Do at least one good deed a day – is the motto of Girish Pant who is hailed as the saviour of those in need for poor workers or stranded seafarers. Indian expat Pant, who works in the finance department of a UAE-based company, believes in only one religion – humanity. Born and raised in New Delhi but originally from Pithoragarh – Berinag in Uttrakhand, India, Pant is a voluntary social worker who empathises with poor labourers trapped or defrauded by employers, stranded seafarers, or for that matter anyone genuinely in need. He helps them by “legally” sorting out issues, mostly with the help of the Indian consulate.
Pant has been in the UAE from 2008 and has helped out about 500 people of different nationalities, mostly who were stranded seafarers (100-200) or workers left in a lurch by employers. He has also personally repatriated bodies to India, helped workers get outpasses, and even counselled and prevented a few contemplating suicide.
Helping people in distress is a family trait says Girish Pant, whose grandfather was a freedom fighter of India and whose father is known as a good Samaritan of his town.
Girish has lost count of how many accident victims he has helped while in Delhi where he worked a decade ago. “I would feel pathetic how people would just surround the victim and just stare on him or her without helping out.”
From helping people left stranded on road due to car breakdowns or accidents to dealing with cops, counseling friends out of depression, Pant wants to be of help to all, as that is what gives him ‘contentment and happiness’.
“I was jolted by the suicide of my cousin, who took the extreme step as he was heavily under debt and didn’t want to share his problem with anyone. “It was hopelessness and depression that drove him to take this step on December 25, 2013. That hit me hard and from that day on I took upon myself to try and help out whoever I can and however I can.”
In 2013, when floods ravaged his home city Uttrakhand, Pant personally visited the city, with contributions from the people of the UAE. He travelled 38 hours in risky mountainous region with 400kg of relief material to personally deliver aid to the affected people.
The same year, since he was a part of Uttrakhand association in UAE, he received news of a seafarer’s dead body that had to be handed over to his family in India. “I offered to personally hand over the body because I felt what if something like this happens to any of my family members. Wouldn’t I rush to help then? So I do not differentiate on the basis of religion or nationality, for me humanity comes first. The moment I get a call for help, I rush.” Since then, Pant has helped repatriate a number of bodies of Indians back to their home country, many a times personally. Read More
