Panduranga Vittala!!! - the lone warkari on his route...

pray, grant me a sleepless ashaadh night,

keertans, pouring rain, cymbals, chanting, 

all night, sit with me, beside me, O Vittala!!!

The sweat and the smell of the deep fried foodstuffs was all over the small roadside shop. Ganesh was busy, extremely busy, in the preparation of snacks and sweets. The palkhi would soon be here, on the climb at Dive Ghat, towards Saswad, just after Hadapsar. He came here, year after year, 5-6 days before the palkhi, at his usual location on the roadside. His father, and his grandfather before him, had run the shop from the very same location during the palkhi. They were about seven persons from the same village, Sakhuri, who came down from the Purandar hills to cook and sell foodstuff to the hundreds of thousands of warkaris who walked on the palkhi from Dehu-Alandi-Pune to Pandharpur.

It was a very simple shop, almost a shanty. The sheds were up, and the grocery sacks lined up. The oil cans were kept in a separate shed, some distance away, that they would use as a storage unit. Nothing was locked up, for as his father had instructed Ganesh, this was all about faith and in belief in others. If you did not trust others, you had no right to be part of the palkhi, even if you were not a warkari.

It was as yet two days to the palkhi, as it would cross the Dive Ghat on its onward journey to Saswad and the Purandar areas. It was a steep climb with pouring rain, slippery roads and narrow curves. Nearly five to six hundred thousand warkaris and pilgrims would be walking up. Today, it was all quiet. There was nobody on the roads. The regular traffic that went up and down the Dive Ghat had thinned down, knowing that the police would be regulating the road and keeping a sharp watch. Ganesh was busy planning the cooking action for the next 4-5 days. The action would start a day before, with the support vehicles for hte various groups racing ahead to the stopping points and setting up tents and kitchens.

Ganesh sat alone, in his casual clothes, cleaning, polishing and setting up. His friends were doing the same in their food stalls. Today would be without any business, but the coming five days would go by at breakneck speed. Soon, it was evening. There was almost no traffic on Dive Ghat now. Ganesh had completed all his preparations and was sitting by himself, alone in his food-stall.

It was peaceful out here. Silence, if you could forget the sound of vehicles. Even the dogs were quiet. They had gathered in anticipation of the availability of food over the coming days. 2-3 dogs had taken their positions near each food stall. They seemed to claiming their territories. Ganesh watched the dogs near his stall. They looked clean and spirited. They would be the only regular companions that he would have with him for the days that he would be cooking here.

A SUV car came down the Dive Ghat and went inside the compound gate of the dhaba across the road. The owner and two persons got out and entered the dhaba. A lone warkari alighted from the car and walked away from the dhaba after thanking the driver. He must have got a lift from near Saswad and had been brought here to help him on with his journey to join the palkhi at Pune, thought Ganesh. He watched him curiously. If the lone warkari had to go and join the palkhi, he would have to rush tonight and meet up with his dindi group wherever they would be.

The lone warkari stood quietly, outside the dhaba, pondering on his options. Understanding his discomfort and worry, Ganesh stood up and waved him across, beckoning him to cross over the road. The lone warkari saw him, and crossed the road and came to the food stall. "Sri Ram Krishna Hari!!! Thank you, O Mauli, can I rest here for some time?" He asked Ganesh.

Nodding, Ganesh replied, "Yaa, O Mauli!!! Why do you ask? For these food stalls are here only on the instructions of bhagawantha!!!" The lone warkari stepped inside the food stall and sat on a wooden bench near the entrance. The three dogs came nearby and settled at the doorstep, expecting some food to be shared. It was drizzling steadily outside, and the dogs were all wet. Ganesh picked up an used gunny sack and placed it within the entrance of the stall and tapped on the cloth. With seeming clarity, the three dogs stood up and walked inside and settled down comfortably on the gunny sack.

The lone warkari commented, "Yes. For, these are also the work of the same bhagawantha!" Ganesh had some left over food from the noon lunch, and he heated it up and asked the lone warkari to share in the supper. They ate together silently, without any disturbance from the dogs. Later, Ganesh tore up some chapatis and mixed it with the left over food and placed three food balls on torn up newspapers and kept them for the dogs. They ate quietly, but eagerly. Meanwhile, Ganesh made two cups of tea, and offered one to the lone warkari. The pilgrim welcomed it, for it was an appropriate need with the steadily increasing drizzle outside.

Ganesh said, "O Mauli, it is raining steadily now, and will become heavier. Its also nearing night time, and it would be difficult to get a vehicle coming down the Dive Ghat to stop in this increasing darkness. You can stay here tonight, and I will also have company. You could leave in the early dawn tomorrow, and join up with your dindi group at Pune before they start walking to Hadapsar." The lone warkari nodded, and replied in agreement, "Sri Ram Krishna Hari, as you wish." Having arrived at a conclusion, Ganesh placed two wooden benches together and rolled out a thin mattress over it, and placed a coarse woollen blanket for the use of the lone warkari. He had the same arrangement for himself.

Having settled that matter, the lone warkari began to talk, "O Mauli, I do not belong to any dindi group. The warkaris from my village, away near Paithan, are strangers to me now. I do not join the palkhi from Paithan to Pandharpur. There were many problems. I come all the way from Paithan, walking or taking a lift from anyone who would welcome me, to try and be on time at Pune."

Puzzled, Ganesh asked, "You do not join the palkhi from your village? Why is that? How can the group from your village allow that? Surely, the palkhi is only an excuse for us to forget our differences? What happened?"

