VARANASI

VARANASI 

By Akshaya Ramesh

Have you ever wondered what a day in Varanasi is like? Well, why would anyone trouble themselves by doing that? It isn't like you're going to move to this place - of all the places in the world - any time in the future, is it? 
That was exactly what I had been thinking (should've known better, given that Varanasi is my mother's hometown), until I had to move here.

I've lived in Varanasi for over a year and a half (believe me when I say this - that's a long time indeed). I don't fancy this place much, but Varanasi isn't the worst place in the world either. Varanasi, as we know it, is(for the lack of a better word) filthy; a place littered with omnipresent polythene bags; where 10% of the total population are stray dogs; here you find monkeys lining the walls of your terrace(if you do own a house here) and grabbing your favourite pair of jeans, almost every day; you may find (stubborn) cows sitting comfortably in the middle of the road, quaint, more so because they're immune to threats or persuasion - nudge or push them, they refuse to move ; neither is it complicated for you to adjust to the jolty, unmade roads and the vehicular traffic; I'm warning you - if you ever visit Varanasi, I bet each one of you will step on cow dung - at least one time (I hope you enjoy the experience! *Evil Laugh*); here you'll find religious, god-fearing people and most importantly, temples, at almost every turn you take.

In the beginning, you'd be amazed at the round-the-clock rush and traffic in the city, you're likely to bump into a lot of people, you'll be shocked at the sight of poor people without proper shelter or clothes especially in the winters, while on the contrary, in the summers, you'll be compelled to sympathise with the diligent rickshaw-walas, the looks on their faces will instill a sense of compassion in you. The uniqueness of Varanasi will dazzle you. 

If you ever get to buy a house a few feet away from any ghat (there are around 80 ghats), consider yourself incredibly lucky (especially if it's Assi/Hanuman Ghat. *let me just say I'm not being biased*), for you, my dear, get to take a walk by the river, watch the sunrise/sunset, or just sit there and observe the flow of the river or read a book for as long as you like (I'm one of the privileged ones too, but sadly, I've never done any of this before - except maybe walking). Not to mention, the river is a great place for you to learn to swim(maybe *was, it's a little too mucky now), but make sure you don't go too deep or unfortunately, you're going to drown. 

Every morning, from about 5 am, you'll find hundreds of people taking a dip in the R Ganges, praying to God, hoping that their sins will be pardoned. You'll see kids swimming, bewildered foreigners with cameras, tourists on boats, boys playing cricket in the ghats, while many fly kites. Not everyone has the privilege to witness all of this, not many people know of all the things treasured by the people who live here (oh, of course they do! I just wanted to be dramatic).

I guarantee that for the first couple months after settling in, you're bound to be immensely annoyed at the sight of cows, dogs and cow dung every where. You'll crave smooth, clean, wide roads. You'll definitely be taken aback by the auto and rickshaw-walas' not-so-jaunty demeanor. If you have no close relatives or friends who live here, you probably have no idea of how hard people try to trick you into doing things or how long it'll take to get banarasis (I don't mean to be offensive) to do something for you. If you have to survive in this place, you need to be assertive, patient, vigilant (maybe even ignorant), and of course, befriend people who have "contacts" so they can guide and help you during your stay. (I don't think people living in and around the BHU campus face any problem at all, except maybe foreigners).

Just a little something I'd like to mention - If you're 
1. Accustomed to talking to anyone, anywhere in English and,
2. If you're a student, 
remember that even the spirits of the other students in your school (referring to those who don't talk in English, who think you're "showing off") will haunt and taunt you forever.

So do yourself a favour and find awesome people (like the editor of this post and me, of course) asap!

- Credits of editing my first draft to Abhilaasha Kaul

P.S - She did nothing, really.