85 yrs lady makes homemade masks for local residents and railway employees

WR salutes
the great spirit of awesome mother

In Coronavirus Lockdown, Western Railway has continued to serve the nation by running Special Parcel Trains and making crucial medical equipments in its workshops for frontline fighters in hospitals. It is worth mentioning that in this collective battle against the deadly Coronavirus, the near and dear ones of Western Railway employees have shown utmost support and efforts to fight this battle.

One such
awe-inspiring story is of 85 year-old Vimala Devi Verma, a retired school
principal of Uttar Pradesh state government and mother of D.M. Verma – Senior
Section Engineer at EMU Carshed of Western Rly at Mumbai Central. Verma has
been actively participating in this fight against Coronavirus by making homemade
masks for residents in her residential complex and for the railway employees at
EMU Car Shed, Mumbai Central.

According to
a press release issued by WR CPRO Ravinder Bhakar, even in her ripe age Vimala
Devi Verma is able to put in her efforts in these bleak times. Being physically
disabled below her hips does not stop her from stitching homemade masks while
sitting on her wheelchair. Day in and day out, she prepares 8-10 homemade masks
out of cotton material on a daily basis. Part of the masks will be handed over
in her local residential area in Nalasopara (West) and a major portion will be
handed over to EMU Car Shed at Mumbai Central. Till now she has prepared 80
cotton homemade masks when she started to stitch them since 20th April, 2020.

This courageous
mother not only boosts her self-confidence but also helps overcoming the fear
in the minds of people by making them laugh with her fearless words. She says
that it seems like with every mask she makes, she pushes Coronavirus a step
back.

Verma who
was a principal at a govt. school in Uttar Pradesh, says that as Indians we’ve
suffered a lot which has made us resilient. She says that Coronavirus is
definitely a terrible epidemic but we should not be afraid of it and must fight
against it. In a video capturing her true valour and positivity, says a shayari
“Zindagi sanwarne ke liye toh zindagi padi hai, Yeh lamha sambhaal lo,
jahan zindagi khatare mein khadi hai.”

Sharing her
personal experience, she says that since childhood, she has seen big problems.
She says we should not be afraid of Coronavirus but take precautions to deal
with it. Every time a tragedy has fallen upon humanity, it felt like everything
is coming to an end but in reality we just have been struggling with those
tragedies. And every time we have won, the world has moved forward.

Vimala Devi
Verma and her happy go lucky nature even in her ripe age of 85 years is truly
inspiring for us and Western Railway salutes her contribution & awesome
spirit to fight the battle against Coronavirus.