When they tore down the Babri Masjid on a December day in 1992, Ayodhya called it the five hours to Ram. Ten summers later, it’s countdown time again at the disputed site. But this time, the hunt for Ram’s temple is official and hush-hush. Nobody’s invited.Tall walls of cloth and plastic have come up all around the makeshift temple which rose from the debris of the Babri Masjid. On the other side, a small army’s at work. And it is this activity that’s inviting more looks, more people — for once, a glimpse of the child Ram is not all that matters.People who queue up have been peering through slits, even poking fingers to make the tears larger. The jostling’s gone, replaced by slow, small steps which allow you to stay in the darshan-area that much longer.Three friskings and you find yourself moving single file in the direction of the temple. The view to the left has been shut out but to your right, in the area where the shilanyas was performed in 1989, workers squat on the ground and sift through pieces the site’s been throwing up. Brushes dipped in black ink, the pieces are numbered and carefully placed in baskets. On a concrete platform, baskets with such packets lie by the dozen.Kirit Joshi, who’s come all the way from Mumbai, can’t check himself: ‘‘Have you found something? Don’t tell me these little bits are all that you have dug up.’’ The worker nearest to him snorts: ‘‘We are trying our best. What did you hope to find? A readymade temple? Whatever’s there, we will find it.’’ From their vantage positions a little above, CRPF men shout at you and cut short the conversation. ‘‘Keep moving, no talking here.’’But Kirit’s wife has made a discovery. Through a tear in the cloth-wall, she can spot trenches. ‘‘Look, they have dug up the place.’’ She starts counting but her husband pushes her aside for a dekko. This is the east face — the approach to the structure — mutilated by trenches running deep. Hats on heads suggest the presence of archaeologists but when you call out, they simply look at you and then look away. ‘‘Court orders. They won’t talk,’’ grumbles Kirit.We have reached the darshan-point. Child Ram’s quite some distance away, tucked in his little temple and surrounded by securitymen. ‘‘Don’t worry, they are at work. Whatever’s found will be shown to the court,’’ the priest tells you.You peer through curtain-partings. More trenches in the south-face, the fresh earth suggesting a dig underway. A worker’s clutching a little pile of identity cards, calling out names. ‘‘Satya Prakash, Satya Prakash,’’ he shouts. A man, covered in soil from head to toe, emerges and peers at the photograph. It’s not his. ‘‘Find my card. I want it right now.’’The identity-card’s all important. Minus it no worker can hope to enter the premises and make Rs 78 a day. Some 130 workers are at the digging site, their supervisors hoping to complete the excavation ahead of the monsoons. The court has granted an additional five weeks but there’s already talk of seeking more time.Nineteen trenches have been dug and as many more could be dug in the areas not yet touched. Rumours swirl in the dust being kicked up. ‘‘They’ve hit a stone floor. This could be it: the temple floor. Only the continuity needs to be established,’’ says a journalist. But he’s heard this from someone who’s heard it from someone supposedly at the site. A VHP worker says it’s ‘‘a matter of time till we find evidence’’ of a temple which preceded the mosque.Each party to the title dispute is allowed by the court to witness the excavation. The counsel and a nominee can also be present. So it comes as no surprise to run into warring tribes at the site.Every move is being recorded, every fragment lifted is videographed and pinpointed on graph paper. The ASI is expected to present a report before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad HC on April 28. But that will in no way impact the excavation underway. Looks as if this countdown to Ram’s going to take a while.
