Country Roads, take me home

To the place I belong

Dark and dusty, painted on the sky

Misty taste of moonshine

Teardrop in my eye

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong ………

I get a feelin’

That I should have been home

Yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

(Take Me Home, Country Road. Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver, 1971)

We are witnessing a huge migration of labourers from Indian metropolitan cities to their native villages. It is estimated that almost 40 to 50% of the workers in cities like Delhi and Mumbai are migrant labourers come from outside, mostly from from other states. Television channels are beaming images of workers trying to move out of the cities back to their villages. Majority of these workers are in petty jobs and have a hand to mouth survival. The lock down, thought essential for containing the pandemic, has rendered them vulnerable. Whatever meager savings these workers had have been finished by now, thus, the desperation to go back home.

The big cities provide jobs to the millions of job seekers from the hinterlands but do not provide any social security to the workers to fall back in times of needs. Most of those who work in cities maintain their ties back home. In the villages back home, they know that they can rely on social network and can fall back on extended family and friend network to survive these tough times. That is the reason, they are moving in thousands using every possible means. They are going on trucks, auto-rickshaw, bullock carts, handmade carts with wheels etc. Besides there is a huge majority which is sampling walking back home. Some of them are willing to walk even up to 1400 kilometres. They are ready to undertake this journey because they know that once home, at least they will have two meals a day. Lets hope that these poor and vulnerable find solace once they reach home.

Hey its good to be back home again

Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend

Yes, ‘n, hey its good to be back home again

(Back Home Again, John Denver, 1974)