Tonga makes comeback, reappears on Srinagar streets

Srinagar, Apr 7: In the middle of Srinagar’s fast-moving traffic and modern bustle, a slow, rhythmic clip-clop has begun to turn heads again.
A traditional tonga, once a common sight across Kashmir, has returned to the streets, thanks to a 70-year-old man, Ghulam Rasool Kumar, determined to keep a piece of the past alive.
Ghulam Rasool, a resident of Srinagar, has reintroduced the horse-drawn cart, offering locals a rare glimpse into a bygone era when tongas were an integral part of daily life in the Valley.
For decades, these carts ferried passengers through markets, neighbourhoods and riverbanks, long before motor vehicles came to dominate the roads.
With time, they gradually disappeared, replaced by cars, auto rickshaws and buses, surviving only in memory and old photographs.
Kumar’s initiative is now bringing that memory back to life. Moving through the city at a slow pace, the tonga has become an instant attraction.
People across age groups pause to watch, often recalling a time when such rides were routine. Youngsters stop to take pictures or hop on for a short ride.
“I wanted to revive something that belongs to our culture,” Kumar says. “This is not just transport, it is part of who we were.”
Locals say the experience offers more than just a ride. It creates a moment of pause in an otherwise hurried day something increasingly rare in the city’s changing landscape.
Children wave as the cart passes, while commuters slow down to make way, some with smiles of recognition, others with curiosity.
It is pertinent to mention, that the revival comes at a time when Srinagar recently witnessed panic buying at petrol pumps and LPG outlets following rumours linked to global developments in West Asia, although authorities have maintained that supplies remain adequate. (KNO)