For 'Bhule Bhatke' Tiwari, the Kumbh is a place to rescue lost souls

Kumbh might be a 41-day festival for most, but for 76-year-old Raja Ram Tewari it’sbeen a 55-year-old affair, and is still going on. And it’s an affair that seems astraight lift from a Bombay masala film—involving people getting lost in a mela andthen being reunited again. As he begins to share his experiences, his eyes sparkle withexcitement. “I was only 20 when I first decided to help the ‘lost’ reunitewith their families.” Tiwari was quite a Pied Piper figure then: holding a hand-madetin loudspeaker, he’d move around in the mela area with the ‘lost’ peoplefollowing him. All he had to do was keep shouting that the ‘lost’ are with him.This way they’d get noticed and often be reunited with their families.

Tiwari was an 18-year-old lad when curiosity first led him to the Magh Mela, a hugecongregation on the banks of the Sangam at Allahabad. With no infrastructural facilities,the devotees didn’t have it easy those days. “My friends and I realised thatmany pilgrims were falling ill with no one to take care of them,” reminisces Tiwari.The group then convinced a local vaid to look after the ailing. “Also, many lostpeople were beginning to come to us for help, so I decided to take up the task in rightearnest,” he says. Since then, there’s been no looking back. Over the past fivedecades, Tiwari has become an indispensable personality in such fairs. Says the SP, Kumbh2001, Alok Sharma: “The man really knows how to comfort the people who reach histent, and he manages to get all the information required to help them unite with theirfamilies.” According to Tiwari, all this is not a simple task, especially with ruralwomen and small children. With immense pride, Tiwari starts relating some of hisexperiences.

During the recent Kumbh, some boy scouts helped a mute woman reach the ‘lost andfound’ tent. Asked for her husband’s name, the woman would repeatedly point tothe leaves of a nearby tree. Tiwari understood she was trying to say “Hari” (asin the colour green). Soon, the announcements began: “A mute woman around 35 yearswith three children, husband’s name Hari...” The announcements continued for aweek, but no one came to claim her. Finally, a relative arrived with a picture of thecouple and she left with him, weeping with joy. “It was a rather difficult tasktrying to get the details from her,” says Tiwari and adds, “but I have learntmost of the tricks of my trade by now.” According to Tiwari, the most difficult casesare infants. “My wife has been a great support, she always helps in taking care ofthese kids,” he says with obvious pride. And as he describes scenes of parents andchildren reuniting, his eyes turn moist. “Their happiness really touches me,” hesays. Yet not all children make it home, and Tiwari hands over such cases to the police,from where many are adopted by eager couples.

So far Tiwari has attended six Ardh Kumbhs, three Kumbhs and two Mahakumbhs besides theMagh Melas in Allahabad. According to official records, he’s helped more than fourlakh adults and 25,000 children reunite with their families. Interestingly, it’seasier to locate him by asking for ‘Bhule Bhatke’ Tiwari—the name he’sbetter known by both in Allahabad and his village. After a month at the Kumbh, Tiwari isnow back in his village, Nandu ka Purva in Pratapgarh. He’s a happy man, now that thegovernment has acknowledged his services and offered help as well. “This year themela administration is gifting me a new bicycle besides the usual kurta and dhoti,”says Tiwari excitedly. For, the man who helps reunite families lives a frugal life in amud hut with his fields to keep him busy—when he’s not playing the saviourduring the melas. His address: Gaura, Nandu ka Purva, District Pratapgarh or 614/1, OmGayatri Nagar, Salori, Allahabad; phone (0532) 646537.