This is an archive article published on June 12, 2023
Some found it difficult to walk, one couldn’t see, but all in high spirits for Palkhi
What bound them together was their die-hard determination to be part of the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur as they walked with the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi on the Pune-Mumbai highway.
Elderly citizens, one with walking difficulty and another with visual impairment, were trailing the wari and were seen at Nashik Phata Chowk must after the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi left. (Express Photos by Manoj More)
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Some found it difficult to walk, one couldn’t see, but all in high spirits for Palkhi
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They seemed to have come from every nook and corner of Maharashtra. Some were past their 80s and barely able to walk, some sick and struggling to keep themselves going. But what bound them together was their die-hard determination to be part of the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur as they walked with the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi on the Pune-Mumbai highway.
One group of “warkaris”, or dindi”, had a group of members who worked in a local sugar factory but had not taken leave throughout the year. “We save every leave for the ‘wari.’ We have to walk for 21 days in the ‘wari’ and therefore we ensure that we do not take leave from work or bunk unless we fall very sick,” said Nagnath Deokar, one of the group members. “Wari is an integral part of our life. We wait for the ‘wari’ throughout the year. We are basically farmers but our children take care of our farms when we are on ‘wari.,” said Rajaram Chopade, another member.
Then there were those like Valmiki Thorat, an elderly citizen, who is visually-impaired from birth, and was walking gingerly, much after the bigger groups of “warkaris” had left the Pune-Mumbai highway. Thorat, walking with a stick, was alone and taking one step at a time.
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“I am from Daund. I have been participating in the wari for more than two decades. I am blind in both eyes since childhood…,” Thorat told this paper. Thorat said his wife passed away a few years ago and children are busy with their farm work. “But I want to keep myself busy on a godly path. I can’t see but I can walk and I will walk up to Pandharpur…I walk every year. I face no trouble. Citizens when they realise my situation rush forth to my help. Many offer me food and eatables on the way. God takes care of me..,” he said.
If the visually-impaired “warkari” displayed enough gumption, 70-year-old Tukaram Kharat was no less in any way. He could barely walk even with the help of a stick. He could not stand erect, he was bending his back and in pain. “A few years ago, a bull hit me from behind. I had suffered a back injury and was in hospital for days. After that, though I recovered, I cannot stand erect,” said Kharat.
Despite not being fit, Kharat said he did not want to miss out on the “wari.” “I don’t exactly remember the number of years I have been coming for the wari, but it has been very long. I get peace of mind by being on the godly path. I feel happy and satisfied. Not only me, but everyone who takes part in the ‘wari’ is a happy person. If we remain happy, everything around us comes alive…,” he said.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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