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Antondaya …Unto the Last

A journey down the Ganges, from Banaras to Sundarbans
20th Dec 2015-2nd Jan 2016

How does a young adult in times so fast paced discover their “calling” in life, also known as ‘raison-d-etre’? How does one learn the importance of gratitude, and the role of humans in this intricate web of life, where the chief driving force is purely ‘faith’? How does one understand life, which is a unique pathway to liberation; a journey that consists of diverse rules and values?

Antodaya has been a successful initiative by the Pathways World School, Aravali. This trip begins at the source, Gomukh and ends in Banaras, where we travel along the Ganges from the holy river's source to the most ancient city in the world, Varanasi in a series called 'Ganga Ek Antaryatra'.

This year a group of 14 enthusiastic and well-informed Pathwaysians, along with mentors Bhagirathy Jhingran and Gurucharan Kumar had taken up a quest to discover India better. In order to make this trip more than just exciting, this time the young adventurers traced the river Ganges from Banaras or Varanasi to where it meets with the ocean.

This trip is and has been a liberating experience for the young travellers who embarked on this journey from the 20th of December and returned on the 2nd of January. The idea of travelling down the Ganges is driven by collective faith, which took us to the Sundarbans, in West Bengal, a bird foot delta which is also one of the last surviving mangrove forests in the world today.

Antondaya means ‘UNTO THE LAST’ and also, ‘PUTTING THE LAST, FIRST’.

Day 1 & 2-Banaras-Temple City of India
After a train journey from Delhi to Varanasi, we went to the Harishchandra Ghat and walked up to the Kama Kotishwar temple where we met Mr. Shankar Ramana, a Vedic Scholar who gave us an auspicious start by chanting and teaching us a few shlokas and explaining us the relevance of the right intonation and usage of these powerful words.
Later, we joined the auspicious ‘Vaikuntha Ekadashi Ganga Aarti’ at Dashashumedha Ghat as minuscule organisms in the fathomless sea of humanity.

We were thoroughly engrossed in the chants and the enduring resonance of the bells which lasted for an hour. Then we took a boat ride along the various Ghats, and the images of the Manikarnika and Harish Chandra Ghats with the burning pyres of dead bodies will take a while to be erased from our minds!

Day 3-Banaras Boat ride
Banaras Ghats at the crack of dawn, is on the wish list of every mortal on this planet, and we are no lesser mortals! Our morning started before the sun rose, and we were ready to go on a boat ride by the colourful ghats of Ganga in Banaras
.Following breakfast, we left for Sarnath where we visited the historical ruins and evidences from the Gupta and Maurya dynasty, 5thcentury B.C. Sarnath is well known as the historical place where Buddha had delivered his first sermon.

The place was marked by innumerable stupas, which are pillars on which his first disciples had engraved his teachings
We now entered the campus of the largest residential University Campus of Asia. The BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY which houses more than 125 departments and has a student strength of 20,000 who are taught by 2000 faculty members. Upon returning to the hotel, we sat through a captivating Kathak ensemble which was supported by the harmonium and tabla.

Day 4: Sarnath - Foot Step of the Buddha
At the crack of dawn, we left Banaras with a heavy heart. Now, we were headed towards Bodhgaya: the land of enlightenment and salvation. It is important to note that it is designated as a ‘world heritage site’ by UNESCO. It was very interesting to see the different expressions and interpretations of the teachings of The Buddha as followed by different people of the world, all coming together at Bodhgaya.

Bodhgaya is somewhat like ‘Antarctica’, as it has a representation of various countries who have a common mission of communal harmony through the teachings of The Buddha, but are divided in terms of the nuances of their practice and rituals. Following this we went to the Japanese Indosan Nipon temple and the eight foot tall ‘Daibutsu’ who had the most mesmerizing pairs of half-closed eyes.

Day 5 –Christmas Celebration
Early in the morning, we all went to St. Paul's church at Jamaalpur, Bihar where all of us were blessed by the pastor and we lit candles and prayed for a bright future ahead. The church was established in 1896. We participated in the morning mass and were most pleasantly surprised to meet our dorm Parent, Ms Shirin Nathaniel praying in that church!
Afterwards, when everyone packed their bags, we were ready to leave the ITC campus. Now, we were lucky enough to visit the mother factories of ITC (Imperial Tobacco Company), the Cigarette Factory and the Packaging Unit.

The present I.T.C. factory, which is popularly known as the Cigarette factory, is one of the biggest tobacco factories of India and its big campus cover an area of 17.38 acres. We were first briefed about how to move inside the factory and keep safe during our factory visit. We were then explained through a presentation how the oldest plant of ITC has been keeping up with changing times as this factory went from being labor-intensive to machine-intensive in terms of the techniques of production of cigarettes and packaging, which they also do for other multinationals and famous products. .

Day 6-Visit to Dolphin Sanctuary
We drove off to the Vikramshila Sanctuary from Bhagalpur, Bihar. Later, we moved to observe and sight Dolphins in the Ganga near Bateshwar. Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is located in Bhagalpur District of Bihar, India. The sanctuary is a 50 km stretch of the Ganges River from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon. Designated in 1991, it is the only protected area for the endangered Gangetic dolphins in Asia. Once found in abundance, only a few hundred remain, of which half are found here.

