9 CAPTIVATING DAYS

Our journey to Varanasi started  in the early morning of 2nd November. Cold breeze was blowing, people in jackets and pullovers, some smoking to get a little comfort from cold.

It was after long time that I was going in flight which made me little nervous at first but everything became alright after 10-15 minutes. Some random thoughts were flashing in my mind like a bullet faster than the speed of plane in which we were travelling. Just imagining how would be Varanasi , about the height at which we were travelling, the desire of human beings to conquer heights. While looking through the window into the sky I couldn’t find any clouds. The wing of the aeroplane in the pale blue sky appeared like a photograph which is well framed, when looked through the window  and it appeared we were not in motion.

We reached Varanasi by noon, went to the famous Banaras Hindu University, one of the oldest universities in India, with a campus of more than 1300 acres of land. That evening we went to the Viswanath temple inside the campus, which was built by Pandit Madan Mohan Malvya, who is also the founder of the same university. It is very big two storeyed building. Shiva is the main deity there.One could see the main idol, a shiv linga from all four cardinal directions as there is garbha-griha. Some temple musical instruments were played which created a positive vibe that the whole temple along with our bodies started to vibrate. That feeling is beyond words.

The next day all of us were very much excited to go to the ghats. The roads to the ghats are narrow, crowded with people coming to the ghats, roadside vendors, barbers, cycle rickshaws, horses and cows.

On the way we saw small boys of the age group 10-12 wearing white dhoti and kurta, walking in a line. I got a feeling that those kids were studying Sanskrit, vedas and other religious books. At that moment my thought went back to my hometown in Kerala, where one can find kids wearing white kurtha and paijama and wearing white skull caps, who studies Quran and other Arabic texts. All these religions want the coming generations not to forget what their religious leaders preach. I was wondering do these kids really enjoy learning these things or is it because of compulsion from their parents. In the mean while someone spotted a photo studio “Santhosh Chaya Chitra” where one could find the old , big-fat camera. I was thinking even at the height of technology people are attracted towards vintage stuffs.

Assi ghat (the first ghat we visited) began with a row of beggars, sadhus and small shops selling flowers and other stuffs. The silent serene Ganga flowing for years, in which pilgrims were taking holy dips. The Ganga may be filthy to the outsiders, but is pure and holy to those people. We went Tulsi ghat where one could find to a venerated old Hindu religious complex consisting of 3-4 small temples. There one could find an old man in his 70’s wearing a white dhoti and tilak on his forehead teaching Sanskrit slokas to 2 small kids. I was wondering about the relevance of such teachings in the current world scenario.

 Then we walked along the ghats which differ in their degree of importance. Some of them are totally empty, some occupied by stray cows and dogs where as some are closely packed with people. Later we reached Harish Chandra Ghat. All of us were very much curious and disturbed to see 3-4 bodies being cremated at the same time. Everyone stopped there for a while, there were around 10-15 people including some foreigners sitting on benches having a close look on the happenings. Then we went to Dashaswamedh Ghat , the most fabulous of all ghats. Colourful umbrellas and flags were erected there hinting of some upcoming festivals. The most fabulous aarti  happens at this ghat. Then we headed towards the major cremation ghat- Manikarnika. This one is the dullest of all ghats. Flags and buildings which are unoccupied had turned into black due to the adsorption of the dust and smoke. More than 10 cremations were happening at the same time. Photography is prohibited on that ghat. There were shops selling items needed for cremation like earthen pot, flowers , and clothes. Logs of wood were piled here and there. But the place is bustling with people.

The next day we went on a boat ride in ganga. We started in the early morning from Assi Ghat. Even in the early morning ghats were filled with people . The Ganges is so wide that it was impossible to see the other side. Sun appeared like a red dot in the sky. The Ganges is flowing, hoping that the flow never stops, giving salvation to thousands of souls. Hundreds of people are taking bath in the holy Ganga, time stands still in their unflickered faith. People performing the morning aarti, sun god standing above all whose image gets captured on the surface of Ganges. The boat man Raja says proudly “we drink this water, but nobody in our family is sick”, reassuring people’s faith in Ganga. One could see all the ghats from the boat which are splendid and distinct from each other. Along the ghats you can find so many temples. The so called cursed , slanting, sunken temple whose lower half is below water, prompts us to ask so many questions with the 5w’s and H. Kids diving into the river and swimming, for them the river is a swimming pool, while for others the wide ghats are their cricket pitch. On the surface of water one could find so many things floating starting from the warm-vibrant diyas to cold corpses covered in white clothes.

