Har Har Gange...

“It is their job to litter and ours to clean,’’ Temsutla Amsog says to me on Babuva Pande ghat on the river Ganges. This nondescript lady from Nagaland amazes me with her dedication of cleaning up the holy river. Such a selfless person, in today’s times?! I want to know everything about her extraordinary journey! As I start chatting with her, far away from the chaos of Mumbai life, I am experiencing a strange serenity, the inner piece.

I wonder how many secrets, mysteries the river carries with her...since time immemorial! All kinds of people come here to wash away their sins but the river Ganga embraces them all lovingly! 

Train of my thoughts suddenly comes to a halt with the sound of the gangarati!! The bells and the rhythmic chanting transport me to a different world ...A serene world without opinionated anchors, shrill fellow participants or a need to prove my point at the top of my voice! This beautiful world by the river has a magical tranquillity...

In the early morning, I have already visited the Lord Shiva temple and luckily for me, the ghat wasn’t as crowded since the Holy month of Shravan is already over in the north. Now, I am all set to explore the ghat and Varanasi. Even in September, the sun scorches and the temperature has already crossed 36 degrees.

The tall havelis of the city in the narrow bylanes with their tiny doors feel totally alien to my urban soul but locals comfortably go about their usual business. The area full of Shiva temples and sages has many people feeding cows and sages...maybe in an earnest hope to earn some good karma...Oblivious to these blessing seekers, some sages are quiet in deep meditation...some are pretty loud... chanting mantras and reading holy books. The pilgrims lingering around them stick to their little groups...their mannerisms, sartorial choices easily give away their cultural roots. Despite culturally diverse backgrounds, their unflinching faith in the almighty binds them together and sadly, also the national pastime of eating paan and spitting everywhere. Their mantra seems `throw where you eat’ and they are religiously following it...

I probe a local about it. Knowing what I mean, he says “since past one year when Modiji came here, we have been trying to keep the place spick and span...and we have managed to clean up the place by 50%.’’

If this is 50% clean how filthy the place must have been, I wonder! Luckily Benaras Hindu University campus I just visited is much cleaner and the temple inside is spacious, tranquil and has a magnificent Shivlinga -overflowing with milk and other offerings.

I try to visit every nook and corner around the area as much as I can in one day, soaking up various experiences. I eat ‘Pudibhaji’, enjoy the `Prasadam` and of course love the boat ride on the Ganges.  But my mind keeps going back to Temsutla’s mission. Many experiments were carried out for cleaning up Varansi and Temsutla is a part of one such campaign. Hailing from Nagaland and Christian by birth, Temsutla has dedicated herself to the cause and that too without any compensation.

When she started out, she too was one of the many tourists who flock the holy place. With hundreds of people and pilgrims visiting and littering the ghats everyday, keeping the place clean looked like a distant dream then...but she was persistent and very patient! She appealed to people on the social media to join her and gradually people started supporting the cause. Today, there are about 10-12 teams of College students who clean up the place, at times even staying overnight. They also educate people on maintaining the cleanliness. Earlier the place was so dirty that even the steps of ghat were barely seen in the layers of dust. The teams washed the steps clean and cleaned the surroundings relentlessly, everyday. Gradually, Babuva Pandey ghat became one of the cleanest spots. 

“Now that the place is clean, many people come for my boat ride and this has helped me greatly in my business.’’ Says 20-something Michael boatman, one of the volunteers. Many boatmen like Michael have joined the campaign.

It all looks fine today but without any support and actually at times becoming a nuisance, what inspires her to continue with the beautification? Does it ever get frustrating? She smiles, “I didn’t take this up with any expectations or motive so there is no reason to be disappointed. And even if it does, for a moment, I tell myself that people wouldn’t change overnight. For instance, there is a shed above the ghat. People throw cow dung from there even when they see us cleaning. Even after knowing that children clean up the place, they continue throwing the dung.  We told ourselves that this is our real challenge and continued our work. But gradually things are changing,’’ Temsulas words flow like the river... “Today, we have a lot of local support. Once we decided to light up the ghat with thousands of oil lamps but didn’t have the manpower for such mammoth task. So we made an announcement on a mike and people gathered in hordes. In no time, the ghat was illuminated with thousands of twinkling lights. ‘’

She is happy that the attitude of people is changing. Even PM Modi has appreciated her persistent efforts but she has no airs. Her aim is not to just clean up the ghat but the river too. She firmly believes that efforts to clean Ganges must be done at every level...

I have spent just a day here but it feels like an experience of a lifetime... A committed Temsutla who works in difficult conditions, Lord Kashivishweswar who lovingly accepts the offerings of devotees and ever-forgiving Ganga river who continues to flow quietly...

@keshavupadhye