MOTHER INDIA
of dirty water, and a woman, rushing up, thrust a cup under it and drank.
“That is our holy Ganges water, rendered more holy by having flowed over the feet of Kali and her priests. From the floor of the shrine it is carried here by this ancient drain. It is found most excellent against dysentery and enteric fever. The sick who have strength to move drink it here, first having bathed in the Ganges. To those too ill to come, their friends may carry it.”
So we found our waiting motor and rolled away, past the General Hospital, the Bishop’s House, the various Clubs, the Empire Theater, straight into the heart of Calcutta in a few minutes’ time.
“Why did you go to Kali Ghat? That is not India. Only the lowest and most ignorant of Indians are Kali worshipers,” said an English Theosophist, sadly, next day.
I repeated the words to one of the most learned and distinguished of Bengali Brahmans. His comment was this:
“Your English friend is wrong. It is true that in the lower castes the percentage of worshipers of Kali is larger than the percentage of the worshipers of Vishnu, perhaps because the latter demands some self-restraint, such as abstinence from intoxicants. But hundreds of thousands of Brahmans, everywhere, worship Kali, and the devotees at Kali Ghat will include Hindus of all castes and conditions, among whom are found some of the most highly educated and important personages of this town and of India.”
