Shivaratri – March 6

Well, I did it. I submersed myself in Holy Ganga, the most sacred river in India. I had a lot of fun – as did most of the children.

We met at 8 am and loaded onto the 3 school busses. To say we were not following California rules for school bus safety is putting it mildly! At least no one was standing in the aisles, but children were on the laps of the Didis, 4 children to a seat meant for 2, several itty bitty ones smooshed in the very front in the space next to the driver – but we all made it - and thankfully, the drive was a little less than 10 miles. We went to a part of the Ganges that was upstream of where we viewed Arati – and upstream of where corpses are burned and the resulting ashes are pushed into the sacred river. The water looked fairly blue – for which I was grateful. One or the downsides of being a geography teacher is knowing what I know (and taught) about pollution in the Ganges (farm run-off, industrial waste, ashes, dead bodies, sanitation waste, etc) so I kept mentally reviewing a map of Northern India – which towns were still upstream!?!?

Once at the site, we separated into males and females and each went to our own section of the river. The ghats (the broad steps down into the river) were absolutely fine for my knee – the rise was only about 5 inches so I was able to go up and down without any pain. We all wore “clothes you can wear into a river” – oldest, least desirable stuff we had. I am getting so tired of my 3 punjabi suits – kind of like how pregnant women feel about their maternity clothes in their 8th and 9th months. I picked the one I like the least and added flip flops (yes, I purchased some in town – love ‘em) and was just ready to step from the last ghat down into the water when I was told I HAD to remove my flip flops – not appropriate when entering a sacred river. At that I did pause – I did NOT want to enter bare foot – again, geography teacher curse – remembering how river-carried bacteria enter a body through foot abrasions. I suspect flip flops wouldn’t really provide protection, but ICK! What to do, what to do? I took off my shoes.

The water was cold but not as cold as I thought it would be seeing as we are so near to the Himalayas. For one thing, it was shallow where we were standing so the sun had heated it more thoroughly than water further out from the ghats. Once standing in the water (up to my thighs) it was just a matter of bending, splashing, and getting all wet. Then it was time to help the children.

They are not swimmers. They have 2 small pools here but the children only know how to paddle – not swim. The river current was strong a little way out from the ghats. Rashmi (the director) gave us strict instructions. A few adults were to be stationed outside the shallow area to serve as the boundary – no child went beyond them. Then 2 others were at the downstream end of our section to catch any children who might get swept away. She assured us it had never happened in the past but didn’t want to test our luck. I stood up on the ghats and served as an overall lifeguard surveying the whole swim area.

Some of the children hopped right in and played in the water – a certain amount of splashing went on. But some children were very shy of the water. With them the adults were cautious - helped them SLOWLY get into the water and gently bobbed them up and down. Eventually most were loving it and happy to get completely wet. Only a few refused to come in – and they weren’t forced. Poonam, one of my favorites, is about 8. She and her brother lived much further north (she looks Nepalese) and were orphaned from an earthquake. Her brother took care of her (he was 5, she was 13 months at the time – but not walking) for several weeks until authorities brought them to the Ashram. He continued to hover over her during their first months here – and, even 7 years later, continues to monitor how she is doing. Today, Poonam wanted nothing to do with the water. She was slowly enticed in and, by the end, was one of the last to leave. She loved it and was so excited about her accomplishment of overcoming her fear of the running water. All in all there was much excitement, much splashing and much celebration of the Ganga.

There were 2 simple dressing rooms on the ghats – and it was funny to see how many girls could crowd into each one – at one point I saw 8 legs in the gap between the door and the stair surface of one of the “rooms.”

90 minutes or so after arriving we were ready to bundle up our wet clothes and get back on the bus for the ride home. Everyone was happy and we were ready for Shivaratri. Once back here I took a very thorough shower and then went downstairs to go to the Shivaratri puja (prayer ceremony). Actually I was quite bored – didn’t know what the pujari (Priest) was saying (assume it was lists of attributes of Shiva) or understand what he was doing. I did get my first forehead marking – one of the older children went from person to person adding the splotch of color to all of our foreheads. The first splotch was orange, the next was red. Well, that’s not true, a woman at the river site also gave us a mark – but it came off in my shower. Anyway, I was bored so was grateful I had tea duty – I had to leave early. My partner, Tom (from Dublin) felt the same way – we scurried off and set up tea for 130 people – so may people have either come as visitors or as one-day guests at the Ashram this week.

So, Shivaratri is over. As much as I enjoyed watching the water carriers, I am glad they are all back at their villages so I don’t have to listen to their music, chanting and the accompanying car horns throughout the night. Well, I have one more night to wait - many Indians will be singing and dancing all night tonight – supposedly to give Shiva a rest. I tremble to think how loud it will be!

So, I did it – did what I said I would NOT – I am now an official Ganges bather! I’ll let you know if anything untoward happens – sudden hair growth, speaking in tongues, or a new twitch.

Happy Shivaratri, everyone.