It is just another day for Vijay Belose, unlike any other government servant, his working hours start late in the afternoon around two. However, his work profile of being a driver is a bit different from any other driver.

Vijay is an ambulance driver whose job is to ferry the deceased from COVID-19 hospitals to the crematorium. On a busy day, he transports around 10-15 dead bodies during his shift. There are around 40 ambulance drivers in Pune who work in three shifts to carry these bodies.

Sakal Times covers him for a day to understand his routine that, of course, involves a lot of physical stress which is easily surpassed by the mental agonies.

At two, he waits at a depot for a Whatsapp message requesting Pushpak services for the transport of bodies from various hospitals handling COVID-19 patients.

As he receives one request around 2.45, he rushes to the depot to sanitise his ambulance, which he would go on to drive for the next eight hours. He takes all the preliminary precautions by disinfecting the ambulance - the liquid from tank contains disinfectants of WHO grade which will be the first line of defence for Vijay, as it reduces the probability of pre-existing contamination in the ambulance.

Five months back, this was not a part of Vijay's day job. Vijay was just a regular bus driver under PMPML. He was attached with PMC at a time when the city was facing a major spike of deaths due to COVID-19. Pushpak services are being provided to various government bodies as per demand for specific purposes, and the temporary deployment of PMPML staffers, to work with PMC and PCMC.

The ambulance drivers are expected to visit the Sassoon General Hospital mortuary, which is a restricted area even for the regular hospital staff and health workers, to handle these bodies.

He parks the ambulance at a safe distance from the mortuary and quickly puts on a PPE kit, rushing to the counter to inquire about the deaths. He restlessly speaks to the relatives of the dead, as there has to be a witness for the deceased.

Audio conversation with Vijay:

He matches the name and age of the dead from the WhatsApp message he received and a slip that is given to him by the hospital. Name and age are the only way to identify the person, as the body is tactfully wrapped inside the body bag -- which is not supposed to be opened!

He once again sprays the disinfectants on the doors and windows while taking final precautions. He then loads the dead body after once again confirming the name of the deceased with the relative, and assists the mortuary handlers in putting it inside the ambulance. Quickly, he takes a u-turn and drives out from the hospital to the crematorium. He sets the siren to the max and rushes past the traffic like a chariot. 

Due to ongoing Pune metro project, the traffic is a bit concentrated at few places; however, the sound of the siren and the driver with a PPE kit makes it evident to the traffic that this is not any a regular medical vehicle. This is Pushpak -- "The Chariot of Dead".

He takes a sharp right turn from the main road. He directly drives inside the Yerwada crematorium, without wasting a single second, he jumps out of the ambulance with a bottle of surface disinfectant and sprays it across the back doors and window.

By this time, relatives of the deceased also arrive at the crematorium premises; he quickly briefs the relatives and the elders not to touch the bodybag at any cost and not to spend a lot of time inside the furnace room.

Currently, Pune has only two functioning crematoriums that handle deaths caused due to coronavirus.

The crematorium handlers attend the body and Vijay calmly assists them into the furnace room. While on the other side, the relative walks inside with a pale gaze at the yellow coloured body bag.

The body soon gets loaded on the tray and is pushed inside the furnace. The doors of the furnace are then shut, and the temperature is set to max. Vijay rushes to one corner and suddenly starts removing this PPE kit inside the furnace room itself. After doing so, he runs outside to disinfect himself. He makes sure to wash his hands and face with chemicals and disinfectants thoroughly.

He walks towards the ambulance in silence and takes note of this particular trip. This is just a part of his daily routine, and he will continue doing this same task depending upon the number of deaths on that specific day. On a busy day, he has transported around 15 dead bodies. Thankfully, it was a normal day for him, so he ended up ferrying three more dead bodies till 8 pm. 

Till date, he has ferried over 250 dead bodies, also counting children, who lost the fight against COVID-19.

On a candid note, he tells Sakal Times that he tries to make things easy for the already grieving families. He doesn't want them to wait unnecessarily, as it stretches merely the pain of losing someone they loved.

Today on the day of independence, we stand firm with the front-line workers like Vijay Belose, who take responsibility on their shoulders, stretch themselves - emotionally and physically to perform a thankless duty.