The long road home

A new book details the story of 12-year-old Jamlo Makdam, a chilli farm worker, who died while walking from Telangana to her hometown in Chhattisgarh during the lockdown last year

The long road home

The title looks at different experiences of childhoods during the lockdown

With four hours’ notice, the Prime Minister announced a nation-wide lockdown in March 2020. While those who watched the news from the comfort of their homes could ably sleep over it, thousands of migrant labourers were left with no other choice but to walk home — covering distances that marathons don’t, forget any monetary compensation. Among them was Jamlo Makdam, a 12-year-old who worked in the chilli fields of Kannaiguda village in Telangana. On April 15, she began her 150-km journey to reach her village in Bijapur, Chattisgarh. She never made it home. About 50 km away from her destination, she died of exhaustion.

While some kids struggled with online classes, child labourers like Jamlo had to walk 150 km to reach home. Pics courtesy/Puffin Books

Jamlo Walks (Penguin Random House India), chronicles this heartbreaking journey, while holding a mirror to society. Written by Delhi-based filmmaker-writer Samina Mishra, illustrated by Tarique Aziz and designed by Devangana Dash, the narrative also zooms into the socio-economic divides that exist across strata. For parents with the means to facilitate e-learning for their children, every day is just another day for the kids to wake up to online school. But what do Andoram and Sukamati, who lost Jamlo, their only child, wake up to?

Writing this book wasn’t a conscious call for Mishra. She put pen to paper out of the sheer need to “say something” in response to the grim reality. “I chose to look at the inner world of Jamlo as well as other children, who are more middle-class, in the contexts of the Zoom classroom and the domestic help not being able to work, for instance.”

Samina Mishra

Mishra hopes that young readers will resonate with the story. While accounts of struggle often get whitewashed in the name of bravery, Jamlo Walks is a pertinent reminder that there is a whole lot in this country that needs fixing. And Mishra explains, “We know everything is broken now but we all have a role to play in fixing it. You’ll fix it if you become the policymaker but you’ll also fix it with who you vote for. We cannot give up on possibility and hope.”

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