Page 26 - india

prayer and immersing himself fully, all the without removing a stitch, the expert slip- er that the men don't deserve their chauvin-
while continuing his prayers, barely audible ping of soap under the layers a result of rit- ist domination.
in their monotonic whisper. Suddenly his ual and acceptance of the status quo. I can't After the morning rush hour the ghats calm
prayer is finished, and it is as if for the first imagine having a bath with my clothes on,
time he notices the cacophony around him, and I doubt Indian men can either, but they down, for the sun has come up over the ho-
rizon and is starting to make sure that ev-
the beginning of a whole new day in India. make their women put up with it; it's an in- eryone knows it's summer. The stone steps
dication of the strength of the female spirit
While the old man prays the women are in India that, even during the morning wash, begin to heat up, the hotel rooms overlook-
bathing at another end of the ghat; in some ing the river flood with sunlight, forcing the
ghats the division of men and women is so the women manage to retain their radiance occupants to get up and open their windows,
and beauty to the shame of the dawdling
obvious it hurts the morning-sensitive eyes. and gangly men. It's also a poignant remind- and the boats start to return their sightsee-
One end of the ghat is covered in brown ing punters back to shore. The men and
bodies, scantily clad in tightly tucked cloths some of the women disappear off to their
tied round the midriff and leaping around jobs in town, and the remaining women set-
like lizards on a hot tile floor, and at the tle down to another day of cooking, cleaning,
other end is the shock of colourful sarees washing, looking after the kids and catching
and dresses that Indian women have made up with the gossip from next door. People
their own. still come and wash at the ghats, and pil-
grims still turn up to bathe in the healing
The reason for the division is the patriarchal waters of the Ganges, but until the sun has
society; men can strip down to briefs that crossed the sky the biggest activity on the
would make tourists on a Thai beach do a
double take, but the women have to bathe ghats involves catching and conning tour-
ists, and the burning of bodies at the two
in full attire, showing nothing more than burning ghats.
a bit of ankle and a strip round the waist. I
watched women having full soapy baths Come late evening the men start to drift

26 Wine Dine & Travel Spring 2014