Ganga

On the way back from Belur mutt, the monumental reminder of Indian Hindu renaissance under Swami Vivekananda who along with Rajaram mohan rai's Brahmo samaj and Theosophical society has turned the table of Hinduism from Kolkata, we took a small boat to cross Ganga to Dakshineshwar temple famous for the stories of Sri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa. Ganga was near still and the boat was slow. Finally when it took the turn from left side to right side suddenly the boatman stopped the boat. We all were wondering what had happend. On enquiry, he said 'johro" and I could not understand what does that mean until I saw the tide violently hitting the Dakshineshwar side of the river. millions of tons of water started gushing in and hitting the banks. Unless and until one witness the sight, one wouldn't believe the violence Ganga unleashes on banks. The old ladies in our boat were praying to "Maa Ganga".Within few minutes Ganga became a chaotic place shaking our boat left and right. After ten minutes of chaos, when the river became manageable the boatman safely took us to Dakshineshwar. This is an experience one will seldom forget in one's life time. Between these two temples, its two men: Vivekananda & Sri ramakrishna paramahamsa and the Ganga, one point of time Kolkata got a new Identity, the symbols one will find everywhere you go in the city - in cars, houses, hotels, public spaces, restaurants, under the bridges and in food carts.