in hardwar at kumbh

secretary of jhuna akhada

rohit and me on the way

from the ananda akhadha

har ki podi....
We drove into hardwar yesterday on a rented Enfield bike, which had gears on the other side which Rohit was used to. Plus as he said he had a senior citizen behind him…. All resulting in him feeling sick, which thankfully got alright once he reached me to the room and he could get off the tension and relax. Also Hardwar and Kumbh was confusing and chaotic, plus we kept having problems with the camera…. Not problems, just getting used to it.

Riishikesh is 26 km from Hardwar, and after a mulli paratha dahi pickle lunch (the food is amazingly good everywhere) we went to the main Ghat.(har ki podi) There are policemen all around, and there are searches as you enter. Those metal detectors on all bags and also oneself. The cops are extremely friendly and talk well, especially when you compare them to the cops in Mumbai. You can ask for directions and park you or bike under their gaze and tell them that you are just coming , and they nod their heads and don’t bark at you.
The ghat which is massive is full, full full of people, in various stages of dipping into the water and dressing colourful saris drying in the breeze. The water is flowing down so fast, it’s a pale green, and people literally go in fust for a sec , dip dip and out. We went and washed our face our first touch with ganga waters, not yet ready for a dip. What with my dear friends wife and another friends friend dying of pneumonia just want to be super careful. Mornings are really cold still with a wicked breeze blowing down from the mountains, and early evenings its chilly again. So its 9 am and am sitting here in jacket, woolen cap and socks, still feeling chilled but nice chill. Have a thermos of hot water .
We tell the cops that we are journalists, and he immediately tells us that no photography is allowed and we have to register at the contact center. This is the central organization of the mela, a big building of the cops. We enter and are sent to the top top guy, DIG I think. As we sit there the secretary of the Juna Akhada walks in, a big imposing man who walks with full power, and 2 minutes later DIG walks out with him. We are told to go to the CEO, whose secretary says not here, the media centre.

We drive there, and impressive with red durries all over. We are told we need a letter from the editor that we are assigned this story and since we have none, we say we will return. But we get a zerox copy of a tourist pamphlet which gives the akhadas names and phone numbers.
There is strict scrutiny here…there are he says 1000 Indian journalists and out of the 30 foreign journalists who gave in applications only 7 were given press cards. Which allows you to shoot pictures on the main Ghat……… this is the centre of the activity and one thought to be a possible target for any terrorist activity. The press centre estimates that there are 50,000 security police around, and you cannot enter from any side without a scanner body and bag search. When I took a picture of this the police woman came straight at me and pointed to a sign behind saying NO photography.
Tired now, we drive and on the way ROhit spots a baba, and we stop and have a vague interview. He joined when he was a kid, and that’s the only life he knows. There is a serene calmness in his eyes and he seems to be smiling all the time. (baba pic
I meet also with these people who have come from near nainital to take back ganga water to their villages. They will walk the 220 km back and it will take them 3 days. There are scores of people like that and they are decorating their shoulder born carriers with silver paper and ribbons shouting jai bholenath as the begin their trips.

Off to lunch at a family run place, where the owner tells us that the kumbh has changed dramatically… he remembers when there were 500 elephants and camels…only one has come for this kumbh…”swamis come in their ac cars now”. Mira pix
We go to one of the akhadas, there are cops at the entrance and they tell us we cant go in. SO we catch a baba walking out and he isthrilled to be photographed. He is from Ranchi… but he can tell us little about the akhada…when we ask him what he does, he says tell people to do good deeds, and he teaches yoga. He joined when his parents died and he had nowhere to go, and decided to join to do seva to society and god.
There are preperations going on for another baba who will come and give talks….. but we are now exhausted….
There is a place 15km from hardwar, called simply that 15km and there you can buy alcohol and have non veg food. On both sides are areas which are dry and no meat. It does make a difference…. You see nobody drunk on the streets and there are no smells of meat cooking….. but people do drink in their rooms, I guess…. Shakti, the manager at the guest house says that the locals go on doing what they have done for ages, they eat meat drink smoke, no one stops them….
Go to have tea and a place called Ganga View and it is full of foreigners and also many many posters advertising yoga, osho, Andrew cohen, Enlighten Next, Reiki.... the New Age blooming……. A contrast to Hardwar, with Sadhus, and millions of people going for a dip…..
Hardwar has been exhausting…. Trying to find out anything is like a maze, and I find that I do not have the enthusiasm or interest or curiosity to find out the whys whats and wherefores of these crowds that have come in…. There are still many talks going on all over, even in RIshikesh, cause the mela extends down till here, everyone comes to visit ram jhula nd lakshman jhula………… the two bridges connecting both sides of the river.