Giving Thanks

Paul talked about Jaipur, so I’ll talk about our time in Varanasi, which is the holiest city to the Hindu (like Mecca is to the Muslims). To quote one of our guidebooks:

“Spiritual life in Varanasi revolves around the ghats, the long string of bathing steps leading down to the water on the western bank of the Ganges. Most are used for bathing but there are also several ‘burning ghats’ where bodies are cremated in public.” Per our guide, there are about 70 cremations a day. Tourists are taken by rickety boats to the burning ghats to see the cremations, which are performed by male relatives as part of a Hindu ritual. This felt ghoulish to us – it felt like exploiting families’ grief for the boat rowers and guides to make money off of voyeuristic photo-taking tourists.

We spent three days in Varanasi, which for me was two days too many. I wish I had a scanner to post a photo showing 8 cows sitting in the Ganges from Thanksgiving Day's Hindustan Times (an English language Indian Newspaper). The caption read: "The divisional commissioner's order of keeping cattle away from the river front being openly flouted in Varanasi." Varanasi may be a holy city, but it is also the filthiest place I have ever been. (Maybe I shouldn’t mention “filth” after a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s cabinet took so much grief a couple of days ago for saying “If there was a Nobel Prize for filth, India would win it.”) The narrow streets are packed with residents, pilgrims, and a few tourists, and also goats, cows, dogs, and monkeys. You need to watch where you step! Cow dung is collected, dried, and used as fuel (see photo). In addition to the filth, tourists are constantly hassled by street vendors and tugged on by women and children begging for money. Who can blame them when they are so poor, and of course we – compared to them – are like millionaires.

Based on our first week in India, this is my Thanksgiving list that I sent to my family and a few of my public health colleagues of things for which I am thankful:

Dependable electricity
Water from the faucet that I can drink
Good sanitation
Clean air
Fire standards
Food safety standards
Traffic safety laws
Sidewalks
Freedom from marauding monkeys
Peace and quiet

Being in India has helped me appreciate the 30 year increase in longevity in the United States over the last 100 years as a result of public health measures, and reinforced my concern about legislators and members of the U.S. public who see government regulation as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

I will share things I like about India in another post.