VIJAYAWADA: On April 6, Pankaj Kumar (33) jumped into River Krishna after losing his job during Covid-induced lockdown. Little did he know that he would survive the suicide bid and eventually become a swimming coach and environmentalist.
“On a special medical pass during the lockdown, I got the permission to take one of my patients suffering from bone disease to the river for swimming. It was the question of my patient’s survival. We had figured out that swimming was the only activity that could help him as there was no medicine for the disease yet. During one of his sessions, we were taking rest near the tank and suddenly we saw a youth jumping into the river. We rescued him.
Since then Pankaj has been with us,” said founder of Amaravati Walkers and Runners Association Dr. Ajay Katragadda. Pankaj, a migrant worker from Bodhgaya in Bihar, was working as an assistant at a furniture shop. He is the sole breadwinner for his family. After losing his job during the lockdown, he went into depression and decided to end his life.
Pankaj told Katragadda that he would stay with them only if they give him a job. Gradually, the two became good friends. The two made use of the medical pass during the lockdown to plant saplings. The duo planted as many as 1,200 banana saplings along with many other fruit and vegetable plants during the lockdown. After Unlock 1.0, more people started joining them.
“The walkers, runners and swimmers are happy that they could contribute to the nature. It gives them a positive feeling and a reason to keep going during hard times. Several of them shared that planting and watering trees in group with unknown people actually encouraged them to wake up every morning afresh,” shared Katragadda.