KAFKAESQUE CHAOS

I HAVE NOT READ ANY works of the legendary Czech novelist Franz Kafka but, while browsing through the Oxford English Dictionary, looking for a suitable adjective for what the Kanwarias do to the NCR (national capital region) traffic scene, I came across this word, meaning “relating to his nightmarish fictional world” and decided to do a politically wrong act and use this as the title of my new column.

- Krishan Kalra

My apologies to any Shiv Bhakts if my unintended action causes offence to anyone. My sole objective is to draw the attention of traffic police and other authorities so that they can institute some rational measures to ease the pain of commuters on National Highway 8 (NH8).

Seekers in Shrawan

As the Hindi calendar month of Shravan starts (this year it was on 22 July) one starts sighting Kanwarias on the road – mostly young guys carrying their typical long walking sticks (kanwars), custom decorated with festoons and conical canopies made from shiny bright coloured cloth, embellished with sequins and metal urns hung at each end.

Each kanwar is unique in its length, design, decoration and size of urns, probably depending on the physical capacity of the guy carrying it. These are all Shiv Bhakts (devotees of the Lord Shiva) and are carrying water from the holy Ganges from esteemed Hindu pilgrimage sites in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The Pilgrim’s Progress

Kanwarias come from virtually all castes and backgrounds, from different districts of these states but maintain an amazing sense of unity and equality, to the extent that during the yatra they don’t even address each other by name! Each one is dressed either fully in saffron clothes or wears at least one saffron garment.

Almost everyone has a backpack presumably for change of clothes enroute. Some of them are carrying holy water just due to their own sense of devotion and at the end they will deliver it to one of the temples; others do it for rich people who pay the carriers for their labour.

The yatra is minimum 105 kms long but there are people who walk much longer. The yatra