At the end of the day, waiting for the spectacular sun drop into the beautiful river with its colours going from red to orange, was worth our while. Indeed one of the most magical moments in a day is sunset!! We asked for more in terms of the magnificent opportunity we had got- of clicking the magical sunset shots. We could see the row boats gliding over the gleaming waters of the Ganges. A corpse burnt in the background only to remind us that life is short, and we must only live it well.

Day 7 & 8 –Newsflash -Mayapur, The Spiritual Capital of the World
DAY 7 was a complete day of travel from Sahibganj, Jharkhand to Mayapur, West Bengal. We made our way through the interiors of Jharkhand and West Bengal whereby we realised what actual ‘rural landscapes’ look like. These were remote, hostile and not necessarily what we think of as ‘Incredible India’. Travelling for long hours, skipping a meal at times, made us realize that development is only a concept in the textbook.

Day 8
Today Antondaya team landed in Mayapur to visit the World Headquarters of ISKCON-International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

The headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been located in Mayapur since the 1970s. In addition, there are a number of other Gaudiya Vaishnava organisations in Mayapur, such as the Gaudiya Math.
Keeping this in mind, we first went to an aarti that was happening in the temple and the sheer joy and peace we felt in the presence of imposing 5 feet tall statues of Lord Krishna and Radha with her friends, was mesmerising. We were possessed by the sheer magic of the singing and dancing of the devotees who were simply joyous.

We were now all set to join the long queue for the Prasadam at the ISKCON temple. It was a serpentine one, and seemed like the longest one ever! The number of items, and the dexterity with which the army of the ISKCON members served us will forever be etched in our memories. We were now ready to take a boat ride to go to Nawadwip, to see the confluence of the Bhagirathy and the Jalangi Rivers. Our budding photographers also took this opportunity to capture some amazing shots. We were chanting ‘ Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ throughout. We ended our exploration of Mayapur, with a visit to a ‘Gaoshala’ where innumerable volunteers worked day in and day out in feeding and taking care of the cows.

Day 9 & 10 : KOLKATA CHAPTER: THE CITY OF JOY
The city of Joy, Kolkata/Calcutta will always remain on the wish list of anyone who wants to know the childhood of India. A city where the Antondaya celebrated the arrival of 2016 on Park Street with the rest of the Humanity jostling for space, yet very high on the passion quotient, with riot police keeping a strict vigil. Kolkata has enough matter to keep the cultural intellectual rather engaged.

Visiting the Victoria Memorial Hall, which is now renovated, we experienced the grandeur of the bygone British Era and reflected upon what it has left behind for us, now. Going to the Kali Ghat temple and St. John’s Church and finding your way in the maze of humans very clearly explained to us, that Faith is not for the weak-hearted, but it is a way of knowing the world, which consumes you completely! The buggy ride around the Victoria Memorial Hall gave us a great view of a city which definitely has character, but now needs repairs in various sectors of its infrastructure.

Our visit to Mother Teresa’s home, also the World Headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, opened our eyes to a larger world, a larger purpose that we could have, in our own little lives. Visiting the Orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity is an experience, which can only be understood when you go there in person, and feel the warmth and purpose of the sisters who have adopted many such children who have various physical and social limitations to lead a happy, healthy and carefree life as a child, like most of us in Pathways.

Day 11, 12 & 13- Sundarbans-The Land of Tigers
Today the zeal in the students was quite different, everyone was very anxious to sight the Royal Bengal tiger. On the way many of us were trying to cover up on our lost sleep during all these days of Antondaya.

After 3 hours of a drive we reached Gothkali. We now took a small private jetty to reach Bali Island and we were now cruising through the waters which separated both human-inhabited islands and the animal-inhabited islands. We travelled through narrow creeks and the consistent pace of the boat, and the soothing breeze was indeed a very calming experience.

We were able to interact with Mr Anil Mistry, who is a poacher turned crusader, and is now into major conservation projects and is able to guide the local tribal population towards earning a decent living with the available resources. 54 human inhabited islands and 48 animal inhabited islands were separated by narrow creeks, and there were safety nets put around the animal islands, which were used as psychological deterrents so that the tiger stays safe in these islands, and doesn’t stray into human territory. It is interesting to note that the Sundarbans is considered a biosphere reserve, sanctuary, and Tiger reserve also.

The next day, we began with an early morning bird walk through the village adjoining the resort. It was a great refreshing way to start the day, and we sighted atleast 2-3 varieties of Kingfishers, Mynahs, Tree pies and Drongos

We then reached Gothkali and drove back to Kolkata, where we had now checked into a new hotel on the Royd road, adjacent to the Park Street. We were delighted to be a part of the Kolkata crowds which had gathered on the Park Street to welcome 2016, in full force!

Although the term Antodaya is defined as ‘Unto the Last’, the journey has been a beginning to another liberating experience. We have learned and grown as spiritual individuals who understand the meaning of life better. Whether a teenager or an adult, this expedition has given us knowledge along with practical understanding. To us, the world seems full of hope even with the struggles.

Text:
K.Guru charan kumar,Senior IB & MYP Environmental Science Teacher
Bhagirathy Jhingran, Teacher - Geography And Subject Group Coordinator - IB Grooup 3 Individuals & Societies

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