FOR WHOM THE GANGA FLOWS

A walk through the ghats of Varanasi and its fringes, capturing the flavours of the election season

- RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

IN THE CITY of Varanasi, Year 2024 will see a ‘king’ being formally anointed, well before the Lok Sabha elections. To venture into his territory, we followed a procession along a narrow lane towards the river Ganga. Chants of ‘Ram naam Satya hai’ filled the air, which smelled of smoke and burning flesh, and of pakoras and jalebis being deep-fried on a slope leading to Manikarnika Ghat.

On a corner of a concrete deck overlooking the water and a dozen burning pyres on the ghat, there sat the baby-faced Om Harinarayan Chaudhary, the future king. All of 16, he wore a traditional ponytail, with T-shirt and jeans and slipped into his sneakers and a yellow jacket after finishing his work. We asked him about the nature of his work. He instantly replied, “Hum gaddi sambhalte hain, bhaiyya (I manage the throne, brother).” He is already referred to as Dom Raja, the king of cremations, a hereditary title thrust upon him after his father’s death two years ago.

Elsewhere, the race for another gaddi has intensified. Winning in Varanasi is a matter of political life and death for the BJP campaigners in the elections to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. They are leaving nothing to chance in the five assembly segments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency--Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantonment, Sevapuri and Rohaniya.

Om Harinarayan has only admiration for Modi. “He changed the status of our community,” said the boy. “We are now treated with respect because of him.”