Day 157, Haridwar [Wednesday 7th May 2009]
Previous day: Day 156, Amritsar, Golden Temple [Tuesday 6th May 2008]
Next day: Day 158, Haridwar, Rishikesh [Thursday 8th May 2008]
We get the 7.30am train to Haridwar, freezing cold in the train's overactive AC. It's a releif to get back out into the heat when we arrive!
We go to Mohyal Ashram, on the edge of town and on the road to Rishikesh. It's a friendly place, run by and for the Brahmin sub-caste of Mohyal people. One of the people there tells us that people of that caste are non-teaching, and have mostly become landowners and businessmen. The place is spotlessly clean, and 'bed tea' and meals are included.
In the evening we walk into town, to the River Ganges where hundreds of people have lined the banks of the fast flowing river, lighting candles, dunking under the water or sitting on the steps watching. There is a joyous atmosphere, helped by everyone being concentrated together into one bustling area.
There is a short aarti ceremony which involves a lively call and response as well as huge bowls of potentially unsafe flames. Afterwards the crowd disperses for snacks and cold drinks.
In a cafe there is an outrageously flirty girl sitting wit her family at the next table. She gives the curled finger and thumb 'OK' sign and points at me. They all laugh.
On the way out from the ghat after we have collected our shoes, and despite the overall holy and joyous atmosphere, a man stands with a notepad and pencil and demands money from me, with the simple and self explanatory method of pointing to the notepad and saying "Sir, money."
This man, and many, many others like him, is capable of ruining your day. Not because I can't afford to give him money, or because I don't want to help people who really need it. It is because he is such a lying, deceitful, exploitative thief. And above all, he is stupid. His stupidity knows no bounds. I walk straight past him without even a second's thought. A beggar at the side of the road has more honesty and dignity than him.
Next day: Day 158, Haridwar, Rishikesh [Thursday 8th May 2008]
Previous day: Day 156, Amritsar, Golden Temple [Tuesday 6th May 2008]