10.

THE NAKED GHATS OF THE GANGES

As words like altercation, rant, and their more complex
cousins, started dancing in my mind one night, and their more complicated
father Rohan, started appearing as the toughest algebraic question I have to
solve, all I could think was how complex and concealed the human mind
was. Does the mental stature of a man from one part of a country defined in
anyway by ..by the ghats of the region ? Confused? Well yeah, I felt
Rohans mind was more like the empty ghats in Kerala, ghats which are
rarely frequented by men and never by women. Women have breasts and
hips, and they simply cant afford to bare them in the ghats of Kerala, for
men cant simply afford to accept the fact that they choose to bare. Thus, the
beautiful women of the region choose to hide; and the empty ghats of
Kerala, remain empty, complex, and unrepresentative of the true state of
affairs, much like the mindset of its men.
The empty ghats of Kerala pose such a contrasting picture
to the naked ghats of the Ganges. Once I have been to the beautiful state of
Uttarakhand with a gang of cousins and aunts before the witchlike tangles of
flood took away her beauty and grace. On the way from Haridwar to
Rishikesh, I witnessed a beautiful sight. The Ganges peacefully flowing like
a shy maid, and the women of the region having elaborate baths in the
various ghats of the river. The aunties cried out as if they witnessed a rape
seen .In perfect rhythm and tune, their loud voices chorused Ohhhhh
myyyy Goddddlook at these womennnnHow dare
they.Shameeeee. They even blindfolded their respective men, who were
peeping out of our minivan like little kids lost in Disney Land. I still
remember how we kids giggled and made silly comments at this sight. Years
have passed, but the picture of those women; baring their breasts gracefully
and taking bath in the ghats have remained intact. It was not one, but many
women and all of them had morphed into the river, and for a moment
Ganges had looked like a beautifully enormous woman with a thousand
breasts, and a naked ghat. What will happen if the women dared to do that in
my state? There are many choices;
a) she will be branded a slut,
b) she will be physically and mentally abused,
c) she will be photographed and digitally sold.
So now you know why the women of Kerala choose to hide themselves, and
how hideous the minds of its men are? Of course, one cannot brand, and

there are the broad minded ones too. Well, but practically, unless you are in
one of the malls of Cochin, even a lovely sleeveless kurti can give you
unwanted stares, and the women choose to hide because they just have one
life, and they prefer peace over battle. Who is right here? The men or the
women?! Does such a state of affairs have an impact on the youth of a
region? Definitely!
When a man says I like you, but I am not ready to have a
relationship with you, I like spending time with you, but I dont want the
world to know that I have an affair, I dont want to hurt you, I care for
you, but I can only think about an arranged marriage at this point in time, is
that a result of the state of affairs of the region too. For a moment, I was in
awe of the men of the Ganges ghats who let their women bare. To some
extend it shows the transparency and truth of their minds too.
As days passed, I had begun to lose faith in our relationship. Rohan
has been increasingly withdrawing himself. Of course we talked everyday,
more so because I wanted to. He made it a point to reply to my texts, and
talk to me whenever I wanted. The point was he had already made his mind
to stay away, and has become increasingly wooden. There are times when
the feelings in him came out, but the next moment he acts like a stranger
unaware of his own words, like the empty and hideous ghats. I was fed up
of this whole confusion, and I decided to meet him up in person and call it
all an end.
He agreed to come. We met in one of the coffee shops in the city. As
we talked and talked, it was as if we forgot bout the fights, the confusions.
He was smiling at me like a kid. I caught him laughing at my occasional
blunders. Well, as we parted that day, I decided to tell him about my
decision. I wanted to tell him. Rohan, you are so unsure of yourself.
Everyone has responsibilities, and no relationship is a roadblock towards
fulfilling them. You, however, simply dont understand that, and like you
said, I guess we should end the bond. As my prudence began to recite this,
my lips did something else. I took his hands (they were hairy!!) and gave the
tiniest kiss ever on them. Well, did it change things between us? I just
caught him smiling at me like a kid after that? May be,, may not be ..
Rohans thought process took the following shape: Anu, I dont want
to give you hopes and later decline my own words. So, its better that I act
wooden and keep a distance. I know you love me, and at one point I liked

you. Well, now I have bigger responsibilities and I cant afford to rent my
mind to anyone. He thought keeping a distance would help me forget.
What he did not know was his keeping a distance was making me feel
miserable, it was making me the worst person I can ever be. !
Months later:
Lip locks can go wrong, terribly wrong. As we stood in the
doorway of the train, and chatted, and as I cheekily prompted him to do the
unexpected (I was absolutely sure he wouldnt do it), he did the unexpected.
My lips froze and my body shook. I wasnt prepared for it. The moment was
so overpowering and unexpected that I dint realize what was happening
Both of us did not feel a thing, Obviously, I was a frozen thing!! He reacted
like an unsatisfied foodie, whose taste buds did not quite like the dish he just
tried. I was simply not prepared and the time wasnt right. He became a
different person that very momentWhat about all the times we spend
together, all the fun we had, all the secret whims he shared with me, can it
all be brought down to one lip-lock gone wrong ? How will I let him know
that , it would have been an extremely beautiful feeling had I been ready for
it; the way I kissed his hands onceThat moment, I decided that Rohan was
a mistake. I saw in him someone who seeks pleasure out of me, and who
reacts violently, when he is not satisfied.
.As I saw him washing his face and lips which I read as an attempt to
forget my taste, I was still frozen,,,, but I was sure of one thing. Good or bad,
I wanted to keep his taste within as long as I canThese thoughts came over
me, and soon I went into a trance.
Can a lip-lock gone wrong define a
beautiful bond?..May be, may not be.