The ghats 

              This journey to Varanasi began in Srishti itself. I read articles, watched a documentary as a class, and discussed the richness of the culture as an outsider. This visit had to be a different one, where the expectations hovering at the back of my head were to be blocked! But what was I looking for? Did I even want to visit this place? What will be the first aspect that would strike me? Will this place change me as a person with a belief in faith? The anxiety to reach the holy land was at its brim. The long wait to explore this place was finally over on 2^nd November.

               This course started off with visiting the heart of Varanasi, ‘the Ghats’ like a tourist. Starting from Assi ghat the entire class walked throughout the ghats till Manikarnika ghat! A few walked ahead restless to know the character of the next ghat and the rest held back captivated by the activities alien to them. The ghats had various dimensions to imbibe from. We were already amazed with the dependency towards Ganga. However, the one ghat that struck each one of us was Harish Chandra ghat where the cremation took place. Of course we were curbed with the number of bodies being burnt around. The atmosphere around was an unusual one. One would expect the family members to be around that zone we saw a foreigner couple were seated to observe the process. I did overcome what I had seen but what moved me was the activity around these flaming pyres. There were kids flying kites, a few men playing cards, some spectators seated on the stairs. Not to forget the men who were seated with their lot of wood and a weighing machine and selling wood for the pyre. Why did I see no grief in this area? The answer I could find was probably that they were conditioned to this; they grew up along with this. As much as an outsider would be surprised with 24 hours cremation, it was their job to perform it to earn a living. I proceeded ahead capturing this ambiance that I had experienced.

             What did the ghat ahead have for me? Now knowing that I would see some kind of ritual being performed, probably I was looking for more old “sadhu’s” or Pandits doing the ‘aarti’. To my surprise the expectations were added onto, there was a young boy whose hair was shaven off in a platform. A crowd ahead caught my attention,I was looking over shoulders to get a glance at what looked interesting to them. A foreigner was getting himself a body massage from the locals. The crowd around this place was not of the outsiders but of locals enjoying this sight. When I was present at that moment I walked away disinterested but now when I compare the coexistence of this activity within the holy environment at this ghat, it just amazes me. The walk along the ghats itself displayed the faith in Ganga. I could see old, young men and women come with their children to have a bath at the ghats. A few come with a belief that their entire day will be a safe and a happy one as they had washed their sins in the morning and a lot of them come for  the availability of water. The locals resided on the ghats, they grew up in this crowded environment where tourists come in and out like swarms of bees. Every Hindu festival is celebrated first at the ghats and then at their homes. They have faced obstacles of the Hindu-Muslim riots or the times when the Ganga flooded. The boatmen earn by taking people on a boat ride along the ghats. Ladies earn their living by selling beads and flowers and other ornaments. Lastly the entire life cycle completes when the dead are cremated at the ghats.

Today the youth questions the polluted and contaminated Ganga. What I saw in my visit to Varanasi was a concern for the changing character of the Ganga but this concern was over powered by the belief they had that “Ganga ji has its own beauty to cure herself”.