Keeping freedom fighters’ statues clean is his mission
KANPUR: Over the last 40 years, one man has been selflessly taking care of freedom fighters’ statues all over Kanpur.
Sarvesh Pandey, 63, known locally as Ninni Pandey, can be spotted near any of these statues in the city, cleaning them with complete devotion. He is usually clad in white kurta- pyjama, sometimes in shirt and trousers with a Gandhi cap on his bald head and a long hanging khadi bag on his shoulders.
He carries a duster and some detergent powder in his bag to clean the statues, which are never looked after by those who are responsible for their upkeep.
He admits he has no finances to carry out the dusting and cleaning job of over two dozen statues in different places of the city.
“This requires Rs 2500 to Rs 3000 per month. But I have no source of earning to meet the expenses. My son and some philanthropists help me each month for performing the job”, he says.
He gets up early in the morning and sets out on his solitary journey and starts cleaning the statues. First, he goes to the historical Nanarao Park, the centre of the freedom movement of 1857 and cleans the statues of Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmi Bai, Azizan Bai and Lala Lajpat Rai there.
Later, he moves to other places having statues of freedom fighters in the city.
Speaking about his mission, he says, “In my childhood and adult life, I was inspired by my father Prof Ranglal Pandey. He used to tell us the stories of the freedom fighters.” His life changed the moment he gazed at the statue of Chandra Shekhar Azad in Alfred Park in Allahabad in 1978.
“I was travelling to Allahabad, I found a torn magazine with Azad’s picture and part of an article,” he said. “I read his statue was still in Alfred Park. So on reaching Allahabad, I went straight to the park in place of temple I intended to visit,” he said. He took out his handkerchief and cleared the dust from the statue and the platform. That moment, he realized that statue cleaning would be his avocation. “I am still pursuing it,” he says.