From the next day onwards we started exploring Banares all by ourselves. We went to the ghats and were little bit confused what to do, so we started roaming along the ghats. Later I met a guy,  Nazeem Aman  from Patna, who is in his 20’s and was feeding fishes in the ganges with small balls of maida dough. He works in a textile mill. He says “ I don’t believe in the sanctity and holiness of Ganga, but there is some unknown factor which is attracting me towards it. Whenever I get free time I come and sit on the banks that too for hours” When asked about cleaning Ganga and ghats he told that a change in government doesn’t bring about the needed result. A change in attitude of people as a whole is needed. Later we went to the narrow gallies to find some authentic banarasi foods. We went to Dalmandi , which comprises of very closely packed shops and narrow lanes. It’s a predominantly a muslim area as you can find that most of the buildings has domes and minarets with Arabic inscriptions hanged or carved.In those lanes one could find all kinds of shops starting from Tea, kabab , biriyani, panwala, chudiwala, textile and jewellery shops to shops selling electronics and other duty free items and dry fruits and nuts. These area again reminded me of certain places near my hometown where one can find narrow streets selling all sorts of stuffs, which is also a Muslim dominant area. There we went to a small hotel to have Moradabadi Biriyani. There it was written “NO BEEF”. I asked the owner “Why so?”. He told me “otherwise, Hindus will not come”. So even though for making profit, in a way he is being secular. He also told me that those gallis are very old and built by the British. There were many other hotels other than that, mostly the customers were also Muslims , I could identify them as they were wearing white skull caps.Then we went in search of Kachouri galli asking each and every person whom we met, but when we reached there couldn’t even find a single kachouri shop. So we went back to Assi ghat on a cycle rickshaw, still very popular on the streets of Varanasi . Its very nice to travel in a cycle rickshaw, but you will feel bad when the rickshaw guy struggles to pedal and have to get down and push it. On the sides of the streets you could see small hotels with the names of Hindu gods and goddesses , where most of the customers are Hindus. I feel that discrimination on the basis of religion applies to hotels and the food they serve.

It was Dev-Diwali next day. We went to the ghats in the evening, all of which were illuminated with lights. People lighting chirag to eliminate the darkness around them. People were gushing to the ghats. In a way, crowd is also a centre of attraction, there lies a hidden beauty with it.In a crowd there are so many people, from different region, speaking different languages, believing in different faith , but all under a single umbrella-the crowd. Coming from somewhere going to somewhere and in between, spending some time together. To an outsider, the crowd is totally chaotic, suffocating and frightening. But its completely different to a person from Varanasi. They enjoy being in the crowd, to them it’s a not a new thing. Their loud chatter , doing dance steps and shouting “har har mahadev” are evidences for that. In each ghat you can find a different music ranging from soothing religious bhajans to rocking DJ music. The ghats with all the illumination turned Varanasi literally into the city of lights. At Harish Chandra Ghat cremation was still going on, even though it was a festive occasion. Music was played there also, at the same time bodies were being cremated.While the whole ghats were celebrating Dev-Diwali , a few people were mourning for the departed. The crowd is least affected by these sentiments as these cremations happens 24x7 at Varanasi. There were some people who were trying to make money out of these crowd, small vendors selling tea and other chat items. There were also some so called “sadhus”, trying to exploit whoever they meet in the crowd by asking for money. It was really a wonderful experience of being in such a crowd.

Next day , Prime Minister , Mr Narendra Modi was coming to Varanasi , So all the gates of BHU were closed till noon. So we went to the sculpture department of BHU, where we found some students working on sculptures. I felt that when compared to the efforts they put into their works, the sculptures are not getting enough recognition. Later, in the afternoon we went to the ghats .Each time you walk along the ghats, you place yourself closer to Varanasi .We walked to Harish Chandra Ghat where we could find corpses about to be cremated ,as if  waiting for Lord shiva to give Taraka mantra in their ears to get liberated from the cycle of life and death and attain salvation. The people who work in the cremation grounds were chatting with each other, some playing cricket metres away from it. Nobody is concerned much about the cremation, as they see it everyday, everytime they cross that ghat. Foreigners coming and sitting near the cremation ground, watching the corpses burn, may be out of curiosity or strangeness or realising that nothing matters once the person is dead, understanding  the karma in between life and death. Dead bodies of people who were once rich or poor, burned in the same ghat , so close to each other, later their ashes going to the same Ganga. We then moved to a hotel near Bhelupur, Kerala Café , which is a 42 year old establishment. The owner of the restaurant is Mr Ramdass Nair from Ottappalam,Kerala, who is in his early 50’s.He came to Varanasi along with his brother who worked in LIC Varanasi. The restaurant was filled with people from different regions and countries. He finds himself more attached to Varanasi than his hometown. He tells that the people of Varanasi are very good and encouraging, who were very much helpful for him in establishing his identity at Varanasi. He tells “even though there are lot of people belonging to different faiths and beliefs in Varanasi, everyone lives in harmony and peace. Problems occur only when some anti-social elements instigates something which eventually flares up. He told me about a swamiji from Kerala near Tilmandewar temple. We then goes there, sees the huge “swaybhoo” shivlingam, where we also found the idol of Ayyappa, predominantly south indian hindu deity. But we could not find the swamiji there.

