Ghaziabad: It was supposed to be a routine 30-minute cab ride home from Mayur Vihar in east Delhi to Raj Nagar Extension in Ghaziabad. Instead, my wife, who was unwell, and I found ourselves walking close to 6 km as almost every road leading to our home was blocked. Why? We weren’t to know, at least not for the next 30 minutes.The ordeal began when we reached Hindon Elevated Road leading to Raj Nagar Extension. It was closed. There was no sign explaining why. The cops stationed there were not inclined to entertain our queries.GPS suggested a long detour via Mohan Nagar. But when we reached Mohan Nagar, we found that road blocked as well. A fresh re-route guided us towards Nandgram. Surely, there had to be at least one road open for people trying to reach their homes.The answer was a resounding no.At Nandgram, the main road was barricaded, guarded by stern-looking cops. It was only then that we discovered what was going on: chief minister Yogi Adityanath was visiting Raj Nagar Extension for a padyatra.A policeman told us curtly: “It was already in newspapers.” End of discussion.We were unable to process this: Imagine a padyatra covering barely 2 km had denied access to an entire residential area that houses lakhs of people.The worst was yet to come, though. Our cab driver decided he had had enough. After multiple reroutes, he lost patience and dropped us in the middle of the road.So, we started walking. Every now and then, we approached policemen, explained our situation and asked whether there was a shorter way to reach Raj Nagar Extension. Nobody could help, or wanted to.The answer to why the roads were closed was the same: “Upar se orders hain (orders from above).”We trudged on, our conversation sounding like a broken record: “Couldn’t they have left at least one road open? Was there really no way to let people reach their homes?”As we walked, I wondered what would have happened had I been travelling with an elderly parent. What if my wife had been too ill to walk? What if someone needed to get to a hospital urgently? Surely, the answer would be: “Upar se orders hain”?By the time we reached home, we were tired and frustrated. And very angry.Picture the irony. A chief minister was taking out a padyatra while we were forced to undertake one of our own.
