You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

These words of father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, seem to inspire 62-year old Vedanta Chaitanya Das who took an ailing octogenarian friend to the hospital for treatment in Puri on his trolley rickshaw.

The incident took place on Monday night. When people saw Das carrying an octogenarian to the hospital on his trolley they started taking pictures and some even videographed the entire episode.

The octogenarian, suffering from high blood pressure, was in a bad condition. His condition had worsened due to age and he required immediate medical attention. He has been identified as Debendranath Paramanik, 85, who hails from Bengal.

Local photojournalist Sarat Kumar Patra said: “Vedanta Chaitanya Das has a road-side tiffin stall. Debendra Nath Paramanik came to Puri when Coronavirus was at its peak. After being abandoned by his children following his wife’s death he arrived in the city and lived in a mutt like hundreds of others in need of shelter. No one kept track of what he did. But Paramanik has developed a relationship with Das who runs a tiffin stall near the sea beach. Both are devotees of Lord Jagannath.”

A local journalist Akshaya Kumar Mishra said: “Their relationship turned into a strong bond of friendship. After coming to know how Paramanik had to leave his home following the death of his wife, Debendra started taking care of him and even gave him shelter. Later Paramanik suffered from paralysis. As his situation worsened, Das brought Paramanik to the district headquarters hospital without waiting for help. He pedalled his trolley rickshaw with Paramanik for two kilometres to reach the hospital.”

On being asked about why he did not call an ambulance with the help of locals, Das said he had no idea that an ambulance could be called at night and he had no money to hire a vehicle. As the condition of Paramanik worsened, he preferred to bring him immediately to the hospital on his trolley.

Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Puri, Dr Sujata Mishra, told The Telegraph: “The patient’s health condition is stable. As he was brought to the hospital in time he received the required attention. He is being treated and responding to the treatment. His blood pressure is stable at this moment.”