Travel Journals XVII: Varanasi
Varanasi is the only place in backpacker lore that I've ever heard universally referred to as "Real India." This makes sense because very few people have enough imagination to invent this place. It is the Vatican of the Hindu world. It is an ancient and profoundly sacred place. in every other respect it is almost the polar opposite of Pushkar. my arrival in Varanasi was on a general class train car sandwiched between a lot of sweaty guys. my first glimpse of the city from underneath someone else's armpit. Some might argue that this was an appropriate introduction. Pushkar is dignified, serene and genteel. you can feel the march ofhistory as you stroll the broad well ordered avenues of Pushkar. Varanasi is simply the result of millions of people living in close quarters over several thousand years. it is even more chaotic than the rest of India. the streets of Old City are narrow and could in some cases admit a car. thy are in fact barricaded off from traffic to prevent this from happening because Indian drivers love this sort of challenge. in some places there are alleyways so tight that i can touch the walls on either side by barely lifting my arms! the streets are hopelessly labyrinthine. i actually managed to walk in a complete circle without realising it twice. Add to this the usual temples, chai shops, random livestock, "Indian Doormats" left behind by the livestock, Kamikaze motorcyclists, vegetable carts monkeys,and milling citezens and you have an endlessly fascinating and virtually impossible to navigate neighborhood.
Varanasi is based around the Ghats, an extensive historic network of stairways leading into the banks of the Ganges river.The Ganges is a body of water so sacred that that nothing can destroy it's purity, not even the truly staggering amounts of garbage, raw sewage, corpses, and industrial waste that are routinely dumped into it. it is either the purest or one of the most polluted waterways in the world depending solely on your point of view. The best possible way to view the ghats is from a rowboat along the shore. this is primarily because no one is coming up to you and attempting to sell you a boat ride, massage, drugs, silk, a shave, votive candles, or offering to introduce you to a world famous astrologist. It was here in Varanasi that i realised that one of the key differences between Christianity and Eastern Religions is that in the east the money changers were never actually cast out of the temple.Sarnath, the deer park where the Buddha delivered his first sermon is nearby. it is now oddly like a theme park, lacking only the tilt a whirl to complete the effect. The Ghats are not only teeming with touts, hucksters, beggars and opportunistic Babas but ordinary devout Hindus who have come here to pray, bathe and do laundry in the purifying (yet probably flammable) waters and prepare for death (oddly, this doesn't seem to be directly caused by the river). It is apparently very good Karma to die in Varanasi and there are several "burning ghats' where reportedly 200 cremations a day take place. I spent a riveting, if slightly morbid hour indulging a Brahmin's irrepressible urge to explain things and now know a great deal more about Hindu funerary practices than i ever thought possible. the whole experience cost me nothing more than a small donation to a Baba (Holy man) who works with the poor and a vague promise to visit my amateur tour guide's silk shop one day. In India when a stranger approaches, it's either a sales pitch or they genuinely want to be nice. you never know which one it is until you engage them.
It isn't too long before you realise that Varanasi's (formerly called Benares) principle industry other than religion, is silk and there is no shortage of people who would I've nothing more than to show you the wonders of their craft if you'd just step into their shop for a minute. those who do emerge, somewhat dazed 20 minutes later, the proud owners of an elaborately embroidered garment that they've only paid double the fair market value for. they are probably then set upon by a rickshaw driver who will gladly recommend the only guesthouse in town that isn't booked solid, crawling with roaches or a hotbