PART II
Second, was the Shahi Snaan.
Indeed, there is the sense of camaraderie that comes when strangers get together to share a common stage. We found ourselves adrift in a surreal world where different realities overlapped. For, we had checked into a tent at the Parmarth Ashram, overlooking the beach and the ghat, buzzing with activity: a Sadhu in his orange robes sat cross-legged on the opposite misty bank, deep in meditation; men and women in dripping shorts and saris took purifying dips in the freezing jade-green waters of the Ganga; pilgrims floated offerings of flowers, burnt camphor and incense sticks; sadhus with flowing locks and hooded eyelids pulled on chillums; a young disciple washed the feet of his stooped, grey-whiskered guru; others scooped up the Ganga water in containers to take back home… Despite the presence of security men in camouflage uniforms, sporting mean-looking guns supervising the proceedings, we were caught in the swell of unadulterated devotion being poured into the surging river as it swept by.
