Mandya: Divided by regions, united by purpose; Bharat Yatris make their point

PTI, Oct 10, 2022, 5:07 PM IST

Image Courtesy: Twitter/Karnataka Congress

Mandya/Tumkur (K’taka): From a mother of three and a former basketball player to a veteran lawyer and young Congress activist, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has drawn people from across age groups and walks of life.

Divided by regions and languages, all 117 Bharat yatris walking beside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in this 3,570-km journey are united by one purpose.

“I want to change the face of India,” says 27-year-old Aatisha from Nasik in Maharashtra, who left her new job to join Gandhi in the yatra.

A former basketball player who wanted to represent the country, Aatisha now wants to be a part of the historic Congress event by completing the entire 3,570-km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in a bid to unite India, which the opposition party alleges is being divided by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

A bachelor of engineering in electronics, Aatisha got a plum job offer from Air India but preferred to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra instead.

“Jobs will come and go but this opportunity will not,” she told PTI while participating in the yatra in Karnataka.

Aatisha said her family was concerned about her future and her father was hesitant to send her for the yatra.

“I want to change the face of India and as they say, be the change you want to see in the world,” she said.

There are many like Aatisha who are out to make a point.

Vaishnawi Bhardwaj (24) from Nagpur is the youngest of the yatris accompanying Rahul Gandhi.

Having lost her parents at a young age, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) coordinator studied journalism and wants to bring people together in an “increasingly polarised country”.

Ask her what she is walking for and she says, “I feel strongly that issues like the burqa row need to be avoided. My earnest desire is to fight casteism, which the BJP is fuelling to divide the society and reap political benefits.” Another young Bharat Yatri, Anulekha (27), has just completed her master’s degree in law and wants to dedicate a year to the Congress before starting her professional journey.

She sees the yatra as the first step.

Associated with the NSUI, the students’ wing of the Congress, she says India’s unity in diversity is under threat as the BJP is spawning hatred in the society and she wants to fight against these divisions of “hearts”.

“I am against this policy of divide and rule of the BJP,” she says while walking across the interiors of Karnataka and hoping that the yatra would awaken people to the fundamental issues of price rise, communal divide, unemployment and the farmers’ plight.

Also in the league of Bharat Yatris is a mother of three, Lhing Kim Haokip (47) from Manipur, who left her family behind for the cause of “uniting the country”.

Trailing behind the other yatris after suffering a foot injury, a limping Haokip says she represents the northeastern states, the “seven sisters”, in the yatra.

Haokip sustained a hairline fracture during the Kerala leg of the yatra after she stumbled in a heavily-crowded place along the route of the foot march.

“My mother is praying for me and so are my children. They have asked me to be stronger,” she said, describing her engagements with people from various states as the biggest takeaway from the journey.

“When you start walking, unmindful of the heat or rain, you feel so energized and inspired,” she said.

The yatra has 35 women participants among the 117 national yatris, all sharing a passion to unite the country and spread the message of harmony, besides flagging price rise, unemployment, and polarisation in society.

The difficulties of the foot march notwithstanding, the women yatris start their day at 5 am and are ready for Rahul Gandhi to unfurl the tricolour at the campsite at 6 am

What also drives them are the occasional moments they get to spend with the former Congress chief, who sometimes meets them in the evenings.

Lodged in makeshift accommodations in mobile tankers, the 117 yatris are forging new friendships every day as they meet thousands of people along the yatra route.

There are 58 containers in all with varied lodging arrangements of two, four, six, eight, and 12 beds.

While those for women and senior leaders have an attached bathroom and toilet, the inhabitants of the other containers use common toilets.

The containers move with the yatra every day and reach a new campsite earmarked earlier.

The eldest among the yatris is Vijendra Singh Mahalawat (58) from Rajasthan who wanted to do something different and decided to walk alongside Gandhi.

A lawyer by profession, Mahalawat has left his legal practice to his son.

“For me, erasing the Hindu-Muslim divide is more important right now,” he said.

Narinder Batish, a Sewa Dal volunteer from Punjab who manages the crowd around Gandhi’s security ring, where people and leaders are keen to walk along their leader, is also upbeat as the yatra entered its 33rd day on Monday.

Unfettered by the cut and thrust of the journey, Batish says he is keen to complete the “parikrama of the entire country” and sees the Bharat Jodo Yatra as a historic opportunity to do so.