The tongas of Delhi.

The horse-tonga which was once the sowari of the sophisticated is not even a poor man's vehicle today. In the pre-partition Punjab to possess your own tonga was a status symbol.

The city of Delhi which boasted of the best tongas is exemplary in this regard. The plight of the tongawallah in this city has to be seen to be believed. Their horses are famished and diseased. The upholstery is in tatters. The tonga itself is dilapidated.

Before buses arrived on the scene, it was the tonga which ruled the roost, along with the palki and the tram. My first tonga memory dates back to the days I spent in Sambrial from where I used to go to Sialkot. I preferred the tonga …