The lone warkari replied, "Yes... I understand the puzzle. They did not refuse me. It is my error. I do not join them in their palkhi. I used to be the sarpanch of my village, and I was never a devout person. I used to tolerate the keertan mandalis and the bhajan mandalis because the other villagers were taking part in them. I had never ever donated any money to the community dinners organised at the temple. One day, in a panchayat meeting, others in the village wanted me to agree to construct an underground pipeline from the water tank to a restaurant on the main road. I disagreed."

"The restaurant owner, from my village, was a rich man. He could afford to construct a good well. But, he did not want to use his money. He had friends from within his community in the village and they were keen to help him. They threatened me, and I refused once again. Ours is a drought  prone region, and water is very precious. He could have done any other business but he wanted to run a restaurant because it was on the main road to Aurangabad. I could not give him the water that would have been necessary for the poor families in my village."

"One night, when it was raining heavily like tonight, he sent some thugs to threaten me at my house. I spoke strongly and we had a fight. The thugs killed my mother. She was my only family. I had nobody else. I ran away from the house, and they followed. In the dark night, I could escape, and I ran into the Vittala temple. I was angry, and I wanted to go to the house of the restaurant owner, and kill him and his family. I had decided that I would then run away to Mumbai and live anonymously among strangers."

"That night, at the temple, I hardly noticed Vittala, and did not even realise that I was in the premises. I was only angry, and I was wanting revenge. I started searching for some weapon that I could use to kill the family of the restaurant owner. At that moment, I heard some voices, and I walked in that direction. It came from inside the sanctum, and it sounded familiar. I looked inside. There were some wick lamps, and I could then realise that I was inside the temple, and it was Vittala's sanctum. A lady was seated there, and she was talking to Panduranga."

"I wondered, about, who could be talking to him in this dark stormy night? Alone? So, I went nearer, and I heard her say - "O Vitoraya, you have to help me. You did the wrong deed today. You called me to you, and I have come here. Now, he is all alone. He has no control over himself. He loves you extremely, though he never admits it. His love for you is deep within him. Please untie the bonds, my Panduranga. Do not allow him to go angry and do not allow him to cause harm for anyone. I have forgiven those who have caused harm to me, for they have only brought me to you, to your house." - and I got curious, for the voice was very familiar. I went closer, and then, I realised..."

"O Mauli!!! For, those among us, you would belive, it was none other than my mother, and she was talking to Vittala. She was asking him to control me, and asking him to prevent me in my revenge. She had forgiven her killers. And in her state, she was out there, beseeching Vittala, to help me. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned and saw HIM, and HE said, to me - "Go... go to where there would be many more such mothers, in search of me. Tell them about your mother. Let them know that I listen." - and having said that, he was gone. I turned, and my mother was no longer there, and the wick lamps were glowing brightly, and I could see HIM, back on his place."

"Since then, O Mauli, I rush to the palkhi at Pune, and I walk all the rest of the year, going from place to place, and sing at the keertan mandalis and tell them my story. Most mothers talk to me later, and I tell them to tell their children to forget all hate and to forget all intentions of revenge. This is my life, over the past twenty-five years, O Mauli, and this is going to be my life."

"My villagers knew of me from the stories that went from other villages where I sang. They heard that my mother had been killed in my house by the thugs from the restaurant owner. They wanted to demolish the restaurant and chase away the owner and his family. I came to know of it through messages that they sent me. I went back to the village and began to stay in Vittala's temple. I spoke to my villagers and asked them not to take revenge for me."

"My villagers were unhappy. They said, that Vittala had asked me to avoid revenge. They had not been instructed accordingly. They would be most happy to even kill the restaurant owner. They would agree with me, only if Vittala would speak to them personally. I agreed with them. I invited them to sit at the temple through the night, and I doused the wick lamps. There was complete darkness. I sang throughout the night. I did not stop singing. I am not a singer, but that night, I sang in perfect rhythm, without any musical instrument. I sang alone. In the morning, each one of my villagers, came to me, and said - we have seen Vittala tonight."

Ganesh heard him in silence, without any surprise, for this was Panduranga's magic, and nothing could be unexpected.



Glossary 
Ashaadhi = the Hindu Calendar month during June-July
atya = Aunt, usually, father's sister.
bhagawantha = God.
chapati = cooked wheat flat cakes, like a roti. An Indian-style tortilla.
dada = elder brother
dhaba = roadside food place. With informal arrangements.
Dindis = the group-units of pilgrims participating in the wari.
Dnyanba = Sant Shri Dnyaneshwar of Alandi
Mauli = Devotee of Panduranga. Also a form of greeting in recognition of the other person's faith in Panduranga Vittala.
paadukas = the sacred symbolic feet-impressions of deities or sages
palkhi = the pilgrimage from Dehu-Sant Tukaram temple and Alandi-Sant Dnyaneshwar temple via Pune to Pandharpur in Solapur District, Maharashtra
rath = chariot, usually pulled by oxen during the palkhi from Dehu-Alandi-Pune to Pandharpur
vaikhunta = passed away. Gone ahead to the great heavens above.
wari = the annual June-July (ashaadhi) pilgrimage from Dehu-Alandi-Pune to Pandharpur.
warkaris =  traditional pilgrims - devotees of Panduranga Vittala, the deity at Pandharpur - who walk from Dehu-Alandi-Pune to Pandharpur, covering nearly 200 kms
Yaa = Come. A form of invitation in affection.