Legs are aching. Body is tired. Destination
is few kilometres away. It starts raining. Mind is in trance. Will power
carries you till destination. You sleep
in temples, trucks, homes or in the open.
That ends today. Tomorrow is another walk, another journey and another
destination. You have to manage
logistics of food for your group, or rely on kind donors. You have to manage
ablutions sans privacy. You have to face hardships for 20 odd days. This is
picture of Wari which you will think is negative. But hold on for a moment. Let
me complete my word picture of Wari. The physical discomfort is what makes Wari
a super devotional and highly emotional experience. It is the supreme devotion to ‘Vitthal: the
almighty’ that carries you through. The eternal and divine rhythm of ‘Gynba-
Tukaram’ drives out pain from your body, gives extreme bliss all through your
walk. Mind and soul search for self
enlightenment. At the end of the walk many people experience this bliss , get
new perspective of own life for whole year.
This experience is what will bring you again next year. That’s why it is
called Wari.
June ended with a win in
Champions Trophy promising new dawn in Indian cricket and as we were busy with
relief work for Uttarakhand, one of old school friend pinged on whats app. She
was asking if anyone is interested to walk from Alandi to Pune with Wari. It
started with that and all five friends who gathered that day at odd hour of 3am
on 1st July, were destined to experience Wari this year for first
time in our lives. I used to feel Wari to be over glorified show of devotion
and devotees gathering for free food for 20 days and enjoy celebrity status
during the Wari and after that in their community. How wrong I was? The hardships you face cannot drive you here
next year and again year after year in most cases in spite of these free food
and social status motivations. It has to be devotion coupled with a quest for
those religiously minded souls which drives the Wari. And believe me it’s an
experience to be a part of that. It was the walk of my life. I used to do lot trekking.
I have walked long distances. I have
experienced feel of climbing atop a fort or reaching trek destination. That joy
is different from what i felt after taking darshan of Nivdungya and Palkhi
Vithoba temples in Pune. These temples are camping points in Pune for the
palkhis. I had new kind of real realization and have added few new
perspectives. This is something personal and i am sure anyone who has
experienced it will know. For those who have not, let me recommend to
experience it at least once in life. This experience has made me convinced to
repeat next leg of Wari from Pune to Saswad next year. With renewed focus on fitness
and self discipline i am sure will make that happen. Vithu mauli will take care
of the rest.
We assembled at 3 after my
friends driver picked all of us up. We went till Alandi via Moshi. We took
darshan of temple and started our walk. It was raining and the mud had created
swamps. Wari Trucks and tempos lined one side of narrow road making walk bit
tricky and risky amidst darkness. This went on say for 4-5 kms by the time we
reached Sai temple. It was bright by then. After that the walk with other Warkaris
was comfortable. We had a ringan dance at dighi. It was some experience. Ladies
in our group had planned food parcels which kept us energized whole day.
We reached Vishrantwadi for first
major break at Joshi wade wale for Tea/Coffee. And you never run of topics and
fun with old friends whom you know since your kindergarten for more than three
and half decades. After reaching Yerawada, the legs started talking for me.
Each step was challenge that’s where the journey really started. I could
visualize the whole new bridge to cross and then to reach COEP and then Deccan.
Felt like a long ordeal. Friends were motivating. But then they cannot lift
you. Only Vitthal can. Felt like abandoning at Deccan where we had lunch at Roopali.
But friends convinced to complete whole leg till Nana Peth temples walking
whole Laxmi road. It all ended there with logistics arranged to help drive back
till home.
Believe me guys this was a walk
of life filled with devotion and some new realizations. I will be back next
year....
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