Call of duty: Cachar ADC Sumit Sattavan was helping people reach home while wife delivered their first child in Rajasthan
Where were you when your wife delivered the first child? One of the most emotional moments in human life is attaining parenthood. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, Sumit Sattavan became a father for the first time on April 25, 2020. But his closest colleagues did not even congratulate him as they never got to know about it for the best part of the day. In all likelihood, the civil servant would have taken a leave and traveled far west to Jodhpur in Rajasthan to be by his wife. But then, the world has thrown an invisible enemy which he has no option but to fight, 2589.4 kilometers away in Silchar.
April 25, 2020, for the first time, the Assam Government decided to relax the lockdown for the stranded individuals to return back to their home. Phase I had Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, and Dima Haso on the list. That meant the ones who belonged from those districts and got stuck due to some reason, could return back to their respective homes. The government arranged buses for the same, which were to depart from the Inter-State Bus Terminus in Ramnagar. The service was available only for those who registered either online or by dialing 104.
A day before the ‘D-Day’, DC Cachar Barnali Sharma held a meeting with the district’s Superintendent of Police Manabendra Dev Ray and they decided that people should report to their nearest police station where the officials will verify the pass and then escort them to the ISBT. In case of any problem they must dial “a phone number”. That number happened to be ADC Cachar Sumit Sattavan’s. There were people calling from everywhere, somebody did not get the pass despite filling the form, somebody wanted more details while somebody had a problem. By the way, all of these travelers were also quite high on emotions. It was a “Times have changed and times are strange, It hurts so bad, it’s been so long. Mama, I’m coming home…” moment for them. Stranded in a different district with family living somewhere else, it is obvious they ran out of patience.
“Once I heard Sattavan explaining to someone over the phone that he is actually a government official and not a travel agent,” said a colleague of Sattavan. This also gives a glimpse of the kind of calls he must be receiving. The buses left by 1:30 with many people not showing up for departure. The officials of the district administration including Sumit Sattavan kept on dialing the people who did not turn up, few did not respond while others were not reachable.
Amidst all of that, sometime during the day, he walked to a corner and did a video call over WhatsApp. That was him saying a ‘hi’ to his son, who had just arrived in this world. Barely minutes and the bus honked and this government official was once again back on his duty. Throughout the day he did whatever he was supposed to and was even present at the press briefing in the evening. That’s when a journalist incidentally asked him about his family back home. He smiled, paused and said, “I became a father today.” Sitting next to him, his colleague reacted, “What! you never told us, congratulations.”
“I know they are in the hospital and safe, and that is enough,” said Sattavan. Adding, “When I look back, I should feel proud that I tried to leave no calls unattended no issues unaddressed when my country was hit by a pandemic.”
Well, if his three-day-old son has could sing right now, he would probably be humming Harry Chaplin’s lines,
“And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
“When you coming home, dad?” “I don’t know when”
But we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then”
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