Fire on the Ganges by Radhika Iyengar

When I first picked up ‘Fire on the Ganges,’ I did not expect the emotional intensity it would demand of me. It is not an easy read, because it confronts a reality that is often deliberately ignored, the lives of the Dom community of Varanasi, the untouchables, who live and work among the ashes of the dead yet are treated as if they are invisible. They stay marginalized by the society they serve, trying to live meaningful lives in a world that treats them as less than human.

Radhika Iyengar’s writing is compassionate. She does not romanticize the settings – the ghats, the pyres, and the river Ganges. Through various stories of individuals, we see how caste, poverty, gender, and faith collide in the lives of people who cremate the dead so that others can reach moksha, (liberation) while they themselves are denied basic human dignity. Despite immense hardships, the Doms show remarkable resilience. 

What struck me most was the heartbreaking irony, the Doms are entrusted with the sacred task of cremating the dead and facilitating moksha, yet they themselves are denied dignity in life as untouchables. This contradiction runs through the book and is very unsettling.

The mental toll the Dom children suffer is heartbreaking. Growing up surrounded by death, pyres, and scavenging not only desensitizes children to violence and grief but also deprives them of childhood. One scene involving a child, playing among the pyres with no concept of how unusual and weird that would seem to outsiders, stayed with me long after I closed the book.

Only four of us could attend this month, and the conversation was unusually reflective, yet we had a rich discussion. Some found the content emotionally heavy and draining, others appreciated the exposure to a world they knew little about. We all agreed it was an important read- one that forces reflection on caste and privilege. It was also a very professionally researched book.

Our book group rated this book an 8 out of 10.

Review thanks to Nabila Ahmad