Cold, discomfort can't stop poor pilgrims' progress at the Kumbh

Cold, discomfort can't stop poor pilgrims' progress at the Kumbh
NANDINI RAMNATH

ALLAHABAD, JAN 17: What’s it like to be a little, humble, poor pilgrim at the Mahakumbh? It's like it is for the poor everywhere: you sleep in the open, you can't afford most of what's available everywhere and you count every paisa.

There are several types of pilgrims at the Kumbh: there are the fortunate few who check into luxury camps at various places. There are the kalpvasis --pilgrims who stay at the Kumbh throughout the mela period -- who are attached to one akhara or the other. And there are kalpvasis who book their tents through the pandas, priests who can trace the genealogy of whole families. But if you're poor, you just pack up your bags and land up at the Kumbh anyway.

In every sector of the Kumbh, removed from the grandeur and showiness of many of the sadhus' akharas and the security of rented tents are testimonies of the progress of pilgrims. These are the poorest of the poor who have saved up many a paise to take the dip in the Ganga. There's no missing them: they are scattered over empty patches in the mela ground, theirluggage strewn around them. They bathe, cook, eat in the open and use the public toilets that have been built by the administration. And when the sun starts slipping away and the night gets foggy and cruelly cold, they stretch out on the sand.

Pannalal Patel, from Madhya Pradesh, works in a diamond factory and also does some farming. At the Kumbh, he's been staying with 10 others in the openfor the past two days. A policeman has been kind enough to give him his tent to sit in, but otherwise, he and his family are left to the elements.

``See, we've even got woolen clothes in case we feel cold,'' Patel corrects you. His family has got along food grains and even a gas burner to cook food, and as far as Patel's wife Ashok Rani is concerned, they're all set.

``What kind of dharma is it if we have to eat from anybody else? We've got our food and for water, there's always the Ganga.''

Adds Patel: ``This is the place where the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet; that's why we are here. We're not here for the sadhus or anything else.'' Their journey cost them a lot in time and money: they took atwo-hour bus ride to the nearest railway station, then a train journey that lasted 17 hours, and another rickshaw ride which finally brought them to the gates of the mela. From there, they walked till they found a place they could dump their luggage at, and they've been here since.

The mela administration is clear in the facilities it gives to those who are staying at the mela: the first priority is the akharas. Then, pandas hire plots of land from the mela administration, build tents on them and rent them out to those who approach them. Around 2,000 such allotments have been handed out to individuals and institutions. But for pilgrims like Patel, these tents -- where the rent could be as high as Rs 1,000 a month -- are out of reach.

Kiran Devi landed at Allahabad this morning. The eighty-something, along with three sisters and a neighbour, squats on a charpoy as she waits for her bath. ``We were accompanied by our guruji, but we lost him somewhere. Now, I'll stay on only if we get somebody to keep us company. Otherwise, we'll return to Agra,'' says Kiran Devi, her eyes lost in ripples of wrinkles. She massages children and applies henna in Agra for a living. Kiran Devi has a large brood: two daughters, four sons and daughters-in-law, 6-7 grandchildren, but there's no sign of any of them at the mela. ``How could all of them have come? Where's the money? The last roti I ate myself was yesterday; today, I had a cup of tea this morning, and I'm not going to try to get some food now,'' she says.

Yet, she has no complaints about this journey. ``The saints and mahatmas are at Hardwar and Hrishikesh as well, but this is a special place. Such hardship is also a necessary thing, feels Dr S. Kapoor, a doctor from Kanpur. He's sharing a tent with his wife and eight others. ``We haven't come for facilities, we're here for tapasya. Those who want facilities should stay at home.'' His wife pipes up: ``I haven't been more happier in the past 10 days. I haven't thought of my children even once!''It is faith that has got them here and faith that keeps them going. Himmat Singh, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh is putting up on the street outside one of the akharas with 12 others from his village. ``We can't afford to stayanywhere else,'' he says. He is here for the wish-fulfilling promise that the Ganga holds out. ``She fulfils all your wishes. If you want your daughters to get married, want children, she'll grant them to you.''