‘We’d never seen a city’: For 40 women from remote UP village, a dream trip come true

The remote village

Located near the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border, Pandi is a remote forest village that has long remained cut-off from the outside world. For many women, their lives are limited to Pandi, without ever travelling beyond the village.

Pandi is about 120 kilometres from Varanasi, yet for many residents the journey had remained beyond their reach because of Pandi’s isolated location.

“Our village is located on the Bihar border and is surrounded by forests. Because of its remoteness, we have remained largely cut off from the outside world,” says Prabhavati Kumari, one of the women who joined the trip.

“When the police officers asked if we wanted to visit Varanasi, all the women immediately agreed. Most of us had never seen a city before,” she said.

Prabhavati travelled with her husband, America Kharwar, and their two children.

The 40 women — most over the age of 40 — boarded a police-arranged bus, many accompanied by their young children. Five men from the village also joined the pilgrimage.

A police escort led by an inspector-rank officer travelled in a separate vehicle to assist the group throughout the journey. The convoy left the village at around 9 am, with the police also arranging meals and other logistical support for the travellers.

Pandi, a predominantly Dalit village in Naugarh block of Chandauli district, lies about 80 kilometres from the district headquarters and just three kilometres from the Bihar border. Home to around 80 families, the village depends largely on subsistence farming, daily wage labour and forest produce. Most households earn barely enough to cover basic necessities such as food and clothing, while only a handful of younger residents have left the village in search of work.

A lifelong dream

“It has always been our dream to step outside our village, but visiting the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was an even bigger dream. We had only heard about it from our parents and grandparents,” said Beena Kumari, who made the journey with her four-year-old child.

Women visiting the holy site.

“When the officers asked us what we wanted to see, we told them our biggest wish was to visit the temple. They promised to make it happen, and today they fulfilled that promise. The police took care of everything, and we did not face any difficulty during the journey. We never imagined that one day we would stand inside the temple and offer prayers.”

The group also visited other religious sites in Varanasi, including the Sankat Mochan Temple and Durga Temple. They reportedly also visited a mall in the city.

Santosh Kumar, who also joined the pilgrimage, said most villagers had never been able to travel to Varanasi because of poverty, poor transport facilities and the village’s remote location.

“This evening we will return home, but this is a journey none of us will ever forget,” said Sushil Kharwar, another resident.

“We saw how big the city is and the kind of development that has taken place there. Even mobile phone networks barely work in our village. This trip has opened our eyes to the world beyond our forests,” she added.

When contacted, Varanasi Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Vaibhav Krishna said the trip was organised after residents expressed a desire to visit Varanasi during his recent visit to the village.

“Many villagers told us they had never been to Varanasi or even seen a city. After hearing this, we decided to arrange the pilgrimage under the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Mission Shakti campaign so they could visit the city’s major temples and experience life beyond their village,” he said.