About My Project...


As a kid every time I would cross a river in India, be it the Ganga or the Yamuna or any of their tributaries, I would have a feeling that the water levels of these rivers were receding... my heart would sink seeing the industrial pollutants making their way into these rivers...

On the contrary the feeling I would get seeing these rivers close to their origins… especially the Ganga in Rishikesh is indescribable… no pollution, no signs of water level depletion … so calm and so serene… the scent of freshness in the air…

I am documenting the life around river Ganga… the life as Ganga sees and feels it... the culture the river has supported for thousands of years, the people it has sustained over the centuries, and also the human interference it has suffered over the last one century or so...

Towards that I am following the river from its origins high up in the Himalayas all the way to where it merges with the Indian Ocean. All the while I am meeting with people who have been close to the river to narrate their feelings about the river, what they feel about the part Ganga has played in the Indian civilization and culture, what we human beings have done or could do or have not done to save this mighty river…

My final aim is to narrate the whole documentary as a multimedia and a book. I invite anyone and everyone to please help me with suggestions... critique... and hospitality. I would love to hear your suggestions and incorporate them into my project.


Note: The contents of this blog including the pictures are copyrighted and may not be copied or downloaded without prior permission of Rahul Rathi.
Disclaimer: This is a personal project of Rahul Rathi. He is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents here in and may not be sited as a reference without confirming the accuracy.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Towards Tehri via Devprayag

As we passed Rishikesh, we started to drive into the Himalayas and the Ganga looked smaller and smaller with every kilometer we drove. The Ganga looked like a beautiful stream, no where like the majestic river we just saw in Rishikesh. All along the river there were temporary camps nestled in the valley where from people would raft their way down towards Rishikesh (for Rs 500 per person i.e. $10). People were even rock climbing. All this made me feel, this river has indeed given us a lot, and made me wonder even more as to what have we given her in return!

A suspension bridge over the Ganga


We reached Devprayag via Byasi and after clicking a few snaps headed towards Tehri right away. It was a narrow road but had hardly any traffic on it, it not being the main route to Tehri from Rishikesh. Bhagirathi ran along side the road. We crossed several tiny villages on our way. There was a village almost every 5-10 km on the road and several other in the mountains.

One thing that really amazed me was to find cacti on the Himalayas... have they always been there or are the Himalayas warming up... or were they really cacti?
Posted by Rahul Rathi
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