On the River

I've now spent a little over two hours on the Ganges, and have even dipped my finger in it, albeit inadvertently. the first hour was yesterday at sunset, when they hold the daily aarthi. I'll confess that I'm not entirely certain of the meaning of the ceremony, but it is a Hindu ceremony involving, among other things, fire, water, incense, singing, chanting, drumming, priests... those are the important things, I suppose.

Today's hour was in the morning, just after the chanting from the ghats woke me up at 5:30am. this is not to be confused with 2am, 3am, or 4:30am, when i was awakened by the barking dogs and screeching monkeys outside my window. At any rate, the river is a very pleasant place to be at 6am, if you really must be anyplace but in bed. The smog (locals claim it's actually fog, but I don't believe them) clouds the water in an ethereal haze, and with the opposite bank several hundred yards distant to begin with, there is no chance of seeing it. Of course, even if you could see it, there would be nothing there. Varanasi is built high on the western bank, on top of what amounts to a levee, and the eastern bank is a wide, flat flood plain. The monsoon is months away, so it's dry now, but i can only imagine how huge the river must seem when it's really full. But back to this morning - there's nothing to see on the opposite bank, and the combination of fog and faint light means that even on the near bank, you can only see a few hundred yards in either direction, even though the ghats stretch for what must be a mile or two. add the quiet of a city that hasn't really woken up yet and the stillness of the smoothest water you'll ever see, and it's a peaceful experience matched only by the chaos of the rest of the city.

Shortly after sunrise the people appear. Some are bathing, cleansing their sins in the most holy water of Hinduism. For the rest of us, and apparantly for many Hindus, the water has become too filthy, even if it does come from the gods. If you're really curious what's in it, I'm sure a quick websearch would suffice - but honestly, you probably don't want to know. One friend who is here in our group was in Varanasi 30 years ago, and reports that the age of the bathers has increased significantly, while their number has decreased. Perhaps the ancient tradition is dying along with the rest of the life that the Ganges used to support.

The bank is also where many laundry-wallahs ply their trade, rinsing clothes in the river and beating the dirt out of them on the bank. And of course the ever-present punters offering to take anyone with fair skin out on a boat, and the kids selling postcards, most no more than seven or eight years old. A few cows, a few more goats, and lots of dogs. it's an intense place, and fascinating in a way I haven't experienced before, but in the end, I'm glad I'm only here for three days.