A People's History of Cruelty and Compassion

The criminally unplanned lockdown of March 2020 abandoned the large, undocumented migrant worker population of the country. It left them alone to face the physical ramifications of hunger and homelessness, and the emotional trauma of displacement and theft of dignity. Human Rights activist, author, and ex-IAS officer Harsh Mander and his team at Karwan E Mohabbat found themselves compelled into action, to help elevate the suffering all around.

Harsh Mander, with his team at Karwan E Mohabbat and Aman Biradari, organized a number of volunteers and devised a system to distribute food and rations to the stranded workers and the homeless through public donations. What began as a food distribution drive soon turned into a door-to-door dry ration delivery to many parts of the country via a connected network of volunteers. In May 2020, when the government opened train inter-state travel but with an inhumanely complicated system and exorbitant tickets, Team Mander began organizing bus travel home, free of cost.

The film documents an important slice of our recent history that is sure to become as marginalized as the people it documents. It is an account of the trauma the poorest in our country are subjected to, and a testimony to the fact that if we come together in solidarity for our fellow human beings, anything is possible.