Young Author Rekindles Human Aspiration

Where Do They Really Belong? Karan Taparia’s maiden book on the pandemic raises concerns over the plight of Migrant Labourers in India

Sometimes a lone voice in the wilderness amplifies into a big noise, and when the conversation is about a collective humanitarian effort it’s bound to grow stronger and louder with time. At the beginning of the year, as the COVID19 pandemic hit India, millions of migrant workers and their families became collateral damage due to an unexpected social and economic crisis aggravated by the nation wide lockdown. In times of such uncertainty, Kushal Bharat - an initiative to help jobless migrant laborers, was started by a 17-year-old student Karan Taparia in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Intending to rehabilitate and restart the lives of migrant workers, the young samaritan started crowdsourcing funds to provide urgent long-term solutions for helpless families and daily wagers. To make micro entrepreneurs out of those who were struggling to fend for themselves in the middle of a pandemic was one of the key goals of this initiative. And till now the initiative has helped more than 40 migrant workers rekindle their livelihoods and made them truly Atmanirbhar.

After six successful months since the start of this noble program, the young founder of Kushal Bharat has written a book about the journey of the non-profit organization and the plight of workers, who were reinstated by the team during the pandemic. The book titled ‘Where do they really belong?’, is a thoughtful insight from the writer’s viewpoint on the migratory workers of India, especially the blue-collared daily wagers. Despite their huge numbers, immense contribution to the country’s GDP, hardworking values, and economic services, this section of work force is often ignored and treated as dispensable resources. With no structure in place, they continue to work in unstable industries that provide no job security for them or their families.

In this book, Taparia shares how the 12th grader from Bombay International School in Mumbai got the inspiration to start Kushal Bharat and how it all started with the intent of just helping one of his students at an NGO where he used to teach. Taparia also shares some startling statistics around the migrant worker population of India and how they are a critical part of the economic growth of the country. He also reminisces some heart-wrenching stories of the families which Kushal Bharat helped in rehabilitating and how they got back from the brink with small but timely support from the initiative. Taparia concludes by offering some credible recommendations on creating an ecosystem around health, education and entrepreneurship in rural India to ensure that people who leave their villages to find work in big cities, do it as a choice and not in desperation of finding better lives for themselves and their children.

The foreword of the book is written by Barkha Dutt who heaps praise on the young author and the chief architect of Kushal Bharat.