An Oral History of the COVID-19 Crisis: 'It was the first time in my entire life that I saw my father break down'

Piu Mondal, 19, is a student and social worker from Canning, West Bengal. (Piu is a victim of trafficking. In 2015, when she was only 14, Piu and her friend were abducted by a local trafficker after school, who spiked their soft drinks, and then put the unconscious girls on a Delhi-bound train, from which they managed to escape after it had travelled a little distance, on regaining their senses. The girls were subsequently rescued by a local NGO that reunited them with their families. On returning to her village, Piu and her family were ostracised by the other villagers, who blamed her for the incident. Through this entire ordeal, her family, especially her father came through as a major source of support and strength for her, and helped her return to normal life.)  * After the lockdown was imposed, from mid-April to October, my family and I suffered financially, rather severely. My father is a daily wage labourer, who lost his job as soon as the lockdown was put in place, which caused us incessant suffering and pain. We were struggling and trying to pull through the days with as little as possible, spending far less than we normally do under regular circumstances. Read more from the Oral History Project here. My family and I were somehow managing to get by, when suddenly things went rapidly downhill. One day, our entire neighbourhood was sealed off on all sides with barricades, and none of us were allowed to step out of our homes, as two of our neighbours had tested positive for COVID-19. As luck would have it, my family and I also realised on that very day that we had run out of our supplies, and had practically nothing left at home that would help us get by — not even enough food.

FirstCulture · Piu Mondal

That was the first time in my entire life that I saw my father break down. He could not come to terms with the fact such a day had arrived, when he was unable to feed his children even a morsel of rice. Seeing him, my mother broke down too. It was at that moment when I felt that perhaps, had I not been there — adding to my father’s financial burdens — he would not have felt this miserable and guilty about our circumstances. My father would perhaps have had a lighter load to carry. It shattered my heart to see him in that state. My father was the one who supported me relentlessly, and helped me fight back (after I went through the traumatic incident of being trafficked, and was subsequently stigmatised by our neighbours). Every time I faltered or broke down, my father was around the corner to pick me up. So the moment I saw him give up, I too gave up and broke down internally, even though I did not express my thoughts explicitly. I could sense my mind getting cloudy and venturing into dark, unfamiliar corners that day, upon seeing my father break down. — As told to Arshia Dhar Write to us with your COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown experiences for inclusion in the Oral History Project at firstculturefeatures@gmail.com