AMARNATH, Aug 7: Faith has a way of taking in its stride anything the bureaucracy can throw at it, including the smart blue-and-white photo-card which the Jammu and Kashmir government insists all pilgrims to Shiva's cave must carry.As this year's Amarnath Yatra draws to a close, the yatris, are increasingly putting their registration cards to good use - as calling cards to the Gods, to be left behind when they come visiting Shiva's desolute Himalayan abode.The pilgrims hanged on to their photo-cards through the 30-km trek to the cave, some officiously dangling them from their necks. Once at their destination, they reverentially tied them to the railing which protects the ice Shivalingam. The registration cards were an addition to other reminders tagged there: conventional visiting cards, name-tags, a wedding invitation meant to invoke divine blessings on the couple and even a notice with a missing person's photograph.When the cave-temple closes later this month with the onset of winter, abandoned even by the pujaris, the new calling cards will remain shut with Shiva himself - reminding Him that they had made the tough pilgrimage.However, it was not just the registration card which made the 1997 yatra different from the one last year, when about 250 people died as the weather suddenly turned foul on the mountains. This year the crowds were smaller and facilities better. Pahalgam-based yatra officer Umang Narula said though the authorities had no problems in letting upto 2,700 people begin the trek every day, only about half this number actually turned up this year.Last year's deaths and destruction might have deterred some, but not the likes of Kandaswamy Baba, a sadhu from Hyderabad who has been a regular pilgrim for the last few years. ``No baba died last year,'' he claimed while hinting that Shiva had his reasons for wreaking havoc on the pilgrims. ``Gandey log hai (They are bad people).They bring liquor and eggs along,'' he complained. This year even the sadhus seemed to follow official warnings about bad weather. The day this reporter reached Panchtarni, the last major camp before the cave, no pilgrims were being allowed to go past the area's Border Security Force post till the weather cleared. But not everyone was as patient. A group of young people crossed the Panchtarni checkpoint ``at their own risk'' after haggling with the securitymen. Others waited, mobbing securitymen trekking back to Panchtarni. ``Bhakt, khud to darshan kar aye. Hamein bolte ho rasta kharab hai (You have returned from the holy cave and yet you tell us that the route is not clear),'' one of them jibed at a returning soldier. Among the restless bhakts at Panchtarni was Govind, who runs a business in Hissar making bamboo blinds. The young man had left two of his companions and made it to the cave - his raincoat torn but spirit intact.Faith led people of all sorts up the mountain. Chanting ``Jai Bhole'' a man trekked barefoot across the glacier which pilgrims encounter just before the cave. Raju, whose weighing machine helps him make a living in Jammu, was also barefoot. Going by the book, Raju couldn't have got his registration card: the authorities insist on a medical certificate before they hand it over and Raju is handicapped from birth. His feet can't take his weight. But fired by faith, Raju crawled to Amarnath.
