Both queues are serpentine, both lines are filled with lockdown-weary, people impatient for the wait to end.
In one, are migrant workers who will finally get a ticket that will transport them home hundreds of of miles away. In the other, are frustrated souls who will part with their earnings to buy a bottle of liquor that will raise their spirits and momentarily ward off the coronavirus blues.
The two queues in the blistering sun symbolise the fate of millions across the country as they are caught in a protracted lockdown due to the pandemic.
From Delhi to the Deccan Plateau the story is the same and so is the frustration.
People have lined up as if there is no tomorrow. All norms of social distancing are forgotten and even a thrashing from the policemen does not deter them from pushing to their goal. It is almost as if a bus/ railway ticket or that bottle of their favourite poison will liberate them.
While wanting to go back home after 40 days of being stranded jobless and without food is understandable, what about those braving the sun for their tipple? Ask those in the liquor queue and they will tell you, “that just like water is to the fish, whisky and rum is the nectar of life for us.” One has to be brave to argue with them.
While liquor bottles come with the message “alcohol consumption is injurious to health”, ironically it is good for the economy.
Indeed, it was with a sense of pride that state governments declared jacking up prices after a day of encouraging sales. Delhi has added a 70 per cent coronavirus surcharge on the MRP and in Andhra Pradesh — where prices had been upped by 25 per cent on day one — an additional 50 per cent levy was announced after a day of hectic sales.
A wag in the queue had the cheek to say that the government must throw in free masala peanuts for the “whisky warriors”!
But frustration runs high for migrant labourers who have been stranded away from their homes without shelter or food. This is in spite of various measures taken by the Central and State Governments, local NGOs, corporate entities and common people.
Reddy, a business man and resident of Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, while on a morning walk was surrounded by migrants living in the vicinity and seeking his help to go back home. Moved by their plight, he took them home, served food and gave them some money. Stories of such good Samaritans abound in the twin cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad.
The Telangana government with the support of the Railways has late Tuesday night made arrangements for 40 trains a day for the next one week to transport migrants. Similar efforts are underway across various States where thousands of migrants are struggling to return home
On the other hand, liquor buyers seem to be undeterred by price hikes. For the State governments, liquor has traditionally been a cash cow. A big chunk of their revenues come from liquor sales, be it Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana or Delhi.