Lucknow university graduate sanitises temples and lanes in the city - Hindustan Times
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Lucknow university graduate sanitises temples and lanes in the city

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
May 27, 2020 07:35 AM IST

Praveen began sanitising in the last week of April after she realised that the fight against Covid-19 needs to the fought collectively.

It is not every day that you see a burqa-clad woman in a temple. It was indeed a rare sight for people residing near Sitaram temple in Faizullahganj area.
Wide-eyed they watched Uzma Sayed Parveen, a social worker, sanitising the temple. However, the Lucknow University graduate and mother of two, Parveen says she isn’t doing anything unusual. Being a responsible citizen, she is just contributing her bit in times of Covid-19 crisis.
“I have stopped noticing people staring at me while I am sanitising the temples, roads and other establishments. I think I am not doing anything unusual, I am doing my bit. The same is expected from others too, as our nation needs us in these hard times,” said Parveen, who has launched her own sanitising drive in Old Lucknow, covering the localities where the sanitising staff rarely reach.
Praveen began sanitising in the last week of April after she realised that the fight against Covid-19 needs to the fought collectively. “I never realised that it would be so serious. Initially, I too was taking it casually like everybody else. But as the reports started pouring in about the sudden rise in numbers of Covid-19 positive cases, I soon realised that it is something big and it needs every individual’s contribution to fight the infection. Hence, I thought of sanitizing the streets that have hardly seen any sanitization,” said Parveen.
But convincing her husband and in-laws to carry out sanitization was not easy at all. Also, it was tough during Ramadan.
“After seeing my dedication, my in-laws and my husband agreed and hence, I began sanitization on April 27. I still remember the day when I left home at 7am, leaving my two children at home while they were sleeping,” she recollected.
Since it is said charity begins at home, I first started from my own lane in the Saadatganj area. “It was tough to brave the stares but I managed and gradually it became a common thing,” she said.
She said there were many instances when she was even accosted by a few men from her own community, saying, ‘it doesn’t portray a nice image agar mardon ke kaam aurat kare (if women do the work of men).
But nothing could deter her and she continued to sanitize the streets covering almost 20 odd streets and lanes including that in the areas like Saadatganj, Campbell Road, Hussainabad, lanes and by-lanes in Aminabad area, Faizullahganj and also the religious establishments falling along the route.
“I never thought that I was sanitizing temples or gurudwaras. They were just like any other structure falling in the lanes that I was sanitizing. I also telecast my work on Facebook live and got much appreciation from the people across communities. I am grateful to people that they lauded my work,” she said.
In the almost 15-day-long sanitizing exercise which she carried out fasting, she covered almost 20 lanes and used up around 60 litres of disinfectant. “I am thankful to my husband, children and in-laws for supporting me throughout,” she added. In the lockdown period, along with sanitization, she also helped stranded labourers who were caught in the lockdown and distributed food grains and survival kits among them.
When asked about the funds, she said, “Allah bahot bada hai (Allah is great). I have spent around Rs 95,000 from my savings. After doing it, I realise that there could be no better way of utilising my savings”.
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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Oliver Fredrick is working in capacity of Senior Correspondent and is based in Lucknow. Other than covering important beats like Railways, Defense, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), District Administration, he loves to write on human interest stories as it gives an instant connect with the readers. In his career of around 10 years, he has done several path-breaking stories which had forced the State Government authorities to take appropriate actions. Prior coming to Lucknow, he was based in Bareilly and was taking care of politically-sensitive West UP districts like Rampur, Moradabad, Pilibhit, Badaun,Muzaffarnagar and others.

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