14 hours agoWriters: Ashish Urmalia
Kothar village is situated on the mountains, 50 km from Panchur, the village of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. His sister Shashi lives in this village. There is a Parvati temple on the mountain, two and a half kilometers from Kothar. Yogi’s sister has a tea-snacks, prasad and shikanji shop near the temple.
At that shop we talked to Yogi’s brother-in-law for 2 hours in the evening and next morning we talked to sister Shashi for 3 hours. Why did I have to go to the shop twice? And what did we have with him? They are telling in turn…
Yogi’s brother-in-law was washing cups and plates, tea was being prepared for 3 customers
On reaching the shop, it was seen that a person is sitting down and washing the cup-plate. There are also three customers sitting in the shop. Tea is boiling for them. When the person turned back after washing the dishes, he was recognized. Yogi Adityanath’s brother-in-law was Puran Singh Payal. Greeted them and asked Shashi didi is not visible?
Yogi’s brother-in-law Puran Singh Payal making tea for the customers.
Cow and buffalo have to be fed after cutting the fodder, so they go home early.
Yogi’s brother-in-law said, “When there is not much work in the shop, she goes home by 4-5 in the evening. They have to go to harvest the fodder for the cow and buffalo to eat. There are other household chores. Only when there is a lot of work in the shop, she stays till late at night. Will come at 9 in the morning to talk to him.”
Stayed there for 2 hours. Yogi’s brother-in-law told many things related to Yogi. Talked to him both on camera and off camera. Before we will tell these things further, let us come to Yogi’s sister Shashi.
Farming was not able to run the house, so started tea-snack shop in the hut
At 8 in the morning, climbed the mountain for two and a half kilometers and reached Shashi’s shop. The same mountain that Shashi climbs everyday. She was sitting at Prasad’s shop. In the above video you can see his tea-prasad shop and a sister’s unbroken brother Prem Sakshat.
Shashi’s modified shop’s photo.
Asked Shashi, since when have you been running the tea shop and why? He said, “We do not have much farming in the mountains. The animals eat whatever you grow a little bit. Due to cow and buffalo, he was not able to run at home. That’s why we started a tea-snacks and prasad shop by making a small hut here in 2010. When people come to visit Mata Parvati, our shop also goes away. When the corona lockdown was imposed, we ourselves put tin in it. Now the shop is fine. Water doesn’t come in in the rain.”
She smiled and said, “After the shop was repaired, we had put Maharajji’s photo here. A similar photo has also been put at home.
Shashi has put a picture of his brother in his shop.
Yogi should not be so emotional, how will we eat without working
We asked Shashi, “Yogi had tears in his eyes after seeing your picture in a TV interview. Words were not coming out of his mouth. You saw?” She said, “Yes, I saw it. Maharaj ji should not be so emotional, this is our daily work. We are happy, they should understand this. Such is the life of a small village. How would one eat without working? Tears welled up in my sister’s eyes after saying this.
“Yogi picked up the doli, he performed all the rituals in my marriage rounds”
Shashi said in a hushed voice, “Before marriage, spent a long time with Maharajji. All of us brothers and sisters used to laugh and play together. Yogi was of a different nature from the beginning. Smiling, he used to explain to everyone that walk on the right path.
Shashi referring to his marriage.
“I got married on March 5, 1991. Yogi performed all the rituals in my marriage. At the time of the rounds, they were pouring games and talks. He also picked up my doli. After marriage my in-laws also used to come. When he used to study in Rishikesh, he used to come to my village on foot from Delhi. He was very fond of my little daughter. Used to come to see him. At that time this road was not built.
Here Shashi could not hold back her tears
His eyes were full of tears in the whole conversation, but now those tears were not ready to stop in his eyes. When it came to Rakhi, Shashi said, “I send it every year, I don’t know when I will be able to tie it with my hands. I remember every moment spent with him. After saying this, Shashi got up and left and stood in a corner of the shop and started crying.
Shashi cried hearing Rakhi and old memories.
