They walk with a purposeful gait, yet their shoddy appearance makes it evident that they have nothing in this world to hold on to, except the discarded things they always carry with them. A dozen males, who seem to be strangely obsessed with treading long stretches of National Highway 44 and some other important roads in Adilabad district, thrive on the refuse found near restaurants and dhabas.
The men in question are a nameless lot, perhaps belonging to places other than Adilabad, and do not speak when questions are posed to them. Their social behaviour indicates that some of them may be mentally challenged. If at all one of them chooses to speak, it sound like gibberish.
It is as if these persons have marked their territory on a 15 to 20 kilometre stretch on the NH 44 and other roads. These men can be found walking by the roads through the day and sleeping by the side at nightfall.
When on the move, some of them collect all the discarded things they can lay their hands on. A typical individual can be seen carrying pieces of discarded linen, empty plastic bottles, a useless umbrella frame, discarded cans, and even flags.
Take the instance of a person with matted locks who moves between Adilabad town and Seetagondi. He wraps himself in a torn blanket even during summer, indicating the state of his mental health. There are others who are on the move between Gudihatnoor and Neredigonda, Neredigonda and Nirmal, and the Nirmal-Basar stretch. They cannot be mistaken for those on a padayatra, as their appearance is a giveaway. One person, who carries about 25 kg of weight in the form of discarded objects, can be seen moving up and down on the Indhanpalli-Utnoor road. He speaks what sounds like Tamil, but is hardly decipherable.
In almost every town in the district, there are at least a couple of mentally-challenged persons who badly need to be taken care of. In Adilabad town, one such person can be found near Ambedkar chowk, and another seated on the culvert near Hindi High School in Tirpalli on the old NH 7.
Not just men
Then there are the women, four of them in the district head quarter town, who, being alcoholics, create nuisance and are found near a bar on Cinema road. Close to this bar is another woman who has made a hut on the median of this busy road in town.
A typical individual can be seen carrying pieces of discarded linen and plastic bottles
