The past few days of ISP have been frustratingly unproductive (no one in this country appears to respond to emails or phone calls. Shocking.), but I've been able to spend a lot of time on the ghats watching the river. I like being able to call that "research".
There are these girls who work on the ghats selling candles to put in the river. They're probably between the ages of 5 and 8 and are the smartest kids I've ever seen. Not only do they speak impeccable English, but they are amazing business women. A few days ago, I was sitting on one ghat when they came up to me. I'd already promised to buy a candle later with my friends, so they weren't harassing me about that. We were just hanging out, talking. They liked to play with the ringtones on my cell phone ("music", as they called it). A creepy guy came up while we were talking and kept talking to me in Hinglish saying things about us getting married and going to the US. As he was getting creepier (he kept saying a phrase that included the words "15 days you enjoy whole time" and I think "sex" was in there somewhere), the point when I would usually leave, one girl went over to a giant mud bank and brought back a big chunk of mud. She then proceeded to make three lingums (phallic symbols of Lord Shiva) out of the mud. The six girls then got in a circle around the lingums and did an intricate puja (worship) ceremony. They lit candles and waved them around, sprinkled Ganga water, and decorated the lingums with flowers. They then put bindis (the spot on the forehead) on each other with mud, and came over to give me the same. They did this all with amazing seriousness and concentration. We then walked back toward my guesthouse together, holding hands, and having a bit of a monkey scare on the way.
Yesterday, while eating breakfast outside on the ghat, I watched a group of women decorate a tree with string, flowers, and strips of colored cloth while singing devotional songs.
I'm probably going with the manager of my guesthouse to meet V B Mishra, a giant in the Ganges clean-up project in a few minutes. He's also coming to give a lecture on the Ramayana to the guesthouse next weekend. I'm really excited.
Last night, Sarah (the other girl staying in Banaras with me for most of ISP) and I had a many hour long discussion on Religious studies and how much we love it / what big nerds we are. It was fantastic.