Not All Is Gloomy This Diwali, Here Is Satvir’s Story of Hope

The Quint’s readers helped Satvir, a migrant worker, to re-start life after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Satvir’s journey is a story of hope, hard work and humanity.

(Image: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

“I will always remember this Diwali because it has come with a new beginning in my life. I had nothing, but today I have everything.”

Satvir, a farmer

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Diwali this year will be bleak for some, and yet special, for some of us. One of them is Satvir.

During the lockdown, in May 2020, The Quint reported on how the Noida police forced Satvir, a kulfi-seller, to leave behind his only source of income, his kulfi-cart, at the Delhi-Noida border.

Like several other migrant workers, Satvir was also facing deep financial distress and had no work in Delhi.

“My life was in misery in Delhi. I used to pull a rickshaw and sell kulfi, but due to lockdown I had no work. So, I left for my village (in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh).”

Satvir, a farmer

But today his life has changed for better, after The Quint's readers watched his story.

Satvir’s tears and plight moved The Quint’s readers and support for him poured in from all corners. He received over Rs 3 lakh as donations, not just from India but from the US, Australia and Singapore as well.

Satvir used the money to add a tubewell to his two bigha farm, on which he grows a variety of vegetables. He was even able to rent more land to work on to further add to his income.

“If I manage to buy more land in future, I will do even better”

Satvir, a farmer

Satvir now lives in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh with his wife, 2 children and grandmother. He has no wish to return to Delhi, ever.