A ‘pop-up yatri’ introspects
Main nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne aaya hoon
This is what Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi said once again as he entered Odisha earlier this week for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the sequel to his Bharat Jodo Yatra. This public declaration of his desire to be a vendor of love in a marketplace of hate might come across as naïve to those who are used to a more macho style of politics. But it carries an unmistakable emotional appeal for Indians who have been yearning for feel-good moments to hold on to amidst the gloomy news cycle.
If you are keen to explore what this politics of love might look and feel like, get hold of computer scientist-turned journalist Dilip D’souza’s new book Roadwalker: A Few Miles on the Bharat Jodo Yatra. It documents the author’s experience as a padyatri on the journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir that began in September 2022 and ended in January 2023. The author did not walk the whole stretch with Mr Gandhi, the Congress party cadre and fellow yatris, but he joined the yatra four times.
Through his joyful and introspective account, Mr D’souza takes the reader along on his travels through the states of Punjab, Karnataka and Rajasthan, and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. It reads well because the author sticks to telling his story as a “pop-up” yatri instead of singing the virtues of the Congress or trying to sell Mr Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming elections. He joined the yatra because it “seemed to be born of, guided by and suffused in themes such as justice, a voice for the voiceless, democracy, love, empathy and secularism in its true sense”. Frustrated by the clampdown on ideas and values dear to him, he wanted to do something constructive instead of stewing in despair and cynicism.
The book is divided into seven chapters: (1) Unease: Despair of the Past Several Years (2) Indecision: To Walk or Not to Walk (3) Rationale: Why I Walked (4) Fellow Travellers: Others Who Walked, with Me and Otherwise (5) On the Inside: This Walker Looks Around (6) Hope: What It Kindles (7) Vision: What It All Means. The writing style is conversational and lucid.
Mr D’souza’s account captures not only hope but also self-doubt. Alongside lofty ideals, it addresses logistical challenges. He writes, “Could I stay with the yatris; and if not, where would I stay? What were the arrangements for food, for toilets, for water? How much should I travel with, and should I assume that I would have to carry it all on my back as I walked?”
A yatra (pilgrimage) is meant to be an inward journey, not only an external one; so, it is not surprising that the experience of walking stirred up memories from a long time ago and made the author reflect on key moments from the history of contemporary India. Those who are used to seeing things in black and white—devoid of nuance—might be struck by the fact that Mr D’souza makes no attempt to hide or downplay his critique of the Congress party in relation to the Emergency of 1975-77 and the mass slaughter of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984.
Why did Mr D’souza choose to join the yatra despite all of this? He wanted to act in a way that mattered, to stand up and be counted. Explaining his reasons, he writes, “Just as much as I thought Indira Gandhi and her Emergency had to be defeated, all the way back in 1977, I think that the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and its ideology must be defeated now… This is what needs ever more of us to stand up and be counted. To me, it’s that simple.”
Read the book to know more about the people who accompanied Mr D’souza on this yatra, the unexpected— mostly heartwarming—encounters that he had, the friends that he made, the stories to which he listened, the difficulties that he faced, and the insights that he gathered.
It was not all hunky-dory. He writes, “After each of my four stints on the Yatra, I returned home with blistered feet and aching knees. I expected that. What I didn’t expect was a degree of mental fatigue as well.” However, it was an exhaustion that seemed totally worth it since he had tasted the sweet satisfaction of showing up as a citizen along with other citizens who care deeply about the future of their country and cannot bear to see it consumed by hate.
The book does not offer much in terms of an assessment of “the longterm effect the Yatra will have” but Mr D’souza makes it clear that one yatra after another will not answer people’s questions about the vision that Congress has for India. Mr Gandhi needs to reckon with this soon.