Next day we again went to the ghats and did some sketches. While sketching , a man came to us and introduced himself telling “I am Kyote Han, I am from South Korea”. He enquired what we were doing and further told us that he is an industrial designer and is fed up with his works and wanted to take a break which should be spiritual, so he chose Varanasi. He tells that “Varanasi is the city of hopes and desire”. He explained that there is a hope and desire behind every lamp which is floating on the Ganges and also the hope that the souls of the departed whose bodies are being cremated at Varanasi , gets liberated. We again went to “Kerala Café”, where Mr. Nair told us that each state is allotted with a ghat and the ghat for Kerala is Kshamewar ghat. He told us that there are two old homes in that ghat namely Travancore satram and Cochin satram, but both of them are unoccupied now. Then I went to the old gallies of Tilmandeswar, which were paved with bricks, it was an area occupied by both Hindu and Muslims. I roamed along some unknown streets and gallis which were occupied mainly by silk traders and paan shops. Later I felt like sketching some old buildings, so I asked a shop owner if I could sit in a corner of the verandah of his shop, but he denied. I don’t know why, there was no one in the shop, may be out of suspicion. Then I found out another space, but this time I dint ask for any permission, I sat there and started sketching, sun disappeared and the sky turned black and it was difficult to continue sketching, a guy came out of the building in front of which I was sitting, he went inside again and switched on the light outside on seeing me sketching. And I thanked him for his kind heart. It also made me think about the difference in the characters of people and their perspective about an outsider.

Next day we went to Sarnath, the ancient town which has a crucial role in Indian history.There we saw the lion capitol of Emperor Ashoka in the museum of ASI. It has got a vital part in the origin of religions like Buddhism and Jainism. There are remains old Buddhist monasteries around which devotes were walking chanting some verses in pali. Then we went to Ramnagar fort which is on the other side of Ganga through Pandit Madan Mohan Malvya Bridge. Inside the fort one could see a full fledge collection weapons like gun, swords and arrows and a collection of vintage luxury cars which includes Cadillac, Plymouth and Mercedes. The palace also had a wide collection of antiques made of ivory and metals. In the evening we went to the ghats again where I met Mr. Wattez who is aclinical psychologist from Paris. He was in his early 60’s.He told that foreigners consider india to be the home of all unfriendly stray cows and dogs .He tells “ there is nothing to be afraid of these poor animals, they are quite friendly”. According to him Varanasi is all about Ganga, he tells that everyone coming to Varanasi should take a dip in Ganga, even though it is polluted and dirty. He tells “ Ganges is the soul of Varanasi and without Ganga Varanasi would not have flourished. “He also feels that the culture and tradition of Varanasi should not be affected by the massive inflow of tourists. He is totally against westernisation. He tells that people should prefer chai over coke and also tells that such American soft drinks should be banned in Varanasi. Then I met Mr B S Yadav, who is a very elderly person in his early seventies. He is an ex-military officer. He has come to Varanasi from some other town for doing some funeral rites. He tells that it his dharam to do that, however big or rich he is. According to him, each and every religion is given respect in Varanasi. Separate ghats are given to each religion , so that they can do their religious practices at their respective ghats, thus reaffirming equality and secularism. He also tells that these religious people can go to other ghats and participate in the celebrations and other functions of other religious groups.

The next day, which was our last day at Varanasi, we decided to visit Kashi Vishwanath. We started at 5 am in the morning. By 5:40 we reached the entrance, the darshan queue was pretty long then itself. We had to stand in queue for about 3 hours. The security check was also quite tight there.I could see a military watch tower near the temple. I was wondering why??

But on close check I noticed that there was a mosque next to the temple-the gyanvyapi mosque , constructed by Aurengazeb after destroying an existing temple supposedly.  The temple and mosque were divided with a huge wall made of iron bar on top of which there is fencing too. It just created a feel of international border as seen in movies. Police and military officials were roaming everywhere holding guns in their hands. The Kashi Vishwanath temple is smaller than I thought, it was covered with gold. Near to that is the famous gyanvyapi well, which is covered with a plain white cloth. The person standing in front of us told that there is a shivlinga inside that well which is supposedly a part of the temple destroyed by Aurangazeb. Lot of people were taking pradakshinas around the well. The well was the centre of interest for most of the people. I was wondering if that well became the centre of interest because of the power of the shivlinga inside it or the fact that it is an evidence of destruction  by a ruler of another religion. The crowd intensed and people started pouring milk on which shivlingas they can find. The main idol-the shivlinga is very small and luckily by the grace of god I got a chance to touch it amidst the crowd. I felt relieved after touching it as if some mission was fulfilled.

So after spending almost 10 days at Varanasi we started our journey back to Bangalore in the afternoon.