Not all cities across the world can boast of rides over their rippling waters as well as on land surfaces. The ones which were built, grown and have evolved over time along river-streams, rivulets and distributaries can certainly enjoy the best of these both worlds. Ganga in India has luckily meandered through a number of cities to allow this benevolence. As a result, boating and fishing form a major part of daily chores. As a means to earning their livelihood, the sacred river serves up a solid anchor to many people, keeping their hopes afloat with every sunrise.
Masseurs, bathers, priests, ritual-n-ceremony performers, fortune-tellers, flower-sellers, tea-refreshment vendors — all converge to the ghats (quayside) to make every morning enlivened with the buzzing hustle bustle of their regular businesses. Its spiritual depths also invite devotees from around the world to take a holy dip for salvation.
Kolkata is one such station that receives the blessings of Ganga maiyya in the shape of Bhagirathi-Hooghly river, approximately 260-km-long as a distributary of the mother river in West Bengal. It further splits from the Ganga as a canal in Murshidabad district at the Farakka barrage. Right from the era of British raj down to post-independent modern India, several canals, creeks and bridges have been built and renovated to modify the shoreline according to the needs. It is said that if a guest wants to explore a city with his heart, then he better explore it on foot, sneaking a first-hand peek into its long forgotten bylanes, vintage tenements, and soaking in the dust, grime, noise, aroma and flavour of its good old pockets that still whisper its fainted glory. And if that present-day metropolis has a 327 summers’ history flowing in its veins, then the curiosity automatically doubles up. The tram-cars, hand-drawn rickshaws, buggy rides, and add to this, its magnificent waterline service — the element of euphoria knows no bounds.
Among cruise-service providers, Vivada Cruises is a reputed name to ply on Kolkata’s Ganga. Its website acknowledges the fact that it is certified by Indian registry shipping for safety. Catering to four mealtime cruises from breakfast, lunch to sunset and dinner, the company finds many takers on each trip. With a battery of diligent and earnest staff, the simple, cosy and joyous sojourn is no short of a royal treatment in the middle of a grand old Ganga. Offering such satisfactory day-outs to your loved ones will be a perfect way to lend some hue of sunshine on their life canvas.
Welcoming with soft-drinks to cool off the customers’ thirsty throats, the launch lazily sets off on a journey of delight and revelry, only to pick up its pace after a while. Initially, the clients grouped into couples and families get a feel of the surrounding view and warmup to the watery mood and the mutable weather. The launch leaves its jetty from the Millennium Park. At a distance, thick crowds of daily office-goers and vendors spill over the cagey structures of frequently-ferrying launches, while the river in between gurgles past in its own rhythm, flowing under the landmark hanging Howrah Bridge and the second Hooghly Bridge (Vidyasagar Setu).
The cluster of light-green leafy banana trees glistened in the hot sun, the notable ghats too appeared along the course like Ahiritola, Nimtola with its electric furnace chamber at one corner.
In between this sight-seeing and clicking of snaps-n-selfies, music was played on for some excited travellers to break into a spontaneous jig, while refreshments like puffed rice with fried fritters and tea-cups filled in the arranged table-tops on the floor for all enrolled trippers on the upper tier.
Thereafter, a brief visit to the Ramakrishna Math by plodding over a shaky bridge of timber planks for some peaceful meditation and witnessing the sandhya aarti (if only time permits) will be a fulfilling experience for sure.
However, amidst all these positives, rears the head of harsh negativity like a skeletal carcass. The slogan of Swachchh Bharat would turn out to be a total farce if the ghats are not cleansed properly and the water is not refined with immediate effect. The soul of Ganga is always called pavitra but this oft-quoted metaphor aside, its body too needs to be sufficiently pure to stop pollution and spreading of the contagious dirt. Union minister Uma Bharti’s inspection of the maintenance of Ganga on this part of the map during her visit in the last fiscal and her successive praise for the state government’s efforts may again require a thorough review and some reassessment.
With the nightfall, the frame takes an entirely different look — all decked up in glittery lights.
It is the dream of chief minister Mamata Banerjee to revamp Kolkata on the lines of London. If she retains her post after the elections, then her mission will find some leverage to convert her goals into reality. An imaginative sketch of the London Eye can be visualised along the Ganga.
In fact, on her visit to the Queen’s country only last year, Ms Banerjee took a leisurely stroll in her trademark slippers and blue-bordered white cotton sari on the sidewalk overlooking the Thames and the London Eye at the backdrop.
But first thing first, clean the Ganga for an eco-friendly riverside in order to inhale fresh oxygen at least
