The name is Pant, not Rishabh Pant, but Paritosh Pant. And while he is no cricketer, he is not far away from the game either. Not when he has AB de Villiers dedicating his Twitter and Instagram handles to his name.
So who’s Paritosh Pant? He’s a 29-year-old man who owns a barbecue café in Navi Mumbai that goes by the name of “Too Much Drama” and runs a project — Feeding From Far — through which he has helped feed and distribute ration kits to the poorest and unemployed during the pandemic-induced lockdown.
Before the start of this IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had announced they would honour the efforts and sacrifices of the Covid-19 warriors with ‘My Covid Heroes’ inscribed on the back of their jerseys while training as wells as during matches.
As part of the RCB-supported campaign by Royal Challenge Sports Drink, De Villiers spoke with Covid-19 warrior Paritosh. And that is how the South African great decided to honour Paritosh and his work.
For Paritosh, the interaction he has had with De Villiers, one of the best batsmen in modern-day cricket, will motivate him to work harder for those hit by the pandemic.
“I spoke to AB earlier this month via video call. To be honest, it was a straightforward conversation, but he was trying to understand everything that we did and heard things in detail,” Paritosh told The Telegraph from Mumbai on Monday.
“He asked me about the challenges I faced and how I reacted to them, and if I had any message to convey. I told him everything that me and the other volunteers did through our project, which is an emergency Covid relief activity in Govandi — a densely populated slum area.
“On hearing everything, he acknowledged that our work has truly been ‘inspiring’ and ‘amazing’. So it does feel nice when someone of AB’s status praises you for your work.”
Paritosh Pant Sourced by the Telegraph
Elaborating on their relief activity, Paritosh added: “The life expectancy in that ward (at Govandi) is just 37-38, so one can only imagine the plight of people there.
“Fortunately, we have been able to raise around Rs 2 crore for this project, out of which, Rs 77,86,040 were crowd-funded. Besides, celebrities such as (singer and composer) Vishal Dadlani, (stand-up comedian) Abish Mathew and (writer, comedian and entrepreneur) Tanmay Bhat have supported us in our project.”
Not just De Villiers, his teammate and captain at RCB, Virat Kohli, has also dedicated his Twitter handle to a Covid-19 warrior. Kohli’s Twitter handle sports Simranjeet Singh’s name.
“In the past few months, whenever I heard the stories of the Covid heroes, it literally gave me goosebumps. These real challengers have made the country proud and inspired all of us to be more persistent and dedicated to our efforts to build a better tomorrow.
“I am truly proud to wear RCB’s ‘My Covid Heroes’ jersey as a sign of solidarity and gratitude to everyone who is right now going the extra mile to support the community at large. They have batted day and night and fought on the field, and I am honoured to call them my heroes,” Kohli had said the other day.
By the way, the cafe that Paritosh owns is run by specially-abled people and one has to place orders through sign languages.
So while De Villiers deals in boundaries and over-boundaries in the IPL, Paritosh has transcended all boundaries to serve humanity.
Food for thought?
