Friday 5 January 2018

Devotees rolling down on ground to cover more than 100 miles

Guess what these 200 odd people including women are doing? 

That's 'Pind Yatra', they'll cross 175 km by rolling on the ground. 

Their demand--Cow protection, establishing Govt's cow shelters in all villages, also other demands. 

Tough but such yatra not too uncommon in Madhya Pradesh. 

People often go to temples, particular shrines, all the way, rolling down the road. In summer, when the roads are burning hot, even then they cross hundreds of kilometers.

After a wish is fulfilled too, some people perform a similar act. It happens in other parts of the country too. 'Bhakti' makes you do a lot, things that seem impossible, turn easy!!!

Tuesday 26 December 2017

When a passenger train got stuck in traffic in the midst of road

The sight of the train in the midst of the traffic, may come as a surprise for you.

It got stuck amid vehicles on the busy road

That's actually, the train that runs in Northern MP. It runs on the narrow gauge railway line, from Gwalior to Sheopur.

The train runs through the city and the narrow gauge railway track is laid in the middle of the road. When someone parked the car in the middle of the road, and went away, the train driver had no option but to stop.

Soon, there were vehicles all over the road. There was a major traffic jam. People had to push the car away from railway line, and finally the train moved ahead. The photo circulated on WhatsApp and was carried in Dainik Bhaskar's website too.

Monday 11 December 2017

Working with Wires: Electricity employees risk lives, sans safety gear

It is quite a common scene in most towns.

The power department employees are seen sitting on electricity poles, disentangling the wires and ensuring that power reaches our homes.

Mostly, they are not having even the basic security gear--the gloves, the vests, the hoods.

Many of whom are irregular employees, who are either on contract or on daily wages who are paid by the contractor.

No wonder, there are mishaps, so often. The photo was taken by Bhupesh Kesharwani.

This photograph was taken on a road in Byron Bazaar in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 

Thursday 30 November 2017

Expressing Dissent: Effigy burning, the most common political activity on Indian streets

Effigy burning or 'Putla Jalana' is the most common form of expressing dissent in India.

Political parties, their youth and students' wings, the activists go for it.

For citizens upset with establishment, that's the ultimate form of resistance and expression of anger.

The 'putla' may cost anything ranging from Rs 200 to 1,000 at the local 'putla-maker's place.

The effigy may even symbolise a Pakistani leader or even WTO.

But it's not that you are free to burn anyone's 'Putla'. There are risks too.

If it is CM or a top leader, the policemen try their best to snatch it, before the effigy is burnt.

That's a scene you should witness--when cops run away with the 'putla' before it has caught fire. It appears that its their main job for which they are paid--to stop the effigy from getting burnt.

Cops may book you, depending on 'local sensitivities' or situations in different states.

Media-newspapers give it less coverage these days. But local politicians--NSUI, ABVP, Youth Congress, Bajrang Dal, Sena, Manchs and professional Putla Jalao walas, continue to burn effigies.