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Covid heroes: 500km apart with no phone, postman connects elderly brother and sister
The postman was 43-year-old Bharamappa Kaddi, who has been working in the area for the past decade. Kaddi, who usually works eight hours a day, has been putting in longer shifts ever since the lockdown began.
Two days before the nationwide lockdown began on March 24, Anupama Byatnal, 60, received a text message from her 65-year-old brother who lives in Hubli, Karnataka – “My phone is not working, can’t make calls.”
A few days into the lockdown aimed at curtailing the spread of Covid-19, even the text messages stopped. Then for the next 10 days, there was no word from Satyapriya Vaidya, who lives by himself in rented accommodation in Hubli.
Anupama, who too lives alone at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, couldn’t help but worry about whether he was okay and he had enough rations to get by.
Having exhausted all options to contact him, Anupama turned to what is often considered a relic of the past — the local postman.
Anupama, a former postal department official, was aware postal services were functional as they fall under the Essential Service Maintenance Act.
“For three days, I called the BVB Engineering College post office’s landline but no one answered,” she said. “It was on Thursday that I got through and they gave me the local postman’s number.”
Within half an hour, the postman reached the address given by Anupama. At first, Vaidya was confused why a postman had come looking for him. “I’m okay,” he told his sister as the postman explained she was worried sick about him. “I’ve been trying to reach you too but hadn’t written down your number so I could not call.”
The postman was 43-year-old Bharamappa Kaddi, who has been working in the area for the past decade. Kaddi, who usually works eight hours a day, has been putting in longer shifts ever since the lockdown began.
“We work on a rotational basis,” he said. “I come to work three to four days a week and don’t leave till all tasks are finished. When ma’am called me, I was about to leave for distribution.”
Using a bicycle, Kaddi traverses four areas, covering 18km a day. According to him, since Prime Minister Narendar Modi announced the lockdown, distribution of letters and parcels has reduced. But whenever a mail carrier was allowed across the border, work increased.
“Earlier this week, I got a call at around 11pm to come to work the next day to distribute the mail,” he said.
For him, however, the call from Anupama was out of the ordinary. “It was the only such request I have received. Madam called the office and they gave her my number. She was so happy to speak to him, that it made me feel overjoyed. I even told him to make sure he stays in touch with madam in future,” he said.
Kaddi lives in a village 43km from the post office. He uses a scooter, borrowed from one of his neighbours, to reach work. “Many of the people in the area I work for are poor, some are handicapped. It’s tough to get to work during the lockdown, but how can I not come to serve my country,” he said.
For Anupama, the incident holds a lesson. “We depend so much on technology, but that can fail us too,” she said. “I have now written down all important numbers in a diary and sent my daughter, Amruta, who lives in Delhi, my neighbour’s number.”
She feels content knowing her brother is doing fine and adds, “As a former employee, I’m so proud of the work being done by the postal department in these trying times.”
