<p>Two Bengalureans rode through Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala last month to meet and honour Covid warriors.</p>.<p>Balasubramanyam, 29, works in the finance sector while his cousin brother Chetan R is a 25-year-old MBA graduate. They started biking from Bengaluru on June 8 and concluded their trip five days and 2,000 km later at Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu.</p>.<p>The mission was Balasubramanyam’s idea. He recovered from the Covid-19 infection during the second wave but his close friend could not. Shaken by his friend’s passing, he felt he needed to thank the people who helped him and others like him through tough times.</p>.<p>Since it was an unsponsored mission, the cousins simply decided to meet unsung heroes in the remote parts of the states they traversed through and express their gratitude. They met around 15 Covid warriors, usually farmers or small business owners who suffered financial losses but still had the empathy to help others in need. </p>.<p>Balasubramanyam posted six such stories on his Instagram page. One of them featured Rajesh, owner of a hotel in a village in Tamil Nadu. He used his car as an ambulance to ferry serious Covid-19 patients from his village to the nearest city of Karur to access better treatment. He did it for free and that was a lesson in “humanity” for Balasubramanyam.</p>.<p>How did they identify these Covid heroes? Balasubramanyam says they simply asked the villagers on the way. </p>
<p>Two Bengalureans rode through Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala last month to meet and honour Covid warriors.</p>.<p>Balasubramanyam, 29, works in the finance sector while his cousin brother Chetan R is a 25-year-old MBA graduate. They started biking from Bengaluru on June 8 and concluded their trip five days and 2,000 km later at Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu.</p>.<p>The mission was Balasubramanyam’s idea. He recovered from the Covid-19 infection during the second wave but his close friend could not. Shaken by his friend’s passing, he felt he needed to thank the people who helped him and others like him through tough times.</p>.<p>Since it was an unsponsored mission, the cousins simply decided to meet unsung heroes in the remote parts of the states they traversed through and express their gratitude. They met around 15 Covid warriors, usually farmers or small business owners who suffered financial losses but still had the empathy to help others in need. </p>.<p>Balasubramanyam posted six such stories on his Instagram page. One of them featured Rajesh, owner of a hotel in a village in Tamil Nadu. He used his car as an ambulance to ferry serious Covid-19 patients from his village to the nearest city of Karur to access better treatment. He did it for free and that was a lesson in “humanity” for Balasubramanyam.</p>.<p>How did they identify these Covid heroes? Balasubramanyam says they simply asked the villagers on the way. </p>