This youth from Pithoragarh has helped a number of expatriates come out of the trap laid for them by the fake employers and reach back to their motherland India.

Working as a consultant for a financial company in Dubai in UAE, Girish Pant empathises with the labourers who often land up in a soup in the Middle-East countries where there are strict laws and shows them the way-out. Connected to his roots, he has been visiting his hometown every year since 2008, when he left Uttarakhand. While in Uttarakhand, he spends hours near the holy Ganga relishing the “natural water” which he misses at his second home –Dubai.

Khaleej Times, a news daily from the Gulf, had reported on 22 December 2015 – “…Pant, an employee of a company in Jebel Ali, drove to help the men almost every day for 12 days they were in a bus.” Narrating his gesture of humanity on his visit to Haridwar, Girish told The Pioneer, “I believe in only one religion—that of humanity. last year, eight of 23 workers of a contracting company Qasr Al Ameer were left in the lurch after their owner fled the country without paying the workers. They were forced to live inside bus for 12 days. I used to bring food to them. I felt for them.”

This story has been repeated many times for him. Two years ago, one Praveen from Rishikesh had gone to Dubai in search of work through an agent company named Sky High International Placement which charged him Rs80,000. “We were three friends. I was stuck while other two managed to reach back India. Without knowing rules, many expatriates like me get snared in legal hassles. Taking care of my basic necessities of food, Pant ji took help of police and I came back safely to India. Otherwise I would have been forced to work without visa which was illegal. I would have landed in trouble,” said Praveen.

Many such Praveens have been helped by this Samaritan who visited Haridwar on Sunday. “like Zam Zam of Muslims, our holy water is Ganga jal. I carry this to Dubai for all rituals. There we have to buy mineral water for drinking, but here in Uttarakhand, we can drink straight from waterfalls and Ganga. Natural water is a blessing which only Indians can enjoy.”

Girish owes his noble nature to his village. “The village of Pithoragarh – Berinag to which I belong has instilled in me this habit of feeling for others.”