Commenting on Comments…

Aroop and KD

In answer to some of your questions let me go back to some history. In my childhood days, Ganga flowed past the well known ghats of Kanpur called Sarsiyya Ghat, Parmat Ghats, Bhairon Ghat (cremations took place here), and Massacre Ghat towards Bithoor.

I did not know about Mouni Ghat, as Azadnagar, did not exist then. It was much later - I was in High school then when residential plots were being allotted to the applicants by the Corporation and my father, Haresh Babu, Moni Sengupta Babu and some more friends of my father bought plots of land, dreaming of a retired life on the bank of Ganga, enjoying the fresh air in close proximity of each other.

We lived in Mac Robert Ganj. As a child I would trail behind my Thakuma on religious occasions such as Makar Sankranti, or Solar eclipse, when people would go for a dip in the river. Parmat Ghats were near to our house. Ganga flowed in all its majesty - broad, deep and calm. Sometimes during the rainy season I heard discussions about the rising water level, about how ‘just a few steps remained to be submerged’ and about the impending floods. It thrilled me, thought the elders would be worried. But the water never rose to that extent.

It was the industries of Kanpur that caused damage to the river. The Elgin mills, Victoria mills, Cooper Allen, the tanneries and others were situated on the banks of Ganga and they released their industrial wastes into the river. Sewage was also poured into the river I think. Ganga slowly started drifting towards Unnao. A thin stream remained in Bhairon Ghat, probably with much diligent efforts. Mouni Ghat was an extension of that stream.

In 1972 we shifted to our house which had just been completed. We were all very happy to be living on the banks of Ganga, even though it was a poor shadow of its former self. I remember in those early days, once my mother had a wild idea of taking a dip in the water. But we did not want her to do so. The river had only a mud bank, no concrete steps. We feared that the earth would cave in to the river and none of us knew swimming. But my mother was adamant like a child. At the end the ordeal was completed - we had to bind one end of her sari to her waist and we held on tightly to the other end!

We did not have any house warming ceremony, as my father did not believe in rituals. The house came up with his hard earned money and many sleepless nights, when he typed business letters on his Remington rand when the whole house slept…My marriage was the first auspicious occasion that took place within one month of us settling in the new house.

I confess, I have seen very little of India. Because there was only one destination when children had their school vacations – Azadnagar. Summer vacations, winter vacations and some times Puja holidays too were spent at Dadur bari and as KD says morning and evening rounds with Dadu were part of the daily routine but by that time even that thin stream had disappeared.