“Our greatest glory is not in never falling – but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius, renowned philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period
A smiling face and a friendly personality, Prahlad Bhati has been a part of the IIT Gandhinagar family for the last three years. A native of the Daulatgarh village in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, where his family (parents and elder brother) lives currently, he is a resident of the Palaj village near the Institute campus.
Prahlad has been a worker in the Institute mess since 2017. Earlier, he used to monitor the entry of people inside the mess, recording the attendance of students and distributing coupons to others (staff, guests, etc.). He also brought the cooked food from the kitchen and served it in big vessels so that people can take the food items as per their needs.
But, in the present times, given the seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis, the Institute authorities have implemented some strict measures to ensure the health and safety of the entire IITGN family. As a result, several changes have been made. One of them is the discontinuation of self-service in the mess area as an active effort to mitigate the spread of this pandemic. This is the point where Prahlad’s current duties come into the picture! He provides utensils (plates, spoons, etc.) to the people inside the mess and serves them food. Given the nature of this job, his working hours have increased nowadays.
“The novel coronavirus disease is causing a lot of destruction across the world. SARS-CoV-2 is harmful to everyone and we all should do whatever we can to limit the scale and scope of its infection. As a part of my job duties, I always wear a mask and gloves and wash/sanitize my hands at regular intervals when working inside the mess. Moreover, I make sure that everyone who is entering the dining hall is also wearing masks and following the required social distancing protocol. The entire mess team prioritizes and takes utmost care of the hygiene, health, and safety of the IITGN family,” he explained.
Discussing further, Prahlad stated that he wants the period of this viral illness to end soon. He urges people to follow all the safety precautions thoroughly. “Since this disease is spreading at an alarming rate and we still do not have any treatment or vaccination for it, furthermore, we are also uncertain about when the world would again be completely corona-free, we all can imagine how dangerous this entire situation is – the only thing that can be done at this time is taking all possible precautions. We all need to be extremely careful,” he added.
Prahlad greatly misses his pre-COVID-19 lifestyle, which was full of activities like spending time with his near and dear ones, visiting interesting places, and eating delicious food together with his friends, after his working hours. But, since the implementation of the nationwide lockdown by the Government of India, all this has not been possible. He is also not able to visit his family in Rajasthan, whom he went to meet after every three months before this pandemic. Sometimes not being close to friends feels lonely, but he completely understands that everyone’s safety should be our first priority. He is hopeful that things would somewhat return to normal sooner or later.
He is aware that elderly people (mostly suffering from some other disease or ailment) are more prone to catching this illness and it gets difficult for them to recover as compared to the young generation because their immunity is weak. Therefore, he has advised his parents to take appropriate steps so that they can avoid contracting this disease. Through this platform, he also requests the other elders out there to pay special attention to this problem and stay safe!
In Rajasthan, Prahlad’s father and elder brother are farmers. They are facing several problems since many farming activities require the involvement of more than one person. Hence, these cannot be carried out properly amid the present crisis. In addition to it, they are also waiting for the rains otherwise the crops (peanuts, cotton, maize, black lentils, pearl millet) can get destroyed. According to him, “In these times of uncertainty, I am happy that I work at IIT Gandhinagar. I am able to send money from my salary to my family so that they can have food to eat.”
As another active effort to make sure that everyone remains safe, the Institute has circulated a series of emails within its community emphasizing the importance of following all the safety measures, along with the information about taking strict actions against those who do not adhere to the protocols. One of them is the absolute necessity of wearing masks everywhere inside the campus, including the mess area.
“IITGN is following the motto of Safety First. And, steps like these try to make certain that the entire Institute family (students, faculty, staff) remains protected to the maximum possible extent and not spread the disease to each other,” he expressed.
Prahlad was living inside the campus premises, along with several other workers, during the entire lockdown period. He said that the Institute constantly took care of their needs, and provided them hygienic rooms, tidy washrooms, healthy meals, and other basic amenities. They were also given access to the televisions so that they do not feel bored or lonely.
The IITGN family is thankful to Prahlad Bhati for his services and he is grateful to the Institute community for standing united with him during these tough times.
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This article is authored by Apeksha Srivastava.