From Srinagar to Vikas Nagar,Sonia fans turn up at 10 Janpath on birthday

Stumbling out of the gates,she slumped on the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes. Those in the long queue for a glimpse of their leader surrounded Shugufta,offered bits of advice,even making way for her so she could stand at the head of the queue.

But Gandhi had already left for Parliament after meeting leaders,MPs and the public for an hour,greeting them and accepting their wishes.

Shugufta had been in the crowd that was let in. She only managed to see the leader from afar. Her voice was drowned in the din of greetings and agendas that people tagged with their messages. She kept clutching her files,containing her letters written to Gandhi.

She had given up justifying her actions long ago. She would go to the Internet cafe thrice a month,with newspaper clippings carrying Gandhi’s pictures and pictures of herself dressed in traditional Kashmiri clothes. She would ask them to morph the two images against a dazzling blue backdrop. Sometimes,she would add maple leaves to the background.

Her father Alim Mohammed,a daily-wage labourer who also rears poultry,took her to a mental asylum but they wouldn’t keep her there. She insisted there was nothing wrong with her.

For nine days,the father and daughter have been camping in the Capital to get an appointment to meet Gandhi after Shugufta told him she would sell her kidney and use the money to travel to the Capital to meet Gandhi.

“I am not mad. I am different… I have been taunted,dismissed as a mad woman but I haven’t given up. I come here to express my love,” she said. But from where she stood,the leader looked out of reach. She was one among the thousands that thronged the residence to wish the leader.

At 12.30 pm,Geeta Devi (65) alighted from a bus,holding her grandson Prakash’s hand. Someone in Vikas Nagar had told her that Gandhi would listen to the woes of people on her birthday.

Both her husband and son are suffering from tuberculosis and spit out blood often. She carried with her no flowers or cards,but a letter,handwritten in all earnestness. It introduced her,said “Bahut samasya hai”,and urged Gandhi to help her out.

She attached copies of her ration card and BPL card,and wrote down her address as well. But Gandhi was gone. Geeta Devi was,however,prepared to wait it out. She didn’t want to waste cash on the bus fare again. “Maybe I should wait till evening. I just want her to know,” she said.

People had begun crowding outside the residence since 7 am,when 60 police personnel from the CRPF and the Delhi Police also arrived.

Gandhi had announced that she wouldn’t be celebrating her birthday and nobody should inconvenience themselves by coming from other cities and states to wish her. But that didn’t deter people.

Ministers arrived,carrying ornate bouquets. Others came too. There were flowers everywhere. Dancers from Tamil Nadu,with their faces painted,were there too.

Anand Kumar,his face painted in shades of magenta,silver,gold and black,hoped he would be able to dance before the leader. But she didn’t want any dancing or singing. He was disappointed,he said.

Baitul Khan Mewati,a Congress worker from Kanpur,also waited patiently. He had a song for Gandhi: “Bharat ki dharti pe aisi nari aayi hai/ Hindu,Muslim,Sikh,Isai sabhi ke dilo mein samai hai/ …Doobti Congress Madam ne bachaai hai.”

But he wasn’t able to convince the guards to let him in,even after showing photos of him standing next to Priyanka Vadra. “It is unfortunate that the ground workers don’t get any respect. It is us who make the leaders,we are the loyalists,” he said.