Fire on the Ganges : Life Among the Dead in Banaras

Fire on the Ganges chronicles the everyday realities of the Doms a Dalit sub-caste in Banaras designated by tradition to perform the Hindu rite of cremation. Despite their role in this crucial work the community is condemned to the lowest order in caste hierarchy and its members continue to be treated as ‘untouchables’. The book plunges into Banaras’s historical past while narrowing its lens to a few spirited characters from the Dom community. ­rough their tales of struggle and survival loss and ambition betrayal and love it tells the at-times-heartbreaking at-times-exhilarating story of a community struggling to find a place beyond that accorded to it by ancient tradition.