KOCHI: The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown could not curb the resilience of Nedumbassery native Alias A M, 56. While others whiled away their time during the lockdown, Alias dug up a well for his new home and that too in just 17 days! What made his feat more impressive is the fact that Alias, a maintenance staff with an ayurvedic firm, had no prior experience of building any large-scale structure.
Alias began the work on March 26, two days after the commencement of the nationwide lockdown. While his wife Lissy and younger son Bibin helped him, they were concerned about his health as Alias was still recovering from a fever from a rat-bite from last November.
“When the lockdown was announced, we had no real work. Our elder son Abin was stuck at his workplace in Bengaluru and we were worried about him. To divert my attention, I decided to dig up the well. Though apprehensive initially, my wife and son got excited once the work started,” said Alias. So every morning, Alias walked to the work site, located near his present home. “I used to start at 6.30 am. By 8.30am, Lissy and Bibin would come with breakfast. By then, I would have dug up a few buckets of soil. We would take a break by 12.30pm and work from 3.30pm to 6pm,” he said.
Lissy, a contract staff at Kochi airport, said they played devotional songs at the site and only ate vegetarian food as they were fasting. With his technical know-how from work, Alias took the measurements and got down to business using a pickaxe, spade and shovel. The work was finished without any hiccups. “We were so happy when we saw water. Except the minor body ache, none of us suffered from any serious ailment throughout the period,” he said.
A noble beginning
Alias celebrated his 56th birthday on April 19 by giving the water from the well to the community kitchen at Nedumbassery to cook meals. “We thought it would be best to use the water for a noble cause first. We also sponsored the kitchen’s expense for the day and contributed to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund,” said Alias.