The Angel

The flotilla of pilgrims and tourists makes its way up the Ganges River, leaving behind the Ganga Aarti, the nightly Worship to Fire ceremony at Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the riverbank. Our boat passes another, a candlelit vision aboard it.

“She is like an angel,” my guide says, with no small awe in his voice.

“Yes, Amit,” I reply, and show him the photographs I have just taken.

“Yes! Beautiful!”

The angel turns her gaze upon me, and the glow the candle casts upon her face becomes but a shadow of the glow she casts upon me. Radiant presence and grace. Until I feel illuminated, from within.