Alexander Stille, "The Ganges' Next Life"

Questions for Making Connections Within the Reading:

1. Why does Mishra value the Ganges? Why does Oswald? Why does Stille?

2. Describing governmental efforts to clean up the Ganges, Mishra says, "They have made such blunders. It is like an theme park of failed technology." Chart out all the efforts Stille describes that have been made to clean up the Ganges. Why does Mishra see these as examples of "failed technology" rather than, say, a "failed politics" or even a "failed world view?"

3. At one point while he is moving down the Ganges River, Stille finds himself "contemplating the prospect of ecological Armageddon." What is "ecological Armageddon" exactly? Why might the failure to clean up the Ganges matter to anyone who doesn't live on its banks?

Questions for Writing:

1. Stille is intrigued by Mishra's "complex double identity" and spends much of the essay trying to make sense of how Mishra can be both a devout Hindu and a scientist at the same time. Stille seems surprised that Mishra can maintain such an identity. Why is this, do you think? What is a "complex double identity," exactly? Does everyone have one? Or only a few people? What other types of identity are there?

2. In his discussion of efforts to clean up the Ganges, Stille declares that "wars over water--a prospect that haunts the twenty-first century--have already become a reality in India." Is it possible that there could be struggles--if not wars--over water in the United States this century? To respond to this question, you might begin by finding out where the water you drink at your school and at your home comes from. Where does this water go? How is it cleaned?

Questions for Making Connections Between Readings:

1. In Michael Pollan's essay, "Playing God in the Garden," we learn about the efforts multinational agricultural corporations are making to genetically modify the food chain, a project that they justify, in part, in the name of better feeding the world's inhabitants. In "The Ganges' Next Life," we learn how religious practice, the population explosion, and governmental incompetence have combined to contaminate the Ganges River. Should science be working to provide the means for the human population to continue to increase? Is feeding the world objectively good? Does it matter if this project is motivated by reason, spirituality, or hopes for financial gain?

2. One could argue that William Oswald has developed a new and unique approach to cleaning up water, one that rejects centralized, high-tech installations in favor of solutions that "cost less, use little electricity, and can be maintained with relatively little training by the local people." Can we say the same, however, about what Mishra has done-that his approach is also "new and unique"? Some people might argue that the changes Mishra has made are merely a matter of style-dressing up Oswald's approach in the clothing of traditional Indian religion. But how might Virginia Postrel reply to this accusation? In what ways might changes in the "style" of technology play a key role in cleaning up the Ganges?

More Stille assignments...