India, Oct. 5 -- IN 2020, journalist Basharat Peer travelled to Devari, a village in Uttar Pradesh, persuaded by a picture on social media. Two men; one holding another on his lap as a water bottle lay nearby, unattended. The image was part of the COVID-19 visual archive in India when the government had abruptly called for a lockdown. The halt upended the lives of workers who, in a country functioning on cheap labour, had migrated to the cities. With employment gone, transportation services suspended and rising uncertainty about money and food, millions walked back to their villages for shelter. The picture was from the exodus and stirred something in Peer to find out more. The result was a New York Times essay titled Taking Amrit Home (2...