Some found it difficult to walk, one couldn’t see, but all in high spirits for Palkhi

What bound them together was their die-hard determination to be part of the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur as they walked with the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi on the Pune-Mumbai highway.

Elderly citizens, one with walking difficulty and another with visual impairment, were trailing the wari and were seen at Nashik Phata Chowk must after the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi left. (Express Photos by Manoj More)

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They seemed to have come from every nook and corner of Maharashtra. Some were past their 80s and barely able to walk, some sick and struggling to keep themselves going. But what bound them together was their die-hard determination to be part of the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur as they walked with the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi on the Pune-Mumbai highway.

One group of “warkaris”, or dindi”, had a group of members who worked in a local sugar factory but had not taken leave throughout the year. “We save every leave for the ‘wari.’ We have to walk for 21 days in the ‘wari’ and therefore we ensure that we do not take leave from work or bunk unless we fall very sick,” said Nagnath Deokar, one of the group members. “Wari is an integral part of our life. We wait for the ‘wari’ throughout the year. We are basically farmers but our children take care of our farms when we are on ‘wari.,” said Rajaram Chopade, another member.

Then there were those like Valmiki Thorat, an elderly citizen, who is visually-impaired from birth, and was walking gingerly, much after the bigger groups of “warkaris” had left the Pune-Mumbai highway. Thorat, walking with a stick, was alone and taking one step at a time.

“I am from Daund. I have been participating in the wari for more than two decades. I am blind in both eyes since childhood…,” Thorat told this paper. Thorat said his wife passed away a few years ago and children are busy with their farm work. “But I want to keep myself busy on a godly path. I can’t see but I can walk and I will walk up to Pandharpur…I walk every year. I face no trouble. Citizens when they realise my situation rush forth to my help. Many offer me food and eatables on the way. God takes care of me..,” he said.

If the visually-impaired “warkari” displayed enough gumption, 70-year-old Tukaram Kharat was no less in any way. He could barely walk even with the help of a stick. He could not stand erect, he was bending his back and in pain. “A few years ago, a bull hit me from behind. I had suffered a back injury and was in hospital for days. After that, though I recovered, I cannot stand erect,” said Kharat.