Gujarat: Bhajiya pe charcha in times of lockdown

By- Dilip Jiruka
RAJKOT: Drive through interior roads in Amreli district and suddenly aroma of bhajiyas wafts through the air. There are no eateries or roadside stalls anywhere, but fragrance of piping hot pakodas emanates from nearby fields where youngsters are having ‘pakode pe charcha.’
With police strictly enforcing lockdown and booking people roaming on roads, many people, mostly those who have returned to their native villages from Surat, are finding fields safe havens for gossip over hot snacks.They carry all the ingredients like oil, besan (gram flour), vegetables and stove inside the remote fields and enjoy such parties. However, the aroma sometimes reaches the cops too.
Amreli police have carried out raids on such bhajiya parties, the latest one on Wednesday night in Kachardi village near Damnagar in Lathi taluka. Five people were arrested and booked for violating the public notification.
They were caught not by the smell of bhajiyas, but photographs of the party posted by one of them on Facebook. Amreli SP Nirlipt Rai has formed a special WhatsApp group requesting people to share information about those violating the lockdown. Someone posted this picture and Damnagar police traced them to Kachardi village.
Those arrested were Rohit Rokad, Bhaktinandan Vasani, Tushar Rathod, Palak Vasani and Rohit Vasani. Barring, Bhaktinandan, who is a local, all others have returned from Surat. Rathod and Palak were employed as diamond polishers , but returned as the unit closed down. Last week police had raided a similar party inside a farm in Jira village near Savarkundla and arrested seven persons. These persons were also natives of Amreli, but settled in Surat.
Talking to TOI, SP Nirlipt Rai said, “We raided at least four such bhajiya parties, after the lockdown. We have popularized a WhatsApp number for people to inform us about violations by uploading pictures. We have registered more than 100 offences so far using people’s help.”
According to the locals, these parties are an everyday affair in what is called as ‘kharapat’ area that includes talukas of Liliya, Lathi and half of Savarkundla. The only two crops sown here are gram and wheat. “Both the crops are harvested now. As a result, the youths there have no work left and the fields too are empty. They can’t move out of the houses due to lockdown and therefore gather in the fields,” said Chiraj Acharya, social worker, in Savarkundla.
Along with bhajiyas, they also cook regular food, one of the regulars being curry of brinjal calyx with rotlas.
On the other hand, other areas of the district, mangoes, groundnut, cumin, cotton and bajra (pearl millet) are yet to be harvested. “So the people there, including those who have come from Surat, are busy in the farms there and have no time to organize such get togethers,” said Kamal Nasit, a farmer from Abhrampara, which is close to Mitiyala sanctuary.