How to Take a Bath Without Taking Off Your Clothes

Any time of the day I can step outside my cabin and see people bathing. I never thought something so mundane could be so interesting. The boat I'm on is docked next to a ghat, steps that lead down the bank of the Hooghly River in India. People wash their clothes, swim, play and pray on the ghat. But mostly they come to bathe in the brown waters. Only very small children get naked for their baths. Men wear their underwear (aka "vestments"), shorts or lungis which are knee length sarongs. Women wear their saris. They are covered at all times but manage to take a thorough bath. They are expert at it.

This morning I had tea and watched as a dark skinned old man rubbed and rubbed, and scrubbed and scrubbed, turning himself white with lather. It is a vigorous operation, part ablution part exercise. Repeated face splashing, dunking, submerging. Finally cleansed, he stood waist deep in the water facing east, his hands together in prayer over his heart.

A young, well-muscled, nicely built man walked into the river, his black and red checked lungi tightly wrapped around his hips. Okay, so I noticed these things. The very thin cotton lungi became diaphanous. With his back toward me I noticed he was well muscled elsewhere. (Sorry ladies, I didn't have my camera with me.)

Feeling a little bit like a voyeur I continued to watch him lather up and wash. When he finished, he put his shorts on under the lungi. It reminded me of the surfers in California taking off their wetsuits with a towel wrapped around them.  The lungi turned out to have multiple uses. It was a sort-of cover-up in the river. It became a towel after a good wringing. After oiling his body and hair, he tied it around his head, the tail of the lungi trailing down his back. Finished, he took off on his motorcycle. I wondered if he bathed there everyday.

Now I turned my attention to a group of ladies in their colorful saris. Soaking wet, the voluminous saris clung to their curves. They wear no foundations beneath them. A young woman in a blue print sari was waist deep in the water. She took the sold blue petticoat worn underneath it and slipped it off. Then, gold bangles flashing on her wrists, she wriggled into the petticoat and transformed it into a strapless dress. The 6 meters of sari cloth came off and she washed it in the river. Next, she re-wrapped the sari underneath the petticoat and returned the petticoat to its rightful place beneath the sari. She plunged into the water, her long black hair floating on the surface. She shampooed her hair then rinsed and rinsed and rinsed it.

There is something very peaceful and calming about watching this simple daily ritual. After three days here I know I'll miss this ghat when we start upstream.