Varanasi - Day 6

Entirely drained from the excursions of the last evening, most of us slept in this morning. It was past 9;30 am when a few faces began to appear downstairs for breakfast. The lazy morning was long overdue, as exhaustion was settling upon us all. After a group meeting where we planned the rest of the day, we continued to procrastinate, taking in the beauty of the guesthouse. Of course the delay wasn't without reason, since the day happened to coincide with the Prime Ministers visit to the city. When 4 of us finally stepped out after a large meal complete with Gulab Jamun, we took an auto to cover the even widening distance from the guesthouse to Lanka Gate only to realise the ghat had been blocked. The convoy was passing the gate a few minutes later and so all traffic had been barred. As we caught another auto to go across the campus to its other gate, we found the streets on that end deserted and realised that Lanka Gate had been opened while we had impatiently moved on. So we returned to our initial location, an hour later. The delay forced us to change our plans, as we had wanted to visit the heart of the city, and had to be back in 3 hours.

And so, we ended up back on the ghats, where we were beginning to feel as though we belonged. I decided to make some use of the time to sketch the view of the ghats, and positioned myself at the entrance to Janaki ghat and stood sketching, while the others moved ahead to take photographs of the serenely beautiful view. A Spanish couple walking by saw me sketching and seemed impressed by the sight, so they requested just as I agreed, to photograph me. After the shot was clicked, they naturally moved closer to actually see what they had imagined to be a masterpiece. So, I felt incredibly apologetic at having to show them my very rough first attempt at live sketching. However, they smiled politely and we had an insightful 5 minute conversation before they left.

Attempts at Sketching (Paromita Bathija, 2014)

We spent the latter part of the evening in earnest discussion with some aging boatmen, who had been assigned to picking up garbade floating on the river. They went into depths of their lives and their river; swearing to their belief in its holiness while in the same breath, explaining the magnitude of its pollution. But it was evident from the hour long conversation, that they had profound pride in the river, inspite of its decline. They proudly claimed that they drank only water from the river, and as if to prove that statement, all 4 of them cupped their hands and gulped down water right from the river. 

The reverence with which they spoke of the Ganga was extraordinary to us, yet almost the entire population of Kashi speakes of the river as they would of their life. Because to them, the river is life. Their livelihood, their faith, the traditions and their dignity are all tied to this massive water body. And without it, their lives wouldn't be as they are today. So of course, when we approach them, or for that matter any outsider, and claim the Ganga is polluted, they feel the need to jump up and defend themselves. It's easy for any of us to go up to them and ask them to 'not pollute' the river. Yet to them, it's felony. How dare we, people who have probably spent a week or so around the river, tell them how to look after it? The river is everything to them. They, who have been living in Kashi for generations and traditions that have existed since what seems like the beginning of time. Of course they are offended when we make such claims. Of course they deem us as snobs and themselves as virtuous. The we will never be able to comprehend their love for Maa Ganga. All we can do, is stand aside and respect the devotion with which they approach it. And look beyond its mistreatment to the place it holds in the heart of its people.