Rituals by the Ganges

When we are on the rickety auto-rickshaw, it is breezy. We are in the shade. A bit of it feels like a holiday but I am thinking of work and all that's to come, all that is still to come as I type this. There are two opposing paths lying before me now and the choice isn't really mine.

We make good time to the station but the trains are a bit late. Our travel companions arriving from Hyderabad after a 24 hour train journey board the bus and wait for us. The journey isn't quite pleasant and the heat gets to a friend. Our meal is more expensive than it should be. Wide roads become narrow ones passing through small towns. The driver drives like a maniac. He takes the wrong side of the road, blows his horn without pause and pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and even cars are pushed off the tar onto the muddy edges. It is odd and the view from outside the bus is a different story.

The road is dotted with religious towns. Most Indians travel only on pilgrimages and this is a famous route crossing the Ganges through Haridwar and Rishikesh. Our seven hours are up when we reach Rishikesh for a night's rest. We meet our team of twelve. We are all carrying sleeping bags in anticipation of unusual places to spend our nights. We are on a shoe-string budget because many of us want to keep luxury and treks separate. Bedbugs emerge from inside our bed at night. Pilgrims sleeping in the basement have a better time of it.

We spend the evening walking around the river crossing its narrow hanging bridges where pilgrims and motorcyclists alike make it towards the temples on the other side while tens and dozens of monkeys watch over. After a while I choose to leave the crowds aside and find a stretch of steps to sit and watch the beautiful evening float by. The sky turns blue, the hills dark and prayers begin. Fire is waved towards the water, towards the temples on the other side. Wishes are made and little oil lamps on dry leaves are sent floating upon the waves of a swift river which devours them in a while. Religious music floats from the temples across the water. On the surface of it, there is peace and it's the perfect place to watch the evening from.

I am not looking forward to the next day's journey. It is a day long bus ride through the foothills of the Himalayas.