BENGALURU: With online platforms turning into a pandemic helpline, many are spending time amplifying pleas or making calls to help patients meet their requirements. But among the flood of posts on availability of beds, oxygen cylinders or medicines, are other help offerings, perhaps smaller and less urgent in nature, but of no less importance. Take, for instance, Sindhu Rao, a citybased techie who is offering to help people speak to authorities in Kannada. “The idea came from a colleague who tested positive.
Not familiar with Kannada, he would record his calls with BBMP volunteers and send them to me to translate,” says Rao, who also saw firsthand how helpful it was for her to know the local language as she struggled to find an ICU bed for her father the past few days. “Even at the hospital I saw how much one suffers if they can’t converse with attendants in Kannada. So, I want to help in my own way,” she adds. The sentiment is the same with other volunteers too.
While many documents with details of home chefs offering meals were floating around on the internet, Sneha Vachhaney worked on an interface (codifiedself.github. io/homefood/) that makes the search easier. “It covers 190 chefs in 125 areas in the city,” says Vachhaney, who built this platform with Nitin Pande.
Meet Anamika Nambiar whose initiative isn’t limited to humans. A pet parent herself, Nambiar knew if she were to be sick, she would worry about feeding her dogs. This led her to prepare food for pets of Covid positive patients as well, taking her total tally of daily meals up to 40-45 for patients, and six for their pets. “I feel quite drained but I’m not going to stop,” she says.
There’s no doubt that a mental health crisis is also unfolding alongside the pandemic. This prompted Neelika Chakrabarti and Sagar Menon, cofounders of the non-profit Citta, to take action. “We put together a helpline that will connect Covid patients and caregivers with a mental health professional. The 30-minute session offers emotional support at no charge,” says Chakrabarti whose initiative is available pan-India. Recognising the challenges of caregiving, Rishika Arora tweeted her support to students. The 18-yearold Delhi-based student is helping peers across India with their assignments.
“I proofread papers, provide resources, help with an outline or get on a call to assist them with an assignment,” she says. While Arora helps students with academic information, Parinita Narayan is helping residents find verified data about vaccination drives in Bengaluru through Twitter. For this, the 36-year-old makes calls between 8.30am and 3pm.
On her Twitter, she even posted about accompanying seniors to vaccination sites in Jayanagar, JP Nagar, Banashankari, MG Road and Richmond Town. “I can’t help arrange for ambulances but even if I help one person get the vaccine, that may be one less bed needed at a hospital,” she says.