mother ganga

They say that in India you will never get what you want. And while I have found this trekker’s wisdom to be infallibly true, we finally got something we wanted - sort of. Train ticket confirmation!! That seems so simple, but to get on a 15 hour train ride to the holy city of Varanasi was such a relief. Even though kind people will invariably make space for you to sit, being a stowaway really sucks. Varanasi sits right on the bank of the Ganges river and has an ancient, rusty feel to it. We are staying in the Old City where the streets are incredibly narrow and cows have priority over cars and pedestrians alike. The river sides is divided up into over a dozen ghats where specific rituals take place. Lucky for us - we are staying near the ghat that specializes in cremation….

So right on the banks closest to our guesthouse, there are platforms set up where bodies are burned and the ashes then spread in the river. It’s quite normal to see people walking through the streets carrying bodies covered in bright cloths and flower garlands up on slabs of wood. We were sitting down by this part of the river and actually had ashes falling on us - our signal to peace OUT! About ten years ago, people’s dead bodies were just thrown in the river without being cremated - this practice has been outlawed due to ‘obvious’ sanitation implications. They say that you used to be able to see bodies just washing up shore.

What is most incredible to me about this river is that despite its outrageous pollution, the people of the city still bath in it and even drink the holy water. But the water is literally septic beyond imagination. The Ganges river contains about 1.5 billion particles of fecal matter per liter, whereas normal water contains about 500. And considering that the water coming through most people’s pipes comes directly from the river, you can imagine the rampant disease and prevalence of birth defects that exist here. But the fact is that their faith tells them the spirit of the river cleanses itself of all impurities, so statistics don’t really matter.




Along this these observations, I think it would be important to comment on hygene/sanitation practices here in India. I know it’s a topic that has lead to numerous stereotypes about the country - I should be clear that I don’t intend to confirm or dispute any of them. I can only share my observations. Last night I went to the bathroom on the train and found a hole that only lead to the speeding tracks running underground. In other words, the urine and feces of every person riding an Indian train lands out in the open on tracks across the country. I can’t even imagine how a practice that is considered so incredibly unhygienic around the world would be institutionalized by the Indian Railways. SOmeone told me the other day that during this time right before the monsoon, things are the dirtiest because people rely on the heavy rains to wash away all the garbage and dirt.



And wash it right into the Ganga river! We took a boat ride on the Ganga the other day and as soon as we took off, we just saw giant piles of cow poop floating everywhere. And in such close proximity to the bathers! It was really apparant how grossed out the tourists where. I was trying my best to not show it on my face, because I would hate to be so condescending in the face of their faith. We did learn on the boat ride that the only people who are not burned traditionally are holy men, pregnant women, children, people who have been killed by snake bites, and lepers. So those people are still thrown into the river and further south, peices of flesh surface. Again, it was REALLY hard to hide my gross out!