Every year during the Hindu month of Shravan, lakhs of Shiva devotees carry holy water from Haridwar to Shiva temples in their hometowns in a ritual known as the kanwar yatra, but one group passing through Faridabad left onlookers visibly moved. Fifteen-year-old Sadhna is walking, kanwar on her shoulder, toward her village Kosikalan in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, accompanied by her father, younger sister and younger brother. The family's financial condition is extremely weak, yet instead of giving up, Sadhna chose to set out on this journey on foot from Haridwar, hoping only that her education is never interrupted.
The family set out from Haridwar on July 27
Sadhna studies in class 11 and began her kanwar yatra from Haridwar on July 27. Her younger sister and younger brother are also carrying kanwars alongside her, while her father has joined his children on the pilgrimage for the first time. For the family, undertaking such a pilgrimage is itself a rare event, since it demands the kind of time and travel that daily wage work rarely allows.
"My father is very poor, and I want Bhole Baba to end all our troubles so that I can continue my studies," Sadhna said. The family faced no trouble anywhere on the route from Haridwar to Faridabad, because devotees at various points served them and encouraged them to keep walking. This is Sadhna's first kanwar yatra, and it is the first time her father has undertaken one too.
Two parents with disabilities, a household run on tailoring
Sadhna originally belongs to Kosikalan village in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district. Both her mother and father are persons with disabilities. Her father earns a living through tailoring work, while her mother looks after the household. Sadhna is the eldest of four siblings, which is part of why the family's worries have landed on her shoulders too.
One of her sisters has stayed back home, while the other three siblings are walking this pilgrimage alongside their father. For a family that lives hand to mouth, staying away from home for so many days is not easy, but the daughter's resolve overrode every hesitation.
Father Bharat Singh, weighed down by debt and fee worries
Sadhna's father, Bharat Singh, says his tailoring income is not enough to pay his children's school fees on time. He took a loan to build the family's house, and he is now struggling to repay its instalments. Even routine household expenses have become difficult to manage, and that money worry sits alongside the physical toll of walking for days on end.
It was in this situation that his daughter decided, on her own, to place her faith in Bhole Baba and set out on the kanwar yatra.
I believe God will surely fulfil our wish.
A hope that her dreams will find a way forward
Bharat Singh says the family's financial position may be weak, but their faith in God has never wavered. His daughter wants to study and build a future for herself, and he says that is her biggest wish. The family is determined that Sadhna's education should not stop under any circumstance.
He hopes Bhole Baba will hear their prayer and open a path for his daughter's dreams to come true. For a family that refuses to give up despite poverty and debt, this faith and struggle has become an example for everyone who holds on to hope during hard times. Their story, built around a father's tailoring machine and a teenager's school books, is a reminder of how much a family's hope can carry.
