By John Soltes
When the phone rang at 5 a.m., in our rooms at the Palace on Ganges Hotel, we knew the person on the other end had a bittersweet message: it was time to wake up, gulp, but it was also time for an early morning boat ride on the Ganga River.
It was our last day in Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and even before sunrise we embarked on a two-hour journey to view the famous “ghats,” cement stairs that lead down to the Ganga, and to watch the many Hindus who would be venerating their motherly river with a quick holy bathe.
Most of us bought small floating candles surrounded by flowers of assorted colors, so as to take part in a ritua blessing of the river. The children selling the products on their wooden boats were tough, young entrepreneurs. But by the end of their pleading, they had sold very few items in their lot.
Candles in hand and requisite head count completed, we set off on the holy Ganga, which at this time of day was a shimmering mass of opaque water flowing under a crescent moon. The serenity of the trip was only partially cut off by the frantic dash to find a means to light the candles.
“Anybody have matches?” asked Irena Choi Stern, assistant director of alumni relations at Columbia. As if called forward by a godly force, the smokers in the crowd emerged with Bic lighters.
Once lit, we slowly set our candles onto the flowing waters.
The trip downriver in the morning light, unlike our boat cruise the night before, gave us the chance to see the intricate details of the ghats. Some were holding strong with solid concrete bases; some were falling into disrepair from water damage; all were impressive.
There were many passing boats, filled with Indians and tourists alike, plus the sights we’ve grown accustomed to: monkeys rapelling down buildings as if they were the unofficial rulers of Varanasi, devotees dunking their head below the river’s surface for a holy dip, and the insistent efforts of local merchants, often accompanied by young children, bobbing in their own boats trying to sell us postcards, statues of Ganesh and powder kits for decoration.
Our guide for the day, Samir Mathur, looked upon his city’s residents bathing themselves and remembered his own decision two years ago to forego dipping in the Ganga. “At one point of time, but not now,” Mathur said, with a reluctant shake of the head. The water's pollution became too much of a risk for Mathur.
Once finished with the boat ride, we took to the streets of Varanasi. It was this 30-minute trek that showed us another side of the holy city, a side that many tourists often overlook: the constant, consistent nagging of local children, wanting of money and hungry for food, stray dogs with their mangy fur and wayward eyes.
We were also met with our second wake-up call of the day: a public beating by the Varanasi police force of a young pickpocket on a busy street. The police gripped the boy’s collar, as he flailed, all amidst a watchful crowd. Then, as the humiliated child made his way to the police car, two officers let loose on his skinny frame with sturdy sticks. Apprehension, conviction and punishment had been telescoped into one moment.
After the public spectacle, we boarded the bus for our trip back to the hotel for breakfast.
At the hotel, with our bellies full and reporter's notebooks ready, the group split up for the day’s remaining schedule. Half the students stayed behind in Varanasi to report further on their stories, while the other contingent headed to the nearby holy Buddhist city of Sarnath.
Our first stop in Sarnath, after an hour coach ride, was to the Mulagandha Kuty Vihara Isipatana, a Buddhist temple run by the Maha Bodhi Society. We were welcomed into the ancient temple with a sign that read: “May You All Be Happy With The Blessings Of The Triple Gem: The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.”
The temple’s inner walls were adorned with massive frescoes showing the different parts of the Shakyamuni Buddha's life. From his wealthy upbringing to the moment of his enlightenment, Buddhism’s most revered Buddha was artfully displayed from soup to nuts.
Adjacent to the temple was a monument commemorating the Bodhi Tree, under which the Buddha is said to have attained nirvana or enlightenment. Several Tibetan Buddhists circumambulated clockwise around the monument, all the while reciting devotional prayers.
Back on the bus, Mannika Chopra, our India-based professor, handed out gifts she bought for all the students: small statues of Hindu gods. Most of the students were pining for Ganesh, with his elephant head and multiple arms.
“Everyone have a god?” Chopra asked.
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