We have been in lockdowns, inside our home, or quarantined since the outbreak of Coronavirus. However, there are thousands of people who are working outside for the welfare of our country. These corona warriors deserve our utmost respect and love.
Corona Warrior – Alice Sharma
Alice Sharma is one such corona warrior serving the nation through her NGO ‘Vastra Aur Zindagiyan Foundation.’ She is only 22 years old and still doing so much to make the situation better. Alice started her journey as a writer and later turned to social work, but what happened in between? How did it come to her? Let us know her story.
I’m Alice Sharma. I hail from Delhi. My writing journey began from a point where I thought I had lost my path. Before becoming a writer, I wanted to pursue law. After clearing the law entrance exam, I got enrolled in one of the prestigious law colleges of India. However, I didn’t know things would take a drastic turn.
During the first year, I was diagnosed with typhoid that reached my lungs. My doctor prescribed 4 to 5 months long bed rest, and I had no other option left but to abide by it. Taking a five months-long break from college was next to impossible. So the administration advised me to drop a year. I didn’t want to go for it, but I had to do it because deep down, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take the course in this condition. In that year, I had nothing to pass my time. To cut off time, I began writing Instagram blogs.
People started following and liking my work. Their appreciation worked as fuel in the fire. It boosted my morale, and I began to work more on my writing skills. Before the time, I never thought that one day I would be interested in writing. You can say the writing was secretly predestined. I felt I was born to be a writer.
In 2017, I self-published my first book ‘The Last Board Exam’ associated with Amazon Kindle. It took me six months to find a suitable audience for my book, and then it went on to become a best seller. From here, the saga of book publishing started, and multiple publishing houses published me.
My second book, ‘Longer Than Forever, again made it to the bestselling charts online and in oxford bestselling stands. It got my name listed in The Indian Awaz list of ‘100 Inspiring Authors of India. I received various acknowledgments and the National Literary Award. That’s how writing happened. Then I never looked back at law. I had realized I belonged to writing, and it belonged to me.
The thought of becoming a social worker occurred to me when I got stuck in the Kedarnath floods. In 2013, I went there with my friends and family members. Then disaster hit the area, and the situation was becoming worse with each passing second. We were trying hard to stick to our lives. We stayed in the place for 5 to 6 days. There was no sanitization facility, food, and clean water.
After six days, an avalanche came to rescue us. The team took a lot of time to reach us because all bridges were destroyed. Due to low connectivity, they couldn’t cross the vast gaps, and the temperature was also hitting bottom. It was genuinely traumatic to witness the scene. That’s when I decided, ‘If I survived the ordeal, then I’ll serve humanity. I’ll work for the betterment of people.’ Luckily, we all survived and reached our home safely.
I started ‘Vastra Aur Zindagiyan Foundation’ in 2018 with my close friends. Initially, we had no idea of anything. We had no direction, no support, no plan, and no experience. Still, I went ahead with the plan. We started by providing clothes to people who couldn’t afford them. Because according to the data of 2018, the maximum number of people died due to cold.
Then slowly and steadily, we went ahead with the initiative, and we expanded our team—initiated crowdfunding. Currently, we are a team of 45 members. With the help of people, we took it to another level and began to work in the education area, such as teaching in unprivileged areas.
In 2020, the pandemic happened, and we started working as a team to provide ration, food, clothes, masks, and other essential things. We would go to kachhi basti and chawals to help poor and homeless people. We were able to reach out to above 15000+ people living in the less privileged areas. This year, we are doing the same.
Recently, I was tested positive, and before me, my family was cheerful. Luckily, all of us have adequately recovered. The situation is more dangerous this year as people have no money left to survive. No one has a job. The government isn’t helping much, and hospitals are charging a hefty amount for treating corona patients. It’s harrowing to see people writhing in pain, crying for help, dying due to hunger or virus.
We organize weekly and monthly donation drives in which we motivate people to donate money. Our foundation pays 30 rs per plate of food, so we tell them to donate according to the rate per plate. We are trying our best to help people. I’d appreciate it if you could help us in any way.
During the journey, I came across many heart-wrenching incidents, and this incident is among them. Once, an old lady said to me, ‘After the pandemic, the whole society has boycotted us. They don’t visit us to donate food or even to look if we are alive or not. They have outcasted us. You guys are coming here daily and providing things that we need to live our lives safely. Thank you for everything. You are doing a great job.’ Her words deeply touched my heart. At that moment, I could feel a wave of satisfaction passing through my body.
You won’t believe that rather than large gatherings were blamed for spreading Coronavirus as they couldn’t manage sanitization or keep social distance. I want to ask you how these people are responsible? They have nothing to eat. They are dying out of hunger. How can they be super-spreaders or corona carriers? They are normal human beings like you and me. We cannot punish them for the mistake they never committed. I want to tell everyone to be a little empathetic to people around them. It won’t take much.
To conclude the story, I’d like to say learn to live with your gut feeling. Listen to your heart and muster the courage to follow it.
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