Kerala   

The picket line was everywhere for him

KOCHI: Time was flying for John, from the U.K., in God’s own Country. Till Tuesday morning. Then, everything was brought to a screeching halt.

He got initiated into an experience that has become part of everyday Malayali life — the hartal.

Since he had to fly to Thailand, via Colombo, from the Kochi airport on Tuesday evening, he set out from the hotel very early in the morning, considering possible hurdles put up by the strikers.

An autorickshaw took him to the south railway station, where he learnt that there would be no train to Aluva till the afternoon. He was forced to think of alternative ways, including seeking the assistance of the police to reach the airport.

“It causes great difficulty to travellers,” he said. However, he understood the absence of vehicles on the road and the risk involved in defying the strike call. “Back at home, we used to say ‘not to cross the picket line’ when there was some kind of strike,” he said.

With his heavy backpack, Mr. John walked out in search of a taxi. The chances were bleak as most of the taxis at the station were not operating.

Autorickshaw service was also restricted. “More than half of the pre-paid autorickshaws are not operating out of fear of attacks by the strikers,” Solomon, an autorickshaw driver said. There is an earning to be made but at a risk, he said.

While John was cursing the travails inflicted on him by the hartal, there were the likes of Nathalie and Yung Li, tourists from Sweden and Korea, respectively, who were delighted to take a walk along the deserted roads of the city. “You got to walk if you want to know a place and its people,” they said.

Mathai, now leading a retired life in Jabalpur, was furious at the indiscriminate and frequent hartals forced on the people by the political parties.

He took the first train out of Haripad, his home town, early morning and reached here way ahead of the scheduled time of departure of the Jabalpur-bound train at 12.45 p.m. He recalled that there had been a couple of hartals and a motor strike during the course of his short stay in his home district.

The response of Ashraf, an architect from Kannur, reflected the typical attitude of Malayalis to hartal. He was told about the hartal while he was on his way back home from Jaipur. “Not a surprise,” he said without a trace of change on his face.

Jithin and Jithesh were in search of that elusive bus to take them to their homes in Thodupuzha. Having reached here from Goa, they made a futile round of the city to find some kind of service to take them home. “Seems like we will have to stay at some relatives’ place here till the hartal ends,” a dejected Mr. Jithin said.

Arun, an engineering student from Kollam, got stranded at the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus stand on his return from Coimbatore in the morning.

Convinced about the futility of waiting for the services to resume, he rushed to the railway station in the hope of finding a train to get back home.

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