Stories by the Ganga

Layers of sediments behind the Tehri Dam reservoir in Uttarakhand. Pic Courtesy/Shridhar Sudhir

The river is an entity, it's more than what it looks like in a textbook, is one description of the Ganga from director Shridhar Sudhir who walked a part of the river's 3,000-km length along with activist and IITian, Siddharth Agarwal. Their documentary film Moving Upstream: Ganga follows the journey of Agarwal as he traverses the banks of the river on foot, interacting with the communities living near it.

Shridhar Sudhir and Siddharth Agarwal

Curated as part of Labocine's South Asia Foreground Showcase, the film will be available to watch this month on the New York-based website. It was also recently selected to be screened at the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart next month. Sudhir mentions, "It took five years to come to shape. Now, it's making its way to its audience and that's quite exciting."

The film aims to amplify the voices of these communities by understanding their lives and the challenges they face from the grassroots. This is facilitated through the medium of walking which allows for flowing conversations and disarmed interactions. Sudhir joined Agarwal in the last 500 km of the journey from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh to Gangotri in Uttarakhand. The 30-year-old narrates his experience.

"Everybody [we encountered] had a spiritual sensibility. They're used to pilgrims. The old people we met would say, ‘Ganga pe chalte? Dhanyavad! [Are you walking along the Ganga? Thank you!]' And we asked them, ‘Why are you saying dhanyavad?' They said that by walking along the Ganga, we are contributing to the punya or blessings of the entire world." He continues, "The younger generation there was surprised since most people now take a bus, jeep or car - so that was very interesting." Sudhir explains that there was curiosity coupled with openness in meeting and receiving them that he attributes to their urban outlook.

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