From Mumbai, workers fly to Jharkhand on plane rented by NLSIU alumni

While nine-year-old Krishna Mandal was surprised that Mumbai’s tallest buildings were suddenly as small as his fingers, his 12-year-old brother Suraj wanted to catch the clouds and eat them. The duo squabbled over the window seat of an Air Asia flight they had boarded from Mumbai to Ranchi Thursday morning, recalled their father Rajendra Tulsi Mandal (47), an auto-rickshaw driver.

By afternoon, the father and sons had reached their home at Atka village in Jharkhand’s Bagodar block, three hours from Ranchi airport. It was the trio’s first flight.

They were part of a group of 174 labourers — daily wagers, auto drivers and construction workers — from Jharkhand, living in Mumbai, who boarded a plane that was leased by a group of alumni of National Law School of India University (NLSIU).