Sailing on the Ganga

I am not a morning person. It took me a lot of effort to get up at four in the morning. We started off our expedition late and missed out the sunrise on Ganga but we got to witness the daily morning activities happening in the river from Ganga's eyes. 

With the soothing rays of sunlight shining on me, and the calm sound of flowing Ganga, I revisited the ghats. As we sailed on the holy river, I saw women and men bathing and praying, Sadhus and Sants meditating, kids selling diyas, the ghats being cleaned, boatmen cleaning their boats and ready to start their daily business, etc. 

But what really caught my eye was the Kaashi Karvat temple. The temple was made up of beautiful carved stone and the temple was tilted and sunk in the holy river. According to the locals, it was built by a young man for his mother to repay her doodh ka karz (debt of her milk). The lady scoffed at his facile attempt and the temple turned lop-sided and was hence known as the Kaashi Karvat. 

As the boat took a turn, I succumbed to my sleep and sailed slowly back to Assi Ghat.

The Ghats

We started off our day with a heavy breakfast and a lot of excitement because we were finally going to see the ghats! We took a rickshaw to Lanka Gate and from there we went walking to the ghats. As we headed towards the ghats, I realised that I was back to the hustle bustle and the noise of Varanasi. The city felt so different. Maybe because had a totally different nature from the city I live in? People on the streets of Varanasi were so energetic! As I was walking through the streets, I saw cycle rickshaw guys fighting, men having the famous Benaresi Paan, pakodas, jalebis, etc., men getting a haircut and massage done in the roadside barber shop, people going to the ghats to pray,etc. I couldn't believe it was just nine in the morning because people were so energized and the streets were jammed with traffic which made me feel like it was twelve in the afternoon.

As we finally entered Assi Ghat, I wanted to talk to people over there and I wanted to know what they are doing and why they are doing that!

At the entrance of Assi Ghat, I was talking to a paan wala when Parvati ji approached me and she asked me if I was from the city, so I casually replied that yes, I am from the city. Suddenly, her eyes brightened up and she started smiling. After a few minutes, she asked me if I could take her to the city to work? I smiled at her innocent question and replied that I am sorry but I am a student, if I take you to the city, I don't know what work you will do for me. So she replied that, I am ready to do any work just take me to the city. I felt bad and clueless because I didn't know what to reply so, just to make her feel better I asked her if I could take her picture and I told her that the day I finish my college, I will come to Varanasi and take her to the city, which brought a million dollar smile on her face.

I was deeply impacted by my conversation with Parvati ji as she was the first person I talked to after coming to Benares and she made me realize the importance of what I have. As I went ahead, I kept thinking, will the lives and stories of people of Benares change me as a person when I go back home? Will I meet more people like Parvati ji?

As we walked ahead on the Assi Ghat, I saw so many interesting things that I couldn't let go of my camera for a minute.

As we walked further ahead on the ghats, we met the Black Boom Boom Baba. He is an Aghori who had an undergraduate degree from BHU and was in the army before he made the decision of being an Aghori. He told us that he was a famous Yoga teacher and he showed us a bundle of newspaper articles on him. I really liked the way he talked to people and how he loved telling people about his accomplishments. It was interesting talking to him but I felt very intimidated at the same time.

As we continued to walk through the ghats, we reached the Harishchandra ghat. Harishchandra ghat is one of the cremation ghats of Varanasi. While walking by, we encountered three to four cremation in process. Although we knew that it was a burning dead body ten steps away from us, we still wanted to sit and see the whole process. I couldn't understand why I wanted to see the cremation. Maybe because it is the reality of life and you realize that few years from now, you are going to be in the same place?

And finally we reached Manikarnika Ghat! Manikarnika Ghat is the second cremation ghat of Varanasi but, the cremation process is done on a larger scale compared to Harishchandra Ghat. When I reached Manikarnika Ghat, the idea of cremation didn't disturb me anymore but I felt very depressing while sitting on the ghat.

We finally called it a day and went back to the guest house. The day was very hectic and there was a lot to take in, emotionally and physically but I couldn't wait to see what was next..

