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To Hell And Back: Humans of COVID

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Since 2020, our world has battled a single enemy – the coronavirus. In dealing with the pandemic, India has seen its own challenges and special tragedies. Two years of the pandemic may have already claimed anywhere between 3 and 5 million Indian lives. The lockdown of the first wave caused unprecedented devastation. And in 2022, Omicron has trigged a new challenge.

When India’s lockdown was first announced in March 2020, acclaimed journalist Barkha Dutt started an extraordinary series of road trips, recording the human story of the pandemic, one which she continues even today as we wrestle with the virus’s latest avatar. In this book, she tells India’s pandemic story through the stories of the people she covered – the migrant workers and politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats, doctors and nurses, factory workers and farmers, teachers and students, husbands and wives, parents and children.

Through these accounts, she draws a startling picture not just of our plague years but the very nature of our country with its deep-rooted inequalities across class, caste and gender. Moving, gripping and vivid, To Hell and Back is an outstanding work by one of our foremost journalists, working at the height of her powers.

288 pages, Hardcover

Published February 27, 2022

16 people are currently reading
87 people want to read

About the author

Barkha Dutt

7 books34 followers
Barkha Dutt is an Indian television journalist and columnist. She works as a consulting editor with NDTV. Dutt gained prominence for her reportage of the Kargil War. Dutt has won many national and international awards, including the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.

Dutt has co-authored the chapter "'Nothing new?':Women as Victims" in the book Gujarat:The making of a tragedy, edited by Siddharth Varadarajan and published by Penguin (ISBN 978-0143029014). The book is about the 2002 Gujarat riots. Barkha later wrote a book "The Uniquet Land" which was released in December 2015

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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Profile Image for Umesh Kesavan.
443 reviews172 followers
June 29, 2022
Barkha Dutt, the peripatetic journalist who travelled the length of the country during the pandemic times, condenses her disparate experiences into a book. From the migrant exodus to the plight of health workers, oxygen crisis to vaccine manufacturing, she covers lots of ground. Unfortunately, good journalism does not exactly translate into a great book and the author is on a mission to pack in so many touching stories into little space thus ensuring none of the stories (except the UP teachers who were forced to walk to death by doing election duty) stick. Despite flaws, the book is still recommended for reading because in a decaying society, only some people give hope and they cannot be dismissed for frivolous reasons like not writing a classic book.
Profile Image for Rahul Sharma.
60 reviews22 followers
May 7, 2022
Barkha's ground reporting from COVID hit India has been phenomenal and it was only fitting that she writes a book chronicling the human side of COVID where people are people and not mere numbers. When I met Barkha recently at her book launch program, I told her it's a sad book BUT it's an IMPORTANT book. Barkha brings so many untold stories from the country which we seldom heard or saw on the national TV. What I really liked about it was how Barkha puts herself in the shoes of different people in society and tries to tell their stories; how the pandemic affected each of them differently. Like how it was challenging for menstruating women to work in PPE suits or how doctors were attacked by people because of the stigma around COVID or how closure of schools meant no mid-day meal for poor children and girls being married off early or how it affected the teachers who were charged with election duty and so many more. I was moved by each story and I couldn't stop my tears as I read each story of loss, despair and pain. But the book also brings a light of hope as it talks about stories of communal harmony which we otherwise don't see on today's age of social media. The book doesn't take any sides or blames anyone or finds fault in policy decisions at large. It just tells the stories of 'Humans of COVID'. Strongly recommended!
Profile Image for Prakarsha Pilla.
133 reviews7 followers
September 7, 2022
It is THE book on COVID we need to talk about. Barkha sheds light on the topics we love to brush under the carpet - police brutality on the poor and desolate in the name of enforcing lockdown, assault on doctors, lack of dignity in death to the patients and the economic inequality of infliction. We would rather talk about home remedies or conspiracies or other bizzare whatsapp forwards about COVID but not about these. Now that we know of the shameful things we, as a society, have done during the COVID, we must keep the conversations alive even today.
Police brutality in the name of controlling crowd is unnecessary and also inhumane. Treating doctors like outcasts is a display of ignorance. It is important to talk about these social issues too apart from the health impact of the pandemic. COVID revealed the ghastly reality of being a poor person in India.
My favourite story was that of the nurse Yogita Babad from Mumbai. She saw Ajmal Kasab shooting two guards on 26/11. In the nick of the moment, she hid her 35 patients, who are new moms and infants, safely until help arrived. She admitted how COVID was more frightful than the terror attack because it never seems to end.
Barkha confirms every tragic story you must have read during the pandemic but ten times over. While most of us were avoiding the news for our own mental health, we were aware in hindsight that the reality is far worse than what is making to the newspapers. Barkha writes that reality.
As she has been a journalist since before I was born, her writing minces no words, serious and pragmatic. Her reporting is about the people - their families, financial status, the loss and the future of it. The most important part of this book in my opinion is the undeniable impact of financial status on one's healthcare. Apart from COVID, there are people who lost their lives from other diseases too, because they didn't have the 'contacts' to get them one hospital visit. They died of the lacunae that the upper middle-class and rich would have solved in an hour.
The book is emotional and poignant in its elaboration of one of the worst disasters in history. It reminds one of the dreadful two years. But, how do we ever forget them?
Reading this book is also a humbling experience from me. Barkha reported the stories of the most downtrodden and neglected. We are a hundred times more privileged than them anyday. If we can be of a little help to them at least, we should (even after the pandemic).
Profile Image for Srijoy.
55 reviews
April 12, 2024
The special thing about this book is its existence.
At a time when very few chose to go out and cover the extent and impact of a once-in-a-lifetime disease which turned into a global event, Barkha Dutt stood out.

