A 1,000-km journey home on foot and trucks

On Saturday afternoon, seven tired young men were walking on the Cauvery bridge near Thiruvanaikoil.
The seven men crossed Maharashtra, Karnataka and reached Tiruchy in 4 days. They said they faced the most difficulty in terms of transportation after reaching Tamil Nadu | Express
The seven men crossed Maharashtra, Karnataka and reached Tiruchy in 4 days. They said they faced the most difficulty in terms of transportation after reaching Tamil Nadu | Express

TIRUCHY: On Saturday afternoon, seven tired young men were walking on the Cauvery bridge near Thiruvanaikoil. They had just completed a 1000 km journey from Solapur in Maharashtra to Tiruchy. 
Arun, who runs a photo studio here spotted these boys. Looking at their state, he stopped and asked them where they were going. Hailing from places in Thiruvarur & Nagapatinam, these men were on their last leg to home. Arun immediately contacted the Collector and got the permission to ferry these men. He then gave them food and refreshments.

“I saw these boys on the Cauvery bridge on Saturday afternoon. They looked worn out. I asked them where they were going. I wanted to help them so I got the permission to drive them home,” said Arun of In Out studio. Working in a company that manufactures agri products in Solapur, these boys wanted to return home during the lockdown, despite being given proper food and accommodation. 

“We were all placed together with 100 other people. We were also being given food. However, our families were worried as Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in India. We were also scared of being there with so many people. So we decided to come back home,” said 20 year old Rahul, one of the boys who came back.

22 of these men working in Solapur left from there on 29th March with some clothes and water. They walked, took lifts from people who were willing to help, sat in lorries, heavy transport vehicles and reached Musiri. They say they faced the most difficulty in terms of transportation after reaching Tamil Nadu. They walked from Musiri to Tiruchy. 

They crossed Maharashtra, Karnataka and reached Tiruchy in 4 days.“We managed with whatever food we got on the way and slept under any roof we could find. Our employer was helpful so we would not lose our jobs. We just wanted to come back home,” said another boy from the group. They plan to return to Maharashtra post the lockdown. All of them are qualified and have completed B.Sc, M.Sc or Engineering.

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