On the Banks of the Ganges

Join anthropologist John and his wife, Cindy, as they spend nine months in Varanasi, India, in the early 1980s and accompany them on their adventure of discovering the world of Hinduism (specifically Shaivism). While telling their story, the author also expounds extensively on Hinduism as he has come to understand it through the eyes of an interested occidental. Each chapter is enhanced with a tale or two out of traditional Hindu lore. The couple comes out of the experience transformed. They go through severe sickness and one mind-blowing experience after another. Their stay in India turns into a complete personal metamorphosis, which helps them discover their own true nature and a happiness they had not known before.

The reader will see how the young Western couple is seized by Shiva, “the Seizer” (Hara Shiva), enjoy some Indian tales, and delve quite deeply into Hindu philosophy through the author’s own eyes and interpretation.

In 2013 I returned to India and captured this journey in the film Return to the Ganges. Visit http://www.storl.de/gangesfilm for more information about this film.