While as a journalist she was sincere - she is that if she is anything - to the topic and its coverage, she showed astuteness as an author by putting it all together in small packets. This allowed for the tale to be told without it sounding like a white paper or a monotonous report. Yet one did feel like one was being hurried to an extent and there was a sort of disconnect between paragraphs.

This as it may be, BD has put together a moving picture of what hundreds of thousands of Indians, in different parts of the country and at different strata of society, went through. The chapter that spoke of her personal loss was perhaps most heartrending as is not surprising.

The final chapter left me a little disappointed, especially her views on the vaccine and its use/mandate and while I could see the socio-economic political point that she was making, I was unable to reconcile her views that ignored one's liberty over one's own body.

In conclusion, this is no masterpiece of literature, there is far too much journalistic jargon used for it to be so apart from the aforementioned, but it certainly is essential reading.
Profile Image for Dr. Kashmira Gohil.
Author 3 books22 followers
August 16, 2022
Barkha Dutt, a veteran journalist chronicled her journey during peak covid time in this book of 'To hell and back: humans of covid', when she travelled to furthermost corners of affected areas to report the news, straight out of her own eyes and interviewing prople while taking an immense risks. The report was candid and emphatic as she also lost her father during covid and as she said she became one of of her own report experiancing the panic, typical unpredictability of that time and drastic shortage of hospital beds, proper ambulance transportation, oxygen and drugs. She also got infected with covid.
The lady is always brave and starightforward, utterly professional and mince no words when required and I give her all credit for that. I understand her pain and panic totally as I too lost my mother suddenly to covid despite my utmost try to save her and horror of that time is indescribable. 3 stars for this one.
Profile Image for Ganesh Kudva.
42 reviews8 followers
October 16, 2022
Barkha gives a first hand account of situation at ground during COVID wave 2.

We have all experienced the brutal wave 2 in India. Most of us were safe in apartments, homes and had the security of our regular salary. We were unaware of realities of lower income people income country. All we knew, was a distorted narrative pushed by the media so hopelessly unreliable.

Barkha describes the situation on ground, stories of people and their suffering. Very moving. During this time, Barkha also lost her father and there is a personal story too. She also brings out interesting impact of COVID on girl child, their education and lives. These aspects were also very interesting.

All in all, well written. Glad that we do have some journalists in our country who are fearless to write what they write!
6 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2022
One of our guest lecturers in 2020 spoke about COVID and AI in Chicago. I think lecturer was Prasad Kothari after his Forbes comments about AI and COVID. When I asked him more about India situation, he told me to follow Barkha dutt. So, picked up her youtube channel and then this book. She is such a fascinating journalist. What a WOW book and her finesce is great when it comes to writing. I generally don't read much but read this one when it was released. My friends did not know about Barkha so we ended up watching her on youtube as well. I am amazed to see such brilliant people coming out of India. Hoping to visit India next year to witness brilliance. Just too many vaccines to take including yellow fever to go to India. A must read book. Please read it even if you have never been india.
Profile Image for Kumar Ayush.
139 reviews9 followers
March 6, 2022
A cut and clear account of India's pandemic story. I highly recommend a read to all Indians. There is a cliche in fantasy that stories are fundamental to what makes us human. Heroes die, but their legends never do, and so on and so forth. Stories are eternal; they keep what is lost in the material world alive. So, as a tribute, you should read the story of countless dead directly or indirectly because of COVID.
Profile Image for Rachel Green.
49 reviews
August 27, 2022
One of the hardest books to read. I had to keep it down many times and even took a break from reading all together. Finished it this morning and a part of me feels like it's either broken or colder..

I still think everyone should read it. There is so much in there that we had no clue about.. So much that recounts with such passion and dedication to her profession.. It's commendable!
15 reviews2 followers
March 8, 2023
Provides a compelling "on-the-ground" account of Covid in India through the stories of people Dutt, a veteran journalist, met during a 30,000 km investigative journey beginning during the initial lockdown in March, 2020. Would recommend.
Profile Image for Swapnil.
43 reviews4 followers
October 18, 2023
It was a sad, heart wrenching and meaningful journey reading the book.

One can only get a glimpse of despair of families author visited, I couldn't imagine how difficult it must be.

I hope someday I do something which helps less privileged people.
Profile Image for Ietrio.
6,904 reviews24 followers
April 7, 2022
A title lacking creativity from a fear monger. Motorcycles have also ”claimed” lives. As well as the actions of the Government of India itself. Would Dutt as to outlaw these as well? Of course not.
Profile Image for Ushnav Shroff.
837 reviews10 followers
April 11, 2022
A very well written book that reminded me of how bad India really had it during the pandemic.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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