ERIC NEWBY
Slowly Down the Ganges
To Wanda – my fellow boatwoman
‘The Ganga has been a symbol of India’s age-long culture and civilisation, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga. She reminds me of the Himalayas, snow-covered peaks and the deep valleys which I have loved so much, and of the rich and vast plains below where my life and work have been cast.’
Jawaharlal Nehru
‘Here I asked repeatedly, and received a different account … Perhaps these particulars vary in different instances. At all events it is a proof how hard it is to gain, in this country, accurate information as to facts which seem most obvious to the senses.’
Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India Reginald Heber, D.D., Lord Bishop of Calcutta
Contents
2 The first sight of the river
6 The way to the Balawali Bridge
7 A short halt at a railway station
8 An encounter with a bridgekeeper
10 A journey through Uttar Pradesh
20 The day of Makara Sankranti
21 From Patna to Bankipore and back
From Calcutta to Diamond Harbour
