foodcanoes.
There was just enough light to see. It was surprisingly quiet considering the large amounts of people who were around. The local people were already praying and bathing along the banks, the plethora
of tourist were rowing in their canoes as we were quietly observing the locals.
As we rowed along I was surprised to see the men almost naked, some with their unmentionables barely covered. The women, though still in their saris, were also fairly exposed. I suppose even a conservative culture is sometimes forced to bend its rules for modesty when it's time to wash your sins away.
As we strolled down the river we could see the Brahmins praying while the sun rose shining on them. If you are on the river and you look to one side you see the bank full of people bathing and walls and walls
of temples and buildings built up high. If you look towards the bank on the other side you only see empty land. Just green grass and trees.
This is because the buildings are made to face the rising sun in the east, so everything happens on the west bank facing the sunrise. There's absolutely nothing on the east bank since it would be facing the wrong direction. It's really pretty cool when you notice that. I had been so focused on watching the bathing rituals that I didn't even think to look behind me. When I did, the stark contrast of the overcrowded west bank and the empty east bank really surprised me. I guess I didn't think so much unpopulated land could be found in India with its one billion or so population. Maybe they use it for farming or something, but either way it really caught me off guard to see it.
After learning so much about Hinduism I was seriously tempted to jump in the river as well. I have a deep respect for all religions (which has definitely been deepened during this trip) and now that I understand Hinduism and it's history it has definitely made an impact on me… but I didn't think I had enough faith in it to overcome whatever was lurking in that holy water!
I consoled myself with dunking my hand in to take a small portion of water to keep in a special $1 container sold to me by sellers (who followed us out into the water with their canoes full of mass produced "one of a kind personally hand made by them" Indian souvenirs.) And then I prayed to Durga and Jesus and anyone else I could think of to keep from dying because I touched the Ganges water after the doctor told me not too.
One of our tour guides took a special interest in talking to me later at one of the temples because my 1/16th Indian blood was emphasized when I walked in with my head wrapped in Indian cloths, holding my flower offerings, and the 3rd eye of wisdom between my eyebrows (the little red dot you see and never knew why they wear it). I didn't think I looked all that Indian really but he assured me my features were very north Indian (probably a really washed out north Indian but ok!). I told him my grand father always told me his grandmother was Indian and his grandfather Mayan, but he was disappointed that I couldn't give him a last name. I only know last names up to my grandfather's parents and even then we do live in a patriotically
society which only passes down the names of the males… (oooo don't get me started on a Tanya Storch lecture!) Anyway, I think most people have some Indian blood and African blood and European blood and everything else.
The rest of the day consisted of some temples and a stop and yet another silk factory. My friend bought a silk hand woven king size bed spread for $500. It's really beautiful. I opted for a blue silk scarf
to finish off the rupees I had and off we went. Two plane rides and a long bus ride later we were back on our ship.