“Mummy is old, will have to come to meet her”
Shashi cried and said, “Mummy is old. She has turned 84 years old. His memory has also become weak after his father’s departure. Maharaj ji could not even attend the last rites of his father. Now he must come to see his mother. Once I would meet my mother, she would have filled my heart that my son has come here. Like all of us, mother also calls him Maharaj Ji. If we come to meet mom, we will also meet her.”
On the question of what do you want from Yogi, Shashi ji said, “We do not want anything from him, just meet the mother once.”
“Yogi used to have serious talks with his father”
Before retiring, Maharaj ji used to say to his father – Father, what have you done in such a long life apart from raising children. Father used to say, son, I took care of my children in the salary of 80-85 rupees, this is enough. Son, you will see how many people you can serve. The great thing is that the father went away after seeing with his own eyes that the boy is my success.
Shashi talking openly on the development of Uttarakhand.
“The development of Uttarakhand has come to a halt. Yogi ji should be the CM here.
After lightening his mind, Shashi ji said, “Once Yogi had become the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, some change would have come here too.”
“Our Yamkeshwar block is a very backward block. I walk two-and-a-half kilometers from the village to the shop. Potholes and dust in the road are dust. In the rainy season, the pits get bigger and get filled with water. If someone falls ill at night, he cannot go because of the road. Travelers with Uttarakhand come to Neelkanth temple. There is no parking facility. There is no ATM facility.
It takes a lot of money to contest elections, we will not fight
When Shashi talked about the development of the area, we jokingly asked why don’t you contest elections? She said, “It costs a lot of money for that. We can’t even think. However, my husband has been the village head twice from 2003 to 2013.” Neighbors also told, “When Puran Singh was the head, he got good works done.”
Yogi’s sister is telling about her real situation.
we have never had a problem with food
“I used to do farming when I was in my maternal home. Rice, wheat, potatoes and onions were home grown. The rest of the expenses were met by the father’s salary. Father fulfilled every wish of every child. Then the in-laws came. Though some days were hard, we were never poor. We had something to eat and wear.”
Also read parts of Yogi’s conversation with brother-in-law
Yogi spoke after winning the election, met for the last time in 2019
Yogi’s brother-in-law Puran Singh Payal said, before becoming the Chief Minister in the year 2017, when Yogi had come here to campaign for Ritu Khanduri. At the same time, he had also gone to his village Panchur, then had an open meeting with him.
Yogi’s brother-in-law Puran Singh referring to the talks of meeting him.
When we came to Rishikesh in 2019, we went to meet him. Was able to meet for 10 minutes. Haven’t met since. He talks to Shashi during festivals. The last conversation was just two days after winning the re-election. The talk happens through PA.
“Shashi cries, seeing it brings tears to our eyes”
“When Yogi had become fully intelligent, he had taken the decision of sannyas. When two elder sisters used to go to school, most of their time was spent with Shashi. After the marriage of his sister, he used to come and live here continuously. That’s why he gets emotional after hearing Shashi’s name and Shashi also starts crying after remembering him. Seeing Shashi brings tears to our eyes too.
Puran Singh became emotional while mentioning Shashi’s crying.
“One son runs a guesthouse, another is a lab in AIIMS and daughter is a researcher”
Talking about the kids, Shashi and her husband said, “My elder son Abhishek runs a nine-room guest house in Neelkanth. Younger son Arvind works in the lab at AIIMS. Daughter Monika is a researcher in Patanjali, Haridwar. She has to get married now.”
“Those yogas are in life, we don’t want to hurt them by putting them in emotions”
“Yogi ji has adopted sannyas. The responsibility of the entire state rests on his shoulders. If we put them in emotions, they will suffer, so we want to stay away from them ourselves. Just keep blessing on the phone sometimes. It’s a big deal for us. His leadership ability is good from the beginning. I am 8 years older than him, used to interrupt me when I was wrong. The last thing I will say is, come to meet my mother one last time.
Vikas Singh has assisted in the content and video of this story. He is doing internship with Dainik Bhaskar.