Reading the assigned chapters of NPS really provided insight into the Jamaica Bay and the people who inhabit the area around it. Considering the fact that I had never even heard of the Jamaica Bay before this past Monday’s class, I was shocked to read about how important it is to the lives of so many people and how the people who have emigrated to the area have not only changed the dynamics of the Bay, but have also utilized the resources the Bay provides. Not only does the Jamaica Bay foster a great deal of biological and ecological diversity, but it has also been crucial to the organization of religious congregations, and to this day remains an integral part of the celebration of different cultures and religions.

However, perhaps the most interesting thing that I learned about was the sacredness and spirituality of water to many different religions, especially for the Hindus who have settled around the Bay and believe that Mother Ganga, the goddess of sea and running water, manifests itself through the Jamaican Bay. Mr. Veerapan even explains that “Water is a cleaner, giver of life, a sustainer of plants; we can’t exist without water.  It is vital for life, for everything.  The ocean is the mother of all…Devotees do not pray to the water as a physical entity, or an idol, but rather believe that coming into contact with the sacredness of water, as a source of life and spirituality, is important for liberating devotees from impurity”.

This idea truly sheds light on a different aspect of appreciation of a natural resource. Most people who see a lake (or any body of water for that matter) often solely pay attention to the aesthetic beauty and do not entertain the idea that the body of water can signify something much greater than simply beauty. The Jamaica Bay embodies a source of pride, tradition, and culture for many different groups of people and it has been truly eye-opening to realize that a simple bay can signify so much and play such an integral role in the lives of so many people.