Vishwanath Temple: The unsettling feeling in the aarti of Shiva

After a nice long nap, we decided to pay a visit to the Vishwanath Temple in the BHU campus. As we entered the temple complex, there was a lot of hustle bustle as we were just in time for the aarti! The Vishwanath Temple looked breathtakingly beautiful under the mood light. The temple worshiped many idols which were different forms of shiva. As we entered the temple, it was peaceful. The cool marble floor gave me chills as I walked through the temple. As we went further into the temple, we entered the main room where the Shivling resided. Just like the other temples, we prayed, took blessings and moved on. I wasn't so fascinated by it.
After exploring the temple, me and my group came to a verandah overlooking the garden within the temple. While standing there, we had a though provoking discussion about religion, traditions and beliefs. As the discussion went on, it became much more intense and that is when it hit me and made me think about my religious beliefs even more. Somewhere, I started doubting and rethinking my beliefs.
As I was in my zone and thinking about the discussion, I got distracted by the sound of bells and drums playing. The sound was so captivating that it pulled me towards the source of the sound. When I entered the main room, I saw men playing big damroos and blowing the conch shell with bells ringing in a rhythmic pattern. The music gave me goosebumps and hypnotized me. My mind was blank and all I could think of was the music and I kept staring at the men playing the damroo.  The music was violent but peaceful at the same time. I was confused. How can something be violent and peaceful at the same time? I couldn't understand how I really felt while I was standing in the temple, captivated by the aarti music around me. The aarti made me feel very unsettled. As the music became louder and louder, my heartbeat became faster. Every time the aarti picked up pace, men shouted 'HAR HAR MAHADEV!' which gave me more goosebumps. After the aarti was over there was a strange silence but I could still hear the damroos, conch shell and bells in my mind.
I kept thinking about the aarti at night. Confused and still captivated. And now, I couldn't wait to see what the city holds for me.

Touchdown Varanasi

On our way to Benares Hindu University.

As we landed Varanasi, my usual enthusiasm before every trip was back. I had my camera ready in my hands and I couldn't wait to take my bag and get out of the airport and see the land of Shiva.
But as we stepped out of the airport, I was taken aback. The image in front of my eyes was poles apart from what I was expecting. I was told that, Benares is one of the dirtiest cities in the country but surprisingly, it wasn't. I was mentally prepared to see a very dirty and filthy city with mountains of garbage, polluted water bodies and animals walking on the streets as if they owned it. But to my surprise, Varanasi was very clean! Clean roads, no open manholes and no dirty waters. Yes, there was a lot of traffic but not because of the stray animals on the streets but because of the people of Varanasi who add a charisma to the character of the city.
As we entered the BHU campus, I felt like I was in a different Varanasi. Within the booming and hyper city of Benares, was BHU, calm and quiet. As we drove through the campus, I enjoyed the fresh air and the picturesque view of the campus.
As we reached the guest house, we all pounced at food served for us as if we hadn't eaten in years. After overeating the amazing lunch, we settled down in our rooms and went to sleep.

En route Varanasi

With a lot of effort and alarms, I woke up at 3 a.m., all set to leave. We gathered at the meeting point, with dead and sleepy faces. I could see everyone coming back to life by the time we boarded the flight. But as soon as the flight took off from Bangalore, I could see everyone dozing off and drooling away. And the rest of the journey was a blur. I just wanted to reach Varanasi and take a long nap but I was forgetting the fact that there was a long journey ahead of us.

After reaching Delhi and waiting for an hour at the airport, we finally got onto our flight to Varanasi. Forty-five minutes to Varanasi..

Before Varanasi

I am enthusiastic traveler. If I was being my usual self, I would've set a countdown to the trip. But something felt off before leaving for Varanasi. I wasn't so excited about the trip. Maybe because I kept thinking about how I could improve my messed up grades through this course or how I will survive eight days with people I don't know at all. I kept trying to convince myself that it'll be an amazing experience but somehow I just didn't want to go.
But when the day arrived, I pumped up a bit and went for the trip with a hope to find something. That something can be an object, a story or SOMETHING intangible which has an impact on me which stays with me forever.