kids to stay healthy. 

The duo being sports enthusiasts themselves have known the importance of exercising and keeping in shape. They started the COVID Fit Club on May 3, 2020, through the video-sharing platform Zoom. 

Coronavirus: These Hyderabad volunteers helped 5,000 migrants reach home with their #StopTheWalk campaign

When intervention from the government got entangled in red tape in some instances, Indian citizens quickly mobilised emergency provisions, started distributing cooked meals, and looked for better ways to get the swathes of informal-sector workers home.

Among them were Sandeep Madarametla, founder of cloud-kitchen company Foodstreet.in, and his angel investors, YV Rajasekhar and Naga Prasad Tummala, who joined forces to start the #StopTheWalk campaign.

The campaign, run by the investors through the ‘People Combine Foundation’, was spearheaded by Sandeep, and included a few of his friends from IIT- Madras. The group took charge of organising essentials, finding volunteers, and arranging transportation for the migrants.

The exponential growth of social entrepreneurship in India

Today, startups create social impact-driven business models with a double bottom line, and in doing so, address commercial market demands with purpose-driven leadership at its core.

These entities are created by a new breed of citizens who strive to make a positive impact in various segments that contribute in solving some of the world’s most intractable problems such as global health, climate change, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and conscious capitalism.

For example, today smartphones have more computational technology and power than NASA’s supercomputer did when man first landed on the Moon in 1969. Such exponential advancements are fuelling historic achievements, thereby reducing the gap between social innovation and market fit.

The work and advancements of social entrepreneurs today are re-framing new social norms, and the nature of how we have access to services in different sectors.

This 14-year-old made a short film capturing the city of Kochi amid the pandemic

Empty street corners, silent tourist spots, and congestion-free roads became a common sight amid the coronavirus pandemic. Since the lockdown forced people across the country to stay indoors, urban spaces began to wear a deserted look.

While most citizens were confined to their homes, Sreehari Rajesh, a 14-year-old boy from Kerala, stepped out of his comfort zone to shoot and edit a documentary titled, ‘Silent Roads’. Entirely captured while travelling with his father on the roads of Kochi to supply food to the needy, this was however not Sreehari’s first filming experience.