These tales of woe of five
families in Telangana struggling to tide over the crisis with little or no
familial and institutional support is testament to how the pandemic has pushed
certain sections of the society into a new, and worse, normal.&nbsp;&nbsp;<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Hyderabad:&nbsp;The
life of P Ramchandar, lecturer at private junior college in Hanamkonda in
Warangal district turned topsy-turvy on April 30, when his family of four, including two sons, tested positive. Post-recovery, when the family hoped to
return to their normal lives, Ramchandar felt pain in his legs. Despite advice from doctors to get
admitted, Ramchandar took general medication.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">The onus of managing his family, that also included his aged mother, on pared-down
salary was one reason for Ramchandar not to get himself admitted. But when the pain became unbearable and his legs started to turn black, he got himself admitted at a corporate hospital in Hyderabad. By
then the damage was done. His reports showed that he was free of the virus but his
other comorbidities&nbsp;were acting up.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">With
doctors saying that amputation was the only course of action to save his life, Ramchandar
had to agree to go under the knife. Presently, he is a forlorn figure, confined
to the bed at the corner of his rented home. Ramchandar is
worried about the fate of his sons – one in second-year at college and the other studying intermediate&nbsp;–&nbsp;and his homemaker wife. The burden of repaying the Rs 6 lakh that he
borrowed for surgery weighs heavy on him.&nbsp;<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">The additional expense of Rs 4 lakh for his father’s surgery five months earlier,
for which he pledged his land worth Rs 25 lakh as surety to a local lender, has
compounded his woes. Faced with daunting prospect of repaying his lenders and maintaining
his family has overwhelmed Ramchandar, who as a teacher taught
his students not to give up in face of challenges but now has no answers to the problem he faces.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Squeezed by demands of education&nbsp;<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">The
dilemma of ensuring quality education for his son and daughter, who are in 9th&nbsp;and
8th&nbsp;standard respectively, amidst job loss is bothering Laxman
Nayak (45) from Mahabubabad district. A drill operator at a construction site,
Laxman owed his graduation to his illiterate father and wants to give the same gift of education to his children. He did not think twice before admitting them to a top
corporate school and even pledged 2.5 tolas of his wife’s jewellery to borrow Rs
70,000.&nbsp;<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/7/101RPT907928/2.jpg" id="1002608" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div><p style="text-align: center; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Laxman, with his family (Picture sourced by Rameshbabu T)<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Continuation
of lockdown grinded construction activities to a halt and Laxman suddenly had no
means to earn a livelihood. Pressure from the school, that demanded fees in full
despite the circumstances, saw Laxman faced with a fee of Rs 1.2 lakhs for both his children. With the bank sending notices
for the pledged gold, the family fears they may lose the jewellery as well, even as
they struggle to pay the Rs 5,000 rent for their home.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Disparities
in relief offered by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments, headed by K
Chandrashekar Rao and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy respectively, has left Laxman fuming. “While in Andhra Pradesh, the government is
offering Rs 15,000 each month to students to encourage their studies, the KCR
government, that presented a surplus budget, is not rolling out any such
incentives for students,” Laxman rued.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Hailing
from the ST community, Laxman says he has not utilised any benefits given to
his community so far. “The government says it has started Gurukul schools for
SC/STs. But the selection process is tough and only the academically bright
students can hope to make the cut,” Laxman said, adding that the poor quality of
education in government schools that further marginalised people like him.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Accident adds to woes<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Similarly, the lockdown has sent Naveen’s life into a tailspin. As if eking out a
livelihood as a daily wage carpenter was not hard enough, an accident in December 2020 damaged his spinal cord and has left him in no position to do physically
demanding jobs. His immobility saw Vandana, his wife, transition from a homemaker
to a housemaid. But even that has been tough as households have been reluctant to hire maids during the
second wave.&nbsp;<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/7/101RPT907928/4.jpg" id="1002609" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div><p style="text-align: center; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Naveen, with his family, in front of the home that he had to pledge (Picture sourced by Rameshbabu T)<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">To pay school fees, Naveen availed&nbsp;a loan of Rs 30,000 from a local lender by pledging his
ramshackle house. But that has grown into a mountain of debt that the family is unable to surmount. This
loan with interest is now to Rs 42,000 and Naveen now fears the wrath of the lenders who want him to
clear the loan at the earliest.&nbsp;<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">An ailing wife at home<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Jampaiah,
a carpenter like Naveen, from the Jangaon district of Telangana, is faced with
the prospect of caring for his ailing wife Lavanya, diagnosed with ‘Takayasus
arteritis’, a rare disease of blood clotting in the brain. While Jampaiah’s
life was sailing smoothly thanks to the furniture shop that he ran, his wife’s
medical condition forced him to sell it at a throwaway price. He even had to
pledge her jewellery to meet mounting medical expenses.&nbsp;<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/7/101RPT907928/3.jpg" id="1002610" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div><p style="text-align: center; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Jampaiah, with his sons and bedridden&nbsp;wife (Picture sourced by Rameshbabu T)<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Having
spent Rs 25 lakh to date on her treatment, some relief came with Rs 4 lakh that
the CM's office sanctioned through local MLC K Srihari. While the small shop
that he now runs is a lifeline, Rs 18,000 a month needed for her survival amidst
her deteriorating condition, and the need to ensure that his three sons get a
decent education amidst all this has left Jampaiah staring down the barrel. He
still has unpaid loans of more than Rs 12 lakh.<o:p></o:p><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">A single mother's dream&nbsp;<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Parvathi
from the fisher community, who separated from her husband some years ago. has
pinned her hopes on her son who has completed his SSLC. Giving him a better
life is her way of proving that she can surmount the challenges of being a
single mother. Having worked as an attender in a private office before
lockdown, she turned to a domestic worker to sustain her family post-lockdown.&nbsp;<div class="embed-container" align="center"><img src="https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/inpic/2021/7/101RPT907928/5.jpg" id="1002611" title="" style="width: 100%;"></div><p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Parvathi, with her son (Picture sourced by Rameshbabu T)<p style="text-align: justify; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Having
migrated to Hyderabad from Visakhapatnam&nbsp;15 years ago, she is now faced with
the daunting task of repaying the Rs 30,000 loan she availed for her son's education.
While things were somehow running smoothly before
lockdown, at least&nbsp;on the education front,&nbsp;Parvathi, who is yet to get a ration card, is now wavering between sending
him to a government college or searching for a daily wage job for him so that
they can make both ends meet.&nbsp;&nbsp;