Gangasagar: Where Sins Are Washed And Trust Is Broken

By: Barnali Bose ( Sr. Associate Editor-ICN Group )

The Gangasagar Mela which is the second biggest religious congregation in the country after Kumbh Mela.

“ Thank God, Gangasagar Mela is over, ” I overheard a daily commuter say as I made my way through the crowded bus stand on my way to school. I saw throngs of people, fatigued yet chattering excitedly narrating their experiences at the mela as they waited patiently for their bus. Others pushed their way into buses which would carry them home after their pilgrimage to Sagar Island where the Hooghly, a distributary of the holy Ganga meets the Bay of Bengal. Loudspeakers blared announcements of various buses.

The Gangasagar Mela which is the second biggest religious congregation in the country after Kumbh Mela recorded 30 lakh pilgrims this year. Pilgrims took a dip on Makar Sankranti, the 15th of January and offered puja at the temple of Kapil Muni. A very tight vigilance system comprising of 500 CCTV cameras, 5000 policemen and 3000 civic volunteers,eight drones and helicopters ensured that the huge inflow of pilgrims was managed with ease.

Other facilities included weather forecast announcements,Real-time vessel information on large Led screens and distribution of mineral water pouches. This was done to prevent a repetition of last year’s tragedy when a few pilgrims had died in a stampede trying to board a launch. A government website to help track missing persons, the first of its kind in the country dedicated solely to trace missing persons in a fair, was introduced. During the 2017 pilgrimage, a few elderly persons left behind by their families were sent home due to the efforts of a team headed by IG Ajey Ranade and the WBRC ( West Bengal Radio Club).

At school, during the recess, Gangasagar seemed to be the topic of discussion. Someone said, “ I wish to go sometime and see the famous mela. People from far away places, even other states come here and we haven’t been.” Another said, “ Yes, you’re right but I am scared. What if I get lost ? ”

A colleague of mine who had been listening quietly suddenly said, “What if I am left behind purposely by my children?” All eyes were now turned in her direction. I laughed uneasily saying aloud,  “ Oh ! What a strange thought.” To this said she, “ I have decided to book a one-BHK apartment in the new elite ‘Senior Citizens’ Housing Complex  .They provide all amenities the elderly require”. This announcement was a bolt from the blue. She and her husband lived in their two storeyed house in a posh locality of kolkata, were financially sound, had two sons and a daughter, and all of them were well-settled .

I said to her, “ But why?”.She looked at me,  her eyes  brimming with unshed tears.” Said she in a choked voice,“ I do not wish to be forsaken.I will live with dignity till the last day.” My eyes fell on the headline of the newspaper article  she was reading. EVERY YEAR MANY ELDERLY PEOPLE DESERTED IN SAGAR ISLAND,it screamed. I took it from her and began to read.

The news that followed left me dumbfounded. Pilgrims after washing their sins in the cold waters of the Ganges leave for their homes taking care to collect every single baggage they had brought with them. However a few,  consciously shed baggage they consider unwanted burden, their old parents and relatives. These deserted elderly are most often from other states so that they cannot easily return to the place they had once considered their home. Some of them are unable to even recall where they had earlier lived.

The dejected are then left counting their last days in the government hospitals where they are sent to. It was even more shocking to read that in certain cases where the police were able to trace their families, these elderly people were not accepted often citing adjustment issues or monetary problems. A few had even performed their shradh ceremonies.

Another tale of woe was narrated by an old woman who said that she sensed something was amiss when her son left her alone on the pretext of getting flowers for her puja and dragged her grandson along with him.Needless to say he did not return.When asked where she lived,she said,“ Sagar island is my home now. I have erased the name of the home that was mine for years.”

This story brought to my mind a fable our Moral Science teacher had narrated in my school days. This is how it goes. A young son was carrying his ailing,old father on his back to leave him in an old age home. On the way, he came across a  big rock. Tired of carrying his father,he wanted to stretch himself and rest on the grass. He began to place his father on the rock.

The old man who had not uttered a single word throughout the journey screamed, “NO,son,not on that rock please.”Surprised the son said, “Why father, what is wrong with that rock? It is smooth and will not hurt you. I just need to rest for a little while before I can continue.” “ My son,my dear son, ”said the father in a quivering voice as tears began to stream down his wrinkled cheeks, “ It is the same rock I had rested my old father on when I was carrying him to the old-age home. I now realise that History repeats itself.”It goes without saying that the son took his father back home.

As I narrated the above fable to my friend,I saw her eyes light up with hope. Said she,“ My children will do as I have done, so I needn’t worry, do I? ” I reassured her saying, “ Very often we allow fear of the unseen overpower our trust in the seen. ‘Example is better than Precept’,so the adage goes. Children usually follow the footsteps of their parents. As they say,What goes round,comes around.”

At this she said “ Does that mean that those people had meted out the same treatment to their parents or is it the karma of their previous birth? ”Although I didn’t have an answer to that, I would like to believe that our children emulate our actions and I most definitely have no cause to book space at a Senior Citizens’ Housing Complex. I can almost visualize the last days of my husband and mine resonating with the joyous chatter of my children and grandchildren.

All said and done, the fact remains that Varanasi had been known for such desertion earlier and Sagar island now seems to be acquiring  the nomenclature of being the Island for the Abandoned Elderly.

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