Kolkata students pull rickshaws with pullers as passengers as Valentine’s Day celebration

Kolkata, Feb 15: Valentine's Day celebrations can come in many forms, apart from just the traditional idea of exchange of hearts.

On Thursday, as the world was busy celebrating the day of love (though what happened in Pulwama is a complete anti-thesis to the concept), 42 students from various colleges in Kolkata, including girls, decided to do something unique.

They took to pull rickshaws with their everyday pullers sitting as the passengers. The students pulled the two-wheeled cart for three kilometres from Amherst Street to MG Road via a number of major roads.

The 42 students in action were accompanied by 65 other students from over 20 colleges in Kolkata and they walked alongside them for the entire stretch.

One of the students said it was their way of showing love and appreciation to the rickshaw-pullers who take up the strenuous job each day of the year to lead a modest life but never gets the recognition.

She said she experienced pain in her hands and the stress made them understand how hard it is for the actual pullers who do it every day irrespective of the elements.

Satyen, an elderly rickshaw puller who hails from Gaya district in neighbouring Bihar, told PTI: "It was an altogether different experience. For a change I was sitting in my own rickshaw. I felt embarrassed as it was being pulled by a girl who is as old as my daughter but she asked me to sit back and relax."

The rickshaw pullers were also treated to lunch and presented with a memento at the end of the event.