Rishikesh & Haridwar, India
Anna's entry:(Rob's photos)
RISHIKESH
After a couple of nights stop-over in Dehra Dun - the gritty, polluted and over-priced town - we were eager to get out and reach the supposedly peaceful Rishikesh located on the fast flowing Ganges, in the Uttaranchal district. Rishikesh was made famous by the Beattles on 1960's when they arrived here in search of the "inner selves" via meditation and yoga, and a few other methods which are familiar to some... Since then, Rishikesh was turned into the Ashram-of-the-universe-central where thousands of yoga and mediation fan(atic)s have been so eager to get to. I hope I am not going to offend anyone, but let's face it - the popularity of the town is just another gathering of the Western "flakes". Though, I could be gentle on the description of Western tourists here and say that Rishikesh is the destination for spiritual seekers, or may be those lost souls searching for the enlightenment, or those needing to feel special by association, or simply those who came here for one reason only - the gashish. The latter seems to be enjoyed by the locals, or so called sadhus - the spiritual seekers - insisting that it was helping them to reach the nirvana state... You are getting my point I think... Neither of the things described above are of any interests to us, however, the high accumulation of the "flakes" and "lost souls" normally make an interesting sociological stop-over. Besides, the town was located in the picturesque part of the country and it was very reasonably priced. We stayed in one of the numerous Ashrams for a few dollars a night (freezing at night as the windows had only bars and no glass), found some acceptable Indian food (one place had not get completely ruined by the Western palette), did some walks (had to insistently decline the offer to try a magic grass), and of course, observed the religious fanaticism practised on the Ganges nearly every night under the gorgeous sunset, with mischievous monkeys crawling all over. I must absolutely add here - that I have a high regard for the fascinating Indian religious tradition, but only when it is practised by the locals. When it comes to Westerners pretending to be "climbing the path to Nirvana", it is nothing but a flake-central for me.
The town is filled with stray cows who seem to be surviving by consuming anything chewable, including posters on the city walls, broken cardboard boxes, torn down newspapers, and occasional treat of banana peals - which Rob and I would collect and hand-feed the gentle cows. By spending almost a week here, we acquired a few cow acquaintances who would follow us along the bank of the Ganges...
We also witnessed a very sad situation with a young puppy chained up at the entrance to the Ashram. It was abandoned for hours, left on a chain during the day under the hot sun and no water, and deprived of any affection or care. Then one night, we heard the puppy crying its lungs out, and when I ran towards it I saw one of the Ashram workers beating it with a stick. I unloaded on the worker reminding him that abuse was not part of his religion's teachings, and tried to explain that kindness was likely the way to approach that young dog. The worker told me that his way of teaching the discipline was superior, and Rob's and mine attempts of sharing other techniques without involving physical abuse were taken with a great share of skepticism. It was absolutely hard breaking... Over the course of days, we had to run to the puppy's rescue on numerous occasions, but only a minor victory was achieved - a longer rope (instead of very short chain) so a puppy could at least get up and walk around a bit, and a piece of cloth bag for the dog to lay down on (instead of the cold rocks). The beatings still continued when the workers thought we were not around... And, you know what else was disgusting? During one of the "abuse sessions", a Westerner - one of many - was practising yoga with a large smile on her face right in front of the getting beaten and screaming puppy. She thought nothing about it. She was too busy searching for her fu..in' nirvana; apparently kindness was not a part of the meditation curriculum, or at least she forgot to sign up for it. Needless to say, the next morning was the last one for us. Leaving the Ashram, we made our final plea to the Ashram senior worker to consider the teaching of kindness vs physical superiority - after all, the nirvana may be buried within each of us, we just had to dig deeper even though it may not be offered as a popular class in the Yoga city...
HARIDWAR
Haridwar seemed more genuine and refreshing after Rishikesh. Though also over-crowded by pilgrims, we did not see a single Westerner among them. Indian pilgrims flock to the banks of the Ganges to enter its sacred waters and ask for the wish to be fulfilled. For many believers, it is a trip of a life time, cherished over the years, for many elders it would likely be the last trip... Old men and women, mothers and children would enter the icy cold, fast-flowing water of the Ganges, holding on to the ropes and chains attached to the ghats in parts of the city. Many would arrive with containers to take the sacred water back home, and likely to share it with other relatives. I wonder how many days it took them to arrive here from all corners of India. Judging by various styles and colours of women's saris I could see at least a dozen different provinces. I remember seeing from our long distance train journeys numerous platforms covered with hundreds, maybe thousands of people sleeping on the floor awaiting for their train... I wonder if any of the pilgrims I am watching now were among them...
During one of the evening aarthi's (religious worship ceremony) while sitting on the steps of the Ganges, a friendly Indian family exchanged a few words with us. A few minutes later the father of the family came with several flowers baskets consisting of colorful fragrant jasmine and lotus petals on top of the hand-woven straw plate with a coconut candle in the center. The belief is that once a person lights the candle and puts the basket into the Ganges, the wish is asked to be accepted and come true. The man kindly presented us with one of the baskets, and told us softly it was a gift for us. I've lit the candle and set the flowers afloat. I told the man that my wish was the health for him and his family - they seemed to be very touched by that and thanked me shyly with large smiles on their faces...
We also observed a few humorous episodes that locals seemed to be oblivious to. One family, seemingly having travelled from a far, purchased the services of the "wish granter". I know it sounds unusual, so I'll try to explain. People believe just about everything, including the propositions from hawkers walking along the banks of the Ganges offering their services to fulfill the wish. Some negotiate the price of service before the actual procedure, some end up squabbling about the quote after all has been done. The procedure included a pilgrim family, in this case a man and woman, who presumably were asking for a gift of a child. Obviously, I am not fluent in their local dialect, but this is what we gathered by watching the process. The "grant wisher" (who by the way was dressed in Western clothes), sat them on the ground, made them to repeat the prayers, then held the whole coconut above their heads repetitively mumbling something, and then sent the guy to enter the waters of the Ganges for completion of the wish (first purchase accomplished). Then, a flower seller came forward and insisted the guy would buy the floating basket to apparently strengthen the power of the wish (second purchase). Then, while the pilgrim man was standing in the icy cold water trying to splash his shaved head, yet the third seller showed up and started bugging the man to buy some milk - apparently the third (price) ingredient of the wish. Poor pilgrim tried to brush the seller off, but the latter (like a mosquito) was so persistent, the pilgrim could not get rid of him, and eventually started shouting to leave him alone. It was quite entertaining to watch - even the pilgrimage ritual has a price tag attached, and you'd better be ready for it...
After Haridwar, we have a long train ride towards Rajasthan, our second time there. First stop is the Ranthambore National Park known for rare sightings of tigers. The train is scheduled to arrive around 5:30 a.m., so not much sleep is anticipated...
posted by Rob and Anna @ 4:25 PM
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