Anantnag, April 08: As the March sun shines over the oldest Tanga stand in Dangerpora locality of south Kashmir’s Anantnag, people in numbers are seen gathering around garlanded horse-carts and their grey-haired drivers.
Amidst the swift-developing technologies and the introduction of electric vehicles, the determination of these classical drivers to continue this old-age tradition appears to be a blind alley.
Inherited from his family, 80-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Bhat has been ferrying people on his cart for over four decades, and that hasn’t made him frail at all, he asserts.
Notwithstanding the ups and downs he has faced during this long journey, Bhat is reluctant to give up hope and is willing to continue with this by-gone tradition “at all costs.”
For Bhat, a resident of Seer Hamdan in Anantnag, his Tanga is his most cherished asset, and as the day ends, his enthusiasm doesn’t. The next morning he returns to work, much hopeful that the day will bring decent earnings as usual, he says.
Like Bhat, 70-year-old Gulzar Ahmad Wagay has never considered the earnings less than enough for him and his household. Wagay, who has been in this profession for over three decades and feeding his family of sixteen, told Greater Kashmir.
“All thanks to the Almighty who never disappoints and sends provisions. I have nothing more to ask for in my life,” Wagay tells Greater Kashmir.
From ferrying Bollywood actors and top government officials, these drivers have witnessed the golden period of their profession, even as they strive to keep it alive today.
Before cars took over in the early nineties, Tangas were the most dominant form of transportation in both urban and rural areas of Kashmir.
While they are rarely seen in the city now, Tangas are still used for transporting commuters in north Kashmir’s Sopore and south Kashmir’s Anantnag districts.
However, the people associated with it are those who have been involved in this profession for decades, while it has no new takers, making the tradition fade away into oblivion.
But there are passengers like Imitiyaz who are loyal to this mode of transportation and believe travelling in Tanga makes one inhale fresh air and “witness life unhindered while moving through places in a different style.”
“It’s a precious part of our culture, and I take pride in riding it to help keep it going,” Imtiyaz says.
“Whatever is left of this tradition is because of our own efforts and unwavering spirit to cling on to this endangered tradition,” says Gulzar Ahmad Wagay.
“Like e-vehicles, Tangas are also pollution-free and are in no way harmful to the environment while they are cheaper too,” Wagay says.