Sunday, July 19, 2009

Kawariya Kawariya!!!

Pondering on for the last few days about what to write, today while driving to Delhi it struck me. Normally I am not an "Opinion Person". I just try to ignore and not put my mental energy on stuff that generally people have opinions about. But the issue (IMO it is a big one at that) that I rise in this post has annoyed me no end.

Driving in Delhi as everyone knows is a pain and with each passing day its becoming even more painful. But every year, during this time there is another activity happening on Delhi roads where certain people, in the name of religion, create unnecessary nuisance. Kawariyas as they are called, collect Holy Ganga water from Haridwar and walk to their respective destinations. People going about their business in a peaceful & harmless way is one thing, but what irritates and annoys me most is the way they have complete disregard for the general public trying to lead their routine lives.

These Kawariyas, as I said earlier in the name of religion, block the busiest of the roads causing kilometers of crawling traffic. There is a lane demarcated for them to use, but do they use it?? NO!!! Of course there are some genuine devotees who carry their earthen pots and walk peacefully, but there are a few young people who run behind bikes, drive tempos which have huge speakers with Blaring (its an understatement) music (religious songs - C-grade songs from films remixed with religious lyrics), and block traffic out of no rhyme or reason. What is more shocking is that the Police instead of bringing them under control help them in their activity by stopping and diverting the traffic. I am not even touching upon the topic where these Kawariyas torched trucks and stoned police vehicles a couple of years ago. I was also one of the unfortunates stuck in the 40KM long jam on the Jaipur Highway.

Compare this with the ongoing Metro contruction in Delhi. Its so well organised and planned that there is seldom any problem. Of course, there are ought to be traffic snarls once in a while but one has to give it to the authorities as they go about their business in a smooth and efficient way. This is where I fail to understand that a major infrastructure project going on since more that 6 years has been running smoothly whereas the Kawariya activity which happens every year for just 10-15 days causes so much trouble for citizens. I dont know when the government will stop worrying about its vote bank and grow up.

I am sure there are a whole lot of people who will agree with me and it is high time someone does something about this. Every year in July-August rains create havoc in Mumbai and the whole thing gets so much footage on TV. People keep complaining and whining about the condition there and its stays the same every year. I think the Kawariya case is an apt comparision, its just that it happens in Delhi and not covered by the News channels makes it a lesser known issue.

If it takes collecting Ganga water from Haridwar and walking all the way to Delhi to solve the problem, then I am ready to do that :-)!!!!!