And quiet flows the troubled Ganga

A Srinivas / TNN / Mar 11, 2006, 01:44 IST

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Dashaswamedh ghat wore a forlorn look on Friday evening.

VARANASI: Dashaswamedh ghat wore a forlorn look on Friday evening. Even Ganga did not look the ageless, self-assured mother we know her to be. Her waves, slapped by cold wind and incessant rain, wore a troubled, confused look.
What is it about Kashi that she is yet to understand? Can it be that Kashi, after so many thousand years, has started to keep secrets from her? Ganga's quandary finds a refrain in the residents of Benaras, still coming to terms with Tuesday's bomb blasts at Sankat Mochan temple.
An internet cafe owner comes up with a cavalier response: "Yeh to mauj masti ki nagri hai. Yahan baba ke naam par sab chhod diya jaata hai (This city perpetually celebrates. Everything is left to Shiva to resolve)."
He follows that up with typical Benarsi nonchalance: "The crowds are few due to rain. Many people have already left for their villages because Holi is round the corner." He adds bomb blasts almost as an afterthought, as though unwilling to acknowledge the tragedy.

Marcos of Switzerland, who visits Benaras once in two or three years to spend a month in Dashaswamedh ghat, described his experience: "I was just 200 metres away from the site of the Sankat Mochan blast.
I was destined to escape just as some were less lucky. That's the way of life. People die everywhere, in wars, in terrorist attacks, in Africa, in India. Some are destined to survive.
The crowds at Dashaswamedh are perhaps few because of the blasts or rains, but soon everything will return to normal. That is India. People forget about tragedy in a matter of days, because they affirm life over death."

The mahant of Sankat Mochan temple, Veer Bhadra Mishra, believes the city has the inner strength to resist the rising tide of communal politics in the state, but sees difficult times ahead.
He said: "Benaras is a city where Hindus and Muslims have lived together for centuries. Muslims prepare effigies for Ramlila celebrations and Hindus participate in the observation of Moharram. Muslim men and women have come out in large numbers to condemn the blast."
He added: "However, Benaras is changing because of Hindutva politics, which is an offshoot of economic reforms. Hindutva, in its aggressive form, does not recognise the elasticity and assimilative character of the religion.
It has emerged as an alternative power centre for those who have not benefited from reforms. But people will realise the falsehood of this path. Jo aggressive hoga woh khatam ho jayega."
However, Hindu traders in the heart of the city do not share the mahant's attitude. Anurag Modi, partner, Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, said the unease in the city of mauj-masti could be traced to population explosion over the last 10 years, and a change in the demographic and economic equation in favour of Muslims.
"Earlier, they were weavers and were dependent on Marwaris for survival. Now, they have set up huge showrooms and businesses, thanks to their skills and inflow of foreign money. Many of them are behind the mushrooming of multiplexes."
Vishnu Prasad, a dry fruits dealer in Chowk area, said new money was fast replacing old, phasing out earlier patterns of living. "Now shops remain open right through the day, as traders are forced by pressure of competition to cut down on leisure time."
The hoary city of Benaras is in the midst of social and economic churning. Acts of violence can fuel apprehensions as a result of more complex processes.
But for now, there are few people on the streets of Madanpura, a Muslim-dominated trading area in the centre of the city. And, as taxi-driver Hausla Pandey said: "Tourist arrivals at the airport are down from 500-600 to 150 a day."
And quiet flows the troubled Ganga.

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