 |
|
LESSONS FROM THE GANGA A 10 - feet high wave welcomed us when we stepped into our rafts at the Neeldhara temple in Haridwar from where we began our voyage.
The ashram where we spent the night at manamao has a special attraction for peace lovers. It is an annexure of the Shiv temple made by Maharaja Rameshwar. The sadhus here have taken an oath of silence so we visitors had to speak in hushed tones! All along the river bank on the way to Bitur there are remains of temples and ancient buildings, relics of our heritage in all its old glory. The river has claimed large parts of them because of ecological imbalance. The architecture of the Bitur mandir is unique. The priest showed us the bows and arrows of Lord Ram's sons Luv and Kush. The Valmiki Ashram, where Sita spent her exile is on the opposite bank. We got to see dolphins on the way. So far, we had not come across much pollution - until we reached Kanpur district. I must say that it was the most polluted place that we saw. We seemed to have whetted the curiosity of the villagers for in nearly all the places that we passed they received us warmly. In Dalmao, even a persistent rain could not keep people from meeting us. We knew that at the three rivers meet at Prayag Sangam and we did get to see the point of union of the Yamuna and Ganga quite distinctly. A flat in Raft No 2 set us back for some time until we could mend it at Sirsagram. At Bindhyachal we anchored our rafts and went to see the Bindhiya Devi temple. We saw the Kalikho temple where, so legend has it, the goddess killed the monster Raktbeeg and the Ashtabhuja Bindubasini temple which is a shrin of Lord Krishna's sister. The story goes that when she was born her maternal uncle, King of Mathura, Kans, tried to kill her by throwing her into a well but she flew away to this very place where she turned into a stone idol. Commandant Shyam Sunder Maheshwari, IPS, and his wife received us at Chunar Fort. There is a big well which is said to be built by King Vikramaditya in 56 BC. It is 150 feet deep and all the rooms underground had doors to reach the well. We saw a number of old stone sculptures which according to archaeologists are more than 5000 years old.
On the way to Ghazipur district we talked to a lot of villagers about their lives and especially about the pollution of the Ganga. We spent that night near a village called Birpur. Some hoodlums from the neighbourhood ruined our evening there with their uncivilized behaviour. After Pramodpur in Balia district, we found ourselves at Galibchak river bank. We were not far from Patna city. We passed by a village known as Gangatola where the residents mistook us for foreigners or smugglers! At Patna, Prof R K Singh and Gopal Sharma of the Environmental Biolab Department of Zoology showed us slides of dolphins. We learnt that the eyesight of Gangetic dolphins is failing because the water of the river is polluted. Our interest in dolphins was piqued during our journey from Kanpur to Barrackpur when we spotted a number of them. At Madurapur on the way to Begusarai, we came across an instance of a child marriage - the bride was nine-year-old and her groom was 16! We had seen a few more such cases in UP. We reasoned with the villagers by explaining to them the consequences of indulging in this practice not only for the boy and the girl but also on the population of the country. Munger is a very important place from the archeological and historical point of view. It is also well - developed geographically. There is a hot sulphur spring called Sitakund. Pilgrims from all over India come here to take a holy dip. Bhagalpur was next on our itinerary but we also stopped at Kalyan Tola en route. When we spoke to the villagers here, we learnt that every family had five children. There were some with as many as 16 kids! One Person - Amit Kumar - though, stood out sharply in contrast. He had only one son and seemed to be happy with his lot. We thought he deserved to be rewarded so we gave him a cash award and a badge which we thought would inspire the others. After spending the night at Bhagalpur, where we arrived late in the evening, we set off for Kantanagar. The tunnel in the ashram here leads to Munger. There is another passage which leads to the river. This underground pathway was made by King Chandragupta Maurya for his infantry. From Farakka barrage, the Ganga forks out to Bangladesh where it meets the Padma in Rajshahi and the other branch meets with the Bay of Bengal. Here the river is called Bhagirathi. 
One of our team members Sipra Dutta hails from Jiaganj so we were not surprised when we found crowd of youngsters waiting for us at the bank of this village. Our expedition had inspired them to write a poem in Bengali. We were touched when they dedicated it to us. There was so much to see at the Murshidabad Lalbag Ghat but in the little time that we had at our disposal we could scarcely do justice to all of it. I had read so much about Murshidabad so this place had a special attraction for me. A persistent shower, sometimes heavy, kept us company throughout most of this lap and we were almost always drenched. North - east of Hazarduari city there is the famous Katra Mosque which houses the tomb of Murshidkuli Khan. His armoury once contained a large cache of arms and ammunition, some of which he had imported from Dhaka in East Bengal. All that remains of it now is the Jahan Kesha, a canon weighing 212 maunds. The canon was fired with 18 kg of explosives. Across the river there is another palace called the Hirajheel. On 25th August 1829, 72 years after the Battle of Plassey, Nawab Humayun Shah Bahadur started building this palace and completed it within eight years. It has a grand staircase which is supposed to be the largest in any palace in India. Apart from having an armoury on the ground floor, this palace also has a library containing thousands of books of the Nijamat period. On our way down to Choragachi bank, a fierce storm broke out above us. As the rain and waves lashed at our rafts, we had to strain every sinew to keep our rafts from tipping us over into the swirling waters of the Ganga but we retained our balance by keeping to the left. When we finally reached the bank, the storm abated. Our overnight stay at the Mayapur Iskon temple's guest house refreshed us in body and spirit. We were enchanted by the morning hymns and prayers to Lord Krishna. Though there is an influx of tourists and pilgrims to this temple ghat, we felt rested after being here. In the evening we pitched our tents at an island. Each one of us savoured that moment for it was to be out last night on the river bank. Our hearts were heavy at the thought but, at the same time, we were happy that we had almost arrived at our destination.
The long and treacherous journey has shown us so many different facet of life. I am sure that every one of us has been emboldened by it and can face any challenge with grit and confidence. Having to row for 13 hours and 100km at a stretch for nearly 39 days and 2151 km, speaks volumes for the spirit with which all my team mates undertook this adventure. Every one of them should be no matter where they are for I believe that women who like adventure make much better citizen. |
The Turbulence kept us company for the next 100 km. We had to put all our strength into balancing our rafts by paddling furiously. The following day was fortunately smooth sailing and we had time to get accustomed to our new surroundings. Every spot by the river bank from Bijnor to Gadmukteshwar has a tale to tell. Hastinapur is about six miles from the bank but the Bidur's kutir is no more than a stone's throw away. Even today, hermits throng here for meditation. Gadmukteshwar too has earned a name for its cattle fair.
The Ganga changed course to the north of Chunar. The Jourgoo meets the river at this point there were a number of spots worth exploring on the bank of the kashi Lalita Ghat in Banaras. While some of us visited the temples, others sought more information on ancient Indian monuments like the Dasaswamedh Ghat, where King Devdas sacrificed ten horses, and the Harishchandra Ghat where Maharaja Harishchandra did penance. Perhaps the most ancient temple in Varanasi is Shri Kasi Viswanath temple which was destroyed many times by invaders and which Queen Ahilyabai of Indore restored in 1785. Later, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh of Punjab renovated it again with 22½ maunds of gold. The Tulsi Manas Mandir, dedicated to poet Tulsidas and his deity Lord Ram, is another attraction. The Ram Charit Manas is engraved on the walls.
Next noon we were at Chandan Nagar and, while having light refreshments here, we chatted with the people who had been waiting to meet us at the bank. Our next stop was at Dakshineshwar, the last one before Calcutta. That evening we prayed to Goddess Kali for giving us the strength, stamina and courage to complete the mission successfully. Finally we were in Calcutta - the girls couldn't wait to see all its landmark and take a ride on the metro rail. At the Man O' War jetty, we found a number of VIPs waiting for us. Among them were the Sheriff of Calcutta Basant Chowdhury, Sports Minister of West Bengal Subhas Chakraborty, Mrs. Daisy Irani and hordes of other people with bouquets and flowers for us.