varanasi,
if the dirt, garbage, rubbish and the cows were swept off, could turn itself, especially near the environs of the ghats, to be a beautiful medieval city, on par with the best of the preserved european cities.
even the ghats, can and should be retained, with its current functionalities, but with an eye on cleanliness, hygiene and above all sensitivities.
to give another example: of how hinduism, hindu temples and environment can be presented and maintained well: just yesterday, we went to the pittsburgh sri venkateswara temple.
admitted it is a rich temple, but very seldom money produces good administration.
i was fortunate enough to witness an elaborate service to perumal, and then we had the most delicious upma, bagaala baath, thayir saadham, puliyodharai.
what was impressive, was the way these were packed, serviced and the service area constantly cleaned, considering the penchant that we hindus have for making environment dirty (yes, we still carry this habit wherever we go).
there were two white guys and one black woman, constantly in attendance of the eating area, wiping the tables, packing off the empty containers left behind. mrs K unfortunately dropped an entire container of sambar saadham on the floor, which was immediately replaced free of cost by the guy at the counter, and even before we could say 'sorry', the white guys had come and cleaned up the place !!
i know this is a small example, but i was comparing this with our own toronto temple. admitted the toronto temple is 3 times as large, andis more eclectic (all deities are present here). but it is a tamil temple, whose smells and atmosphere i love, but whose idea of cleanliness is more madras than toronto.
all i am saying, is that varanasi, and any old indian town for that matter, including mylapore kapali temple, if properly sanitized can be on par with the preserved cities of the west, and be a real source of pride.
best wishes to the cleaning of ganges and sprucing up varanasi. long long overdue. but judging from the corruption in india, i will keep my fingers crossed.
