The river of life

Early in the winter of 2008 I accompanied my husband to Benaras, where he was going to attend a conference in B.H.U.(Benaras Hindu University). This old city has its own charm, with famous temples, ghats,silk sarees, perfume, and many other things. The conference programme was tightly scheduled and kept all participants very busy for the whole day, so we few ladies decided to explore Benaras on our own. One afternoon we decided to have a boat ride on river Ganga, which covered all important ghats of Benaras. We started walking through crowded lanes to reach our destination, known as Dashaswamedh ghat. Going through the crowded lanes and stepping down through numerous sets of stairs, we finally reached the river bank. Dashaswamedh ghat was glowing in the warm light of the setting sun and shimmering with garlands of light along the waters edge. The whole atmosphere was vibrant and joyous and sound of spiritual music. Trained young boys were standing on high platforms, with thousands of flickering earthen lamps in their hands doing Arati (evening Puja) of the holy river Ganga. We stepped down through another set of stairs and got into a boat that already had many tourists on it. The boatman was accustomed to ferrying crowded boats full of passengers everyday and while passing through many ghats, he was narrating the story of each. And as the light dimmed with the setting sun it was as if it was the gradual shift in the phases of human life, which passes through childhood to youth and old age. When we reached our last destination, Harish Chandra Ghat in total darkness and draped in stillness. Only a dim flicker remained of a burning pyre. All the relatives and friends left after the last rites and only a thirsty dog remained, licking water from the edge of the river Ganges. The whole journey was like a magical spell. I could see the journey of human life is also the same as this river's and the ghats is where it slows down for a final rest before merging into the ocean. The sparkling glamour of a spring that emerges from the mountain comes to to embrace the silence of darkness forever. Like a river, life also passes through all the twists and turns, the ups and downs, finally to be dissolved in eternity and to lose it's individual identity forever. Nobody comes or goes with one. That is the truth of each soul. This magic spell held my mind all through my return journey. I was very much present with everybody, but still my mind remained aloof, as if floating in the air. The same crowded lanes could not disturb it any more. I was in the crowd, but the crowd was not in me.