Master Stroke – Maa Ganga

vasureddy@aol.com
Vasu Reddy From Chicago

The new government in India is a couple of weeks old, and has been taking some bold decisions quickly, and intelligently. One has to wonder why the Indian politicians did not think of the issue before, and why was this issue ignored for so long on such an important part of Indian life which has been sacred form the beginning of life. Congress has represented the state of UP for generations and Nehru's have great affinity to Allahabad, but still they could not push for a free flowing, clean and prosperous Ganga, but here is Narendra Modi and his cabinet drawing a gigantic plan for not just a clean Ganga, but also a prosperous one. Master stroke number One for Modi's government and governance.

No river is as sacred and holy as Ganga for Hindus, and it is for ever been a pathway to salvation for the people of Hindustan. It has been abused and used but continues to flow and continues to provide the divine salvation for millions of people. One dip in the holy river washes away the mortal sins of people, as it continues to be the belief of Hindus. No matter how people look at the great river, it is majestic and magnanimous despite the constant dumping and pollution. It is probably the greatest river on earth in human devotion and holiness.

The river for centuries has been abused and has began to show the effects of human intolerance and human greed, although it still continues to be majestic and still a major source of life to hundreds of millions of Indians. From the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal for hundreds of miles and millions and millions of people it is truly a mother which gives with love. We have constantly abused the river (as we do with everything else) and irrespective of how majestic the Ganga is, it has started to show the impact of human waste and human greed.

Narendra Modi won the Varanasi MP seat along with Baroda, but has retained the Kasi platform as his choice of electorate. A wonderful and wise gesture to the heartland of Hindus and the great significance of Maa Ganga the river and also the city of Benares. He has always campaigned to the theme of Maa Ganga and his commitment to make it vibrant and virtuous as it has always been and bring the river back to its past glory. The announcement on making Ganga go back to its past glory, become clean and prosperous is a master stroke for the life of this government and his governance. There is no bigger joy for Hindustan to see Ganga preserved and revered for generations to come, so that the glory of the river and the glory of its banks and the importance of the great Indian cities that have been a part of the river banks can be forever be glorified and revered.

There is always a cost of managing massive enterprises and a clean Ganga will be as massive an enterprise as it comes. The cost of clean Ganga is never measured in money, as the river supports lives of hundreds of millions of people along its way from Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. If you place the human value on the top of the religious significance of the great river, no amount of money can be spent of keeping the river clean and full of life and flowing through the vast expanse of the nation. Here again Modi's government will use the national support and national importance to rebuild and bring back the glory of the past. Every Indian will be happy to help do a little bit or a lot in helping with the clean Ganga project. The companies both big and small will come forward to help develop and help improve the environment in and around the majestic river, and there will be no dearth of support for the rebuilding of the river in the country and in the world. Since the time the government has announced the plan to revitalize the river, there has been nothing but praise and support for the massive undertaking, and the spirit of the nation is already well behind the well being of the river.

Why has any other Indian government to date placed importance to the most scared of the Indian Rivers? We can only think that they must have thought of the issues, but they did not take it as a priority number one as this government did. Massive plans for religious platforms, and tourist development, and commercial planning, and power generation, all along with a clean river is a wonderful master stroke for the new government. There is nothing to stop the nation from doing this and anything else it aspires to do, and starting off with the Ganga project is nothing but an endearing plan for the nation. Jai Hind.