Remembering Devendra Gayan

Yesterday, an early morning call informed me that Gayan was no more. He used to be regularly hospitalized for sickle cell anaemia treatment and I had imagined this to be just another short hospital visit. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I will never see Gayan again.

Gayan was our almost 25-year-old field coordinator for implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the area. Every village that has aspired for forest rights, is likely to aspire for them or has gotten them – all of them knew who Gayan is. Anytime I have told people that “aap Gayan se baat kar lijiye”, I have been told that ” ji unka number hai. Unse baat hotey rehti hai”. He used to roam around in villages explaining people things, motivating them to apply for rights and then animatedly telling them how to make plans on ground. He was my only coordinator who had a plan on how do we keep our work on even in lockdown. No matter how busy I was, there was always Gayan who wanted my attention for a new plan he had made for improving our system. Always present, always ready.