Anshul and the sacrality of the Ganges

‘The Ganges has been considered holy for thousands of years.’ These were the first words of a man I happened to meet this afternoon. He could not understand why I was asking to get the ground water boiled before drinking it.
‘For us’ – he continued – ‘no matter how dirty it looks to you, it is holy and pure. Your need to have the water boiled is only superstition. Come on, look at me. I am 70 and still very healthy. It is all in your mind.’

Right, superstition. How many times do we do, or not do, things because of superstition? Maybe, in this case, the superstition that frees men from taking good care of the quality of their water is one of the factors responsible for problems like malnourishment and viruses such as cholera.

Research has shown that only 5% of the less privileged population have a water purifier and 20-25% are purchasing plastic water bottles on a daily basis. The remaining 70% can’t afford to do this, or choose not to through superstition.

photo credit: Mauro Talamonti