Located under a flyover on the grungy side of northeast Delhi, Seelampur Chowk bobs with action all day long. Impatient e-rickshaws, autos and motorbikes, arrogant SUVs, JCB machines and DTC buses, spindly cows, push-carts and pedestrians, a tangled and rowdy traffic, saw through the area amidst an anarchic blaring of horns.For about three decades or so, generally from 9 am to 9 pm, Ganga Ram has corralled and controlled this chaos with a whistle on his lips and a baton in hand.“On days when the evening traffic is heavy, I leave around 10 pm, even 10.30 pm,” he says, speaking through a mask to protect himself from the city’s sordid pollution.Short in height and slender in build, the traffic sentinel cuts a puny, frail figure in his fluorescent traffic warden uniform. But appearances can be deceptive.At the red lights, vehicles itch to break free, but Ganga Ram ensures they stay in line. He makes the place function, and for free. His favourite word is “sewa” (service).Shahid Ali, a 55-year-old blanket-seller, vouches for the traffic warden’s efforts. So does Kamil Khan, 26, who runs a small kiosk. “I have seen him in action since I was a child,” he says.Everyone admits that Ganga Ram, known as ‘chacha’ (uncle) in these parts, is conscientious and industrious, driven by a selfless spirit of human welfare. “People shed blood, take bullets for the country. This is the least I can do,” says Ganga Ram.The traffic sentinel’s hair has turned silver but his eyes remain sharp and attentive. His face and hands carry the colour of dusk and the unmistakable smell of toil. His clothes are loose-limbed, shoes worn out. “Earlier I would wear torn clothes. The cops would get them repaired,” Ganga Ram says.But for the aging HMT watch with a shattered screen on his left hand, he looks like a character out of a Premchand short story.Ganga Ram speaks slowly and haltingly. In older online videos, he is more articulate. Now as he inches towards 80, he talks in short single sentences, unable to recall dates or even the year of important events.The traffic sentinel says he was born at his mausi’s (maternal aunt) home in Farrukhabad in central Uttar Pradesh on August 15, 1947. Further details escape him.His father would book goods and parcels for the railways. Ganga Ram dropped out of school in Class 6, but had a natural flair for electronics. In a small shop in Seelampur, he would repair radios, transistors and later, TVs.“These items arrived in the market at intervals. I could repair even wireless sets,” he says, resting on a chair near the police cubicle after a morning’s work.The traffic sentinel doesn’t remember or explain what exactly spurred him to regulate the vehicles. What he recalls is that there was no flyover when he began.Older reports say that he would initially manage morning traffic as a volunteer and work at the shop thereafter. Roughly a decade and a half ago, Ganga Ram’s adult son was seriously injured when his motorbike was crushed by a truck.
Ganga Ram at work
“It happened there,” he says, pointing towards the spot. His son died some months later. Benumbed by the tragedy, his wife too passed away. The traffic warden cannot recall. The family was sustained by his daughter-in-law, who worked as a nurse.Everybody manages grief their own way. For Ganga Ram, traffic control became therapy. Managing the messy vehicles and their careless drivers in this bustling Trans-Yamuna colony diverted his thoughts from the tragedy, gave him a sense of purpose and became his mission.“I don’t like sitting idle or staying at home,” he says.His devotion earned him the respect of local traffic cops. In 2018, he was made a traffic sentinel by Delhi Police.“A DCP once gifted me a plastic cane. Cops respect me, get me food, and love me more than my family,” he says.The manager of traffic is well-known in Seelampur and nearby Maujpur, though he lives in Bhopura, about 10 km away, in Ghaziabad. Ganga Ram doesn’t own a mobile phone.But people stop to take selfies with him even as he urges them to wear a helmet. He has been written about extensively in newspapers. Online magazines, TV channels and social media influencers have posted short videos on him.“If you type my name and Seelampur, you can see my interviews and videos,” he says.His public-spirited work has drawn wide attention. One of the videos is in Tamil. “I was invited to be the chief guest for a cricket tournament,” he says.A video posted online shows him displaying a bunch of certificates of commendation and trophies, one from former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The trophies were thrown out of home, he reveals.For meals, Ganga Ram largely relies on the kindness of those who know and respect him. A restaurant in Maujpur offers him food at a decent discount.“We respect him. Everybody here respects him. But he doesn’t get the same respect at home,” says a cop posted at Seelampur Chowk.What the traffic warden needs is a steady monthly pension, a free state health card and regular monitoring by NGOs that work for senior citizens. Authorities can proactively intervene in this matter.Nobody deserves a helping hand more than Seelampur Chowk’s traffic sentinel Ganga Ram.
