SWEPT overboard by the churning rapids of the Ganges River, our rafting mate struggled in his life jacket and helmet to get back to our boat, terror flashing in his eyes. I sat closest to his flailing hands and the rest of the rafting group shouted for me to get a hold of him.
Just moments before, the scene had been anything but frantic. We’d all been drifting in the raft in calm emerald-colored water in the foothills of the Himalayas. On one bank of the river was a long beach of beige stones leading to a pink Hindu temple,...