And they march on: Congress women yatris balance politics, family and occasional guilt

Some left behind their husbands and children, others their ailing parents. Battling occasional guilt but backed by supportive families, an intrepid band of Congress’ women workers have taken on the physically - and personally - daunting challenge of walking in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

As they march on alongside former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the 3,570 km yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, staying in containers and walking 20-25 km a day, the women are scripting stories in empowerment and the criticality of supportive family structures that enable it.

The toast of the Congress for their tenacity and the difficult choices they made to fulfil a five-month political commitment, their stories are many.

There’s Lhinkim Haokip Shingnaisui of Manipur, the only woman from the northeast in the Congress’ cross-country march, who left her husband and three children, Sheeba Ramachandran from Kerala who has a teenage daughter, son and husband, and Pratibha Raghuvanshi from Madhya Pradesh whose father is recovering from an eye surgery - just three of the scores of women marching on.

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Overcome by guilt at leaving her children, Ramachandran one day locked herself in a toilet at a petrol pump, turned on the water and cried her eyes out. Her teen daughter had phoned asking how she could ask her father to buy sanitary napkins, and it was just too much for the mother in the Congress worker to handle.

“Leaving behind my teenage daughter to embark on the yatra was the toughest decision of my life. We were walking in Bellary when she called me crying,” Ramachandran told PTI.

It’s only after Ramachandran pressed the teen that she came out with her anguished question. “At that point, the mother in me felt crushed and was overcome with guilt,” the 47-year-old from Ernakulam said, recounting her near breakdown at a roadside petrol pump.

“Later, I called up her father and told him to take her out to treat her to her favourite soup and buy her sanitary napkins,” she said, stressing that her husband was also playing the role of mother to the two children. Her daughter is in Class 9 and her son, in his 20s, is working.

Crediting her husband for her being able to undertake this “life changing” journey, Ramachandran said she had never asked her husband for any holiday, saree or jewellery after marriage. Going on the yatra was the first thing she had asked of him and he readily agreed and also convinced their children.

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The choice of following their conviction to take on hate was clear, said several of the women. Over 100 days into the yatra, they said they would do it again under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership if given the chance and added that his slogan of “Daro Mat (fear not)” keeps them going, mile after mile.

Shingnaisui, popularly called Kim by her Congress colleagues, said her eldest son encouraged her and said she must go.

“They encouraged me to undertake the yatra. I was apprehensive about leaving them for five months but my children and husband gave me the strength,” the 48-year-old told PTI.

Kim has been an inspiration for the yatris for the indomitable courage she showed after her ligament near the right ankle was torn when someone pushed her while walking in the yatra in Kerala.

“I was pushed in the crowd from behind, fell and had the injury on my leg. My senior leaders Jairam Ramesh and Digvijaya Singh took me to the hospital, where the doctor wanted to put a cast but I refused,” she said.

After five days, Kim was back walking in the yatra and would alternate between walking and being in the ambulance that accompanies the yatra.

“My daughter was really worried when I had the injury and wanted me to come back. But my son and my husband told me that I should do this and complete the yatra,” she said. While her eldest son is doing his masters, the daughter is in college and the youngest, also a son, in school.

A staunch Congress person, she contested the Manipur assembly polls earlier this year from the Saikul constituency against her father who was the sitting MLA of the BJP. Both lost the polls to an independent candidate.

“For me, the Congress is the party of inclusivity and unity. At a time when the rulers are talking only about Hindus, Muslims and Christians, this yatra was imperative,” she said.

Pratibha Raghuwanshi, who has also been walking from Kanyakumari, said she was in a dilemma whether to come on the yatra or not as her father had a serious eye operation and was still recovering from it.

“I am unmarried and I stay with my parents while my brother works in another district and keeps visiting. I wanted to be there for my father as my mother is not that literate and there were eye drops to be given 12-13 times in a day,” the 40 year-old told PTI.

“I was discussing this with my friend when my mother heard and told my father. They insisted that I undertake the yatra. My father prepared a chart and listed the timings of various medicines and assured me that it would be managed,” Raghuwanshi, who is from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, said.

She said the hate and division being created in the country had convinced her there was need to spread love and unity.

“Misinformation is spread to target communities. When a home breaks down, first there is division in hearts and minds. That is what is being done in our country and must be stopped. That is why this yatra is essential,” she said.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh has lauded the women yatris, saying they had shown tremendous grit and determination.

"The women Bharat Yatris and women Seva Dal volunteers deserve special kudos and applause for their spirit of endurance and tenacity, covering 2,800 km in 100 days. They have done it, they still have cheer and they are looking forward to completing the Bharat Jodo Yatra and participating in future yatras of the Congress party," Ramesh told PTI.

The women said they are determined to walk all the way to Srinagar where they will hoist the tricolour.

The yatra, which was launched on September 7 in Kanyakumari, has traversed eight states -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and is now going through Haryana.

It is expected to finish by the end of January.