Hard task following in Mahatma’s footsteps

For starters, many were not told that it would be a 25-day walk. By the time the enormity of the situation struck them a grand flagging-off ceremony had already been held. Some others completed the journey minus their belongings and cash, which got stolen on the way. Just over half of the marchers actually completed the Dandi tour on wheels rather than on foot. One marcher even found himself being handed over to the police he had dared to raise his voice against a group leader. An elderly man slipped and broke a leg on the second day but rejoined thewalkathon on the last day.

In a more serious incident, an entire group (all members belonging to other states) was left behind somewhere in Bharuch district. They lost their way, ran out of water and food, two of them fainted and were caught in the middle of nowhere before a four-year-old local lad led them to the rest of the pack.

The group leader, Baburam Thakur from Himachal Pradesh, told The Indian Express that all seven members of his group had almost given up hope of survival but were “saved” by the four-year-old local. “We didn’t have a clue about where we were,” said Thakur. He only remembers that they were left behind just after they had crossed the Mahisagar river in Vadodara district. There was no water, not a tree in the vicinity and two female members fainted in the heat. “I thought that was the end of us but God sent the small fellow to save us.”

Then there was group leader Manoj Shukla who had a fellow marcher Durlabh Baria arrested by the Amod police in Bharuch district because hedared to argue with Shukla. Finally, the other members, who claimed Shukla behaved in a “dictatorial” manner, intervened and the march continued.

A number of marchers confirmed that more than half the marchers actually made the yatra on wheels. “They rode in buses while we walked,” said Nirmala Devi from Manipur. Many lost cash, wrist watches, clothes, even slippers during the march which included overnight stays at 25 villages.

“We were told that we had to perform cultural programmes at a number of places on the route and that a bus would carry us through the route,” said All India Radio artist Nila Langeh from Jammu and Kashmir who along with her husband Subhash Langeh took part in the march leaving behind their three-year-old daughter. Subhash added: “At first we felt bad that we had been cheated, but people welcomed us warmly right through the route and it felt good.” Both said they had completed the march for the sake of J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah who had asked them to take part inthe yatra — and for Gandhi.