'Once Upon a Pandemic' by Sravanthi Challapalli

COVID came, jobs went. Migrants decided they would go back. On foot, you see, little money or transport was available. World-weary legs, families included, set out with some rations, hoping to make it across distances spanning over hundred, thousand miles in the harsh Indian summer. Rides were hitched atop trucks, water tankers, autorickshaws, milk vans, other small-commerce vehicles. Helping hands, where present, could not do enough. Pavements, roadsides, railway tracks served for beds. Accidents occurred. Days broke, nights fell. So did many humans as home dwindled into an impossible destination.