Brian Leiter has posted a link to a list of nano-philosophical questions – some of them quite funny. Yesterday I came across a news report from India that poses a paradoxical question fit to be included in the list. But it is not funny – just very sad and somewhat ironic.
The river Ganges (Ganga, as it is known locally) is holy to many Indian Hindus. The rich mythology associated with the river accords it the status of a goddess. But Mother Ganges has not been treated with the reverence that she deserves by her devotees. In fact the Ganges is now an alarmingly polluted river for which there is no explanation other than criminal negligence by the state and central governments of India as well as the citizenry. The Ganges is crystal clear and pristine up in the Himalayas, closer to its source. When it enters areas of human habitation, the assault on it is incredible. Centuries of bathing, defecating, floating dead bodies and modern day industrial waste have created a nightmarish cesspool in the plains. In the vicinity of larger cities, specifically near the holy city of Varanasi, the river is very, very dirty.
Bathing in the Ganges is supposed to wash away sins, religious Hindus believe. According to the Indian calendar, there are specific auspicious days for bathing in the Ganges but any day is good enough for a dip in the holy river. Now this highly desirable activity has been made dangerous by the level of contaminants and pollutants in the water. Even the devout are disgusted by the state of the river. Indian holy men (sadhus) are angry that the Ganges is no longer fit for bathing and they are threatening legal action against the government.
LUCKNOW, India (AFP)âIndian holy men or sadhus have threatened to boycott a major religious festival, in which millions of people wash away sins in the Ganges river, saying it was too polluted.
Thousands of sadhus in their trademark saffron-coloured clothes held protests for a second day Monday, demanding that the river be cleaned up before the next auspicious bathing day on Sunday, a Hindu leader said.
"The water in (the) river is so dirty that no one can take a dip. It is dark red whereas the Ganges used to be bluish green," said Shankaracharya Vasudvanand Saraswati, who heads the main Hindu monastery in the holy city of Allahabad, where the festival is taking place.
"If the government takes no corrective measures we will have no option but to boycott the (Ardh Kumbh) festival," he told AFP by telephone.
Billed as one of the world’s biggest human gatherings, the festival started last week with Hindus taking a dip at the confluence of two sacred rivers–the Ganges and the Yamuna. Devotees believe the holy waters wash away sins, liberate them from a continuous cycle of birth and reincarnation and guarantee immortality.
"The pilgrims come here to wash away their sins but after a dip here, they may carry skin diseases with them," said Hari Chaitanya Brahmachari, another powerful Hindu figure who runs the monastery in Varanasi a city on the Ganges.
Brahmachari has filed a court case against the state government of Uttar [Pradesh] for not keeping the Ganges clean.
The nano-philosophical question I have in this context is the following:
"Can something be fouled up to such a frightening extent that polluters themselves complain about it being too filthy to pollute any further?"
Update: I just read the question I formulated (I wrote this one in a hurry) – not a very succinct one. My question really should have been the following:
"Should the river be cleaned up to accomodate bathers who are among the polluters only so that they can pollute it again with their filthy practices?"
If the Ganges water is so desirable, can the municipalities pipe the water into public showers with drainage? Can those sadhus and others be prevented from using the river bank as a public toilet? Can the dumping of dead bodies in the Ganges (or any other river) be classified as hazardous practice punishable by heavy fines?
Accidental Blogger 
9 responses to “A Nano-philosophical Question Out Of India”
The big polluters are inadequately treated sewage and industrial waste. My guess is that individual bathers, washers, defecaters, etc. add a relatively small portion to it.
Even from a pollution standpoint, the best time for a dip is before sunrise. That’s what I did when I went to wash away my copious sins during the Maha Kumbh Mela, 2001. I huddled around wood-fires at night with sadhus and reporters, slept in a tent on the riverbank, and braved the January morning chill on a boat ride (33 F). It was crowded for sure – in six weeks, 1% of all humanity came here for a dip (6% of all Indians)!
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You are a brave man!
What were you drinking, smoking with the sadhus that enabled you to throw caution to the wind?
Thanks for linking to the great photos.
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Not brave, just smart. What’s a little red in the eye, itch on the skin, and muck in the hair if I can wash away my sins and start from scratch, eh? What are these sadhus complaining about? The itch and the muck are especially not noticeable after them drinks and them smokes (I of course didn’t inhale :-).
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Ruchira,
I wouldn’t necessary accept that “news” item at face value. A quick google search shows that only western news agencies are reporting it. The only Indian news agency that I saw carrying the item picked it up from UPI!
Many “holy men” break years of seclusion just for this mela. I can’t imagine any of them really wanting to boycott it.
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Sanjay:
My concern is not really how upset the “holy men” are with the lack of purity of their ritual bath. I agree with you that most will probably go ahead with it, the filth notwithstanding. After all, they have done it for decades.
The point really is about the sorry state of the major Indian rivers. My own dozen or so encounters with the waters of the Ganges occurred years ago, when I was in my teens and twenties. I experienced the river both up in the hills as well as in the plains. Even at that time, the difference in the levels of cleanliness between the two settings was astounding. Recently, I made the mistake of going too close to the Yamuna in Delhi and it was a dispiriting and revolting sight. I really wish that India would do something about cleaning up these historic and once beautiful waterways.
From what I remember of the plains Ganges (in Calcutta) and going by the description of the extent of pollution near cities like Allahabad and Varanasi, I am afraid I would most likely lose my lunch, dinner and breakfast at the prospect of taking a dip in its waters. Even if I was fortified with whatever Shunya was imbibing in the company of the venerable sadhus.
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I’m sure the sadhus (and a goodly portion of the other bathers) have either developed enough immunities to any nasty stuff in the water that they can survive the dips with impunity, or it’s a case of the placebo-effect coming into play- you think it’s good for you, and therefore it is.
Does anyone remember the thrill of jumping in that bacteria-laden mud puddle at the onset of the monsoon? Of course, we might have gotten minor sniffles, but that wasn’t going to take away from our enjoyment of the moment.
Squeamishness crept in for me at a later age- I will confess that I’m not thrilled at the prospect of dipping my feet in any river or even sea water, where my kids run joyously to the nearest creek, eager to slip off their sandals and splash around. Heck, I can’t even stand public wave pools, especially with that horrendous chlorine smell wafting over it, plus who knows what other contagions from that coughing kid in the blue swimsuit…
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Ruchira:
Since Independence, approx. 175 million Indians have moved from rural to urban areas. Cities have grown exponentially. These people have to live, eat and raise families.
If the choice is between human survival vs temporary river pollution, I would always choose the former. With appropriate funding and the will, cleaning up a river is child’s play with today’s technology. And, as long as there are people living below the official poverty line, the choice is pretty clear, wouldn’t you say?
As far as the Kumbha is concerned, dozens of tanneries that are dumping industrial waste upstream of Sangam have been shut down for the duration. Extra fresh water is being released upstream. Almost 50 miles of thick steel sheets have been laid over the sandy riverbanks to prevent erosion of the banks; 283 miles of pipelines is bringing fresh drinking water for the pilgrims.
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Once again I am impressed by your upbeat take on everything that is messed up in India.
With appropriate funding and the will, cleaning up a river is child’s play with today’s technology.
So why is it not happening? As usual, your are eternally hopeful that the Indian government will act after some other problem (funding, poverty level) has been solved to everyone’s satisfaction. I am just unconvinced that it will do ANYTHING – ever. Or that the fat cat politicians care.
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Ruchira,
In my view, this is a grave disservice to India’s government and her politicians. From my perspective, every nation on this planet has had to make the journey from pre-industrial -> industrial -> post industrial. No country in history has been able to navigate this road (more a minefield really) without major upheaval, prolonged strife and great human suffering. Using this frame of reference, I tend to judge each country/ culture/ nation at various milestones i.e. to reach a particular point, what compromises, sacrifices etc. did each country have to make? To me, this is a rational, objective basis of cross-country comparison.
India’s journey, of course, has seen someone else driving the bus until 1947 and Indians taking over after that. The one immediate, striking change after 1947 was that the bus became a train as India endeavoured to get everyone aboard on this journey, no one should be left behind. Contrast that with the lives lost in the numerous famines when the british were driving the bus.
Sure the choice that India made meant that the train was overcrowded, slow and it stank. India could have had the equivalent of the Chinese famine of 1958-61 which left behind 30 million. The train would have been a little less crowded & a little faster with 10% of India’s population lying by the wayside. If famine is too macabre, imagine the size of the remittances if India had been able to emigrate 10% of her population after 1947 as western europe was able to do post WWII.
The achievements of Indian politicians and the system since 1947 has been nothing short of spectacular, imo. These accomplishments deserve to go down as one of the greatest in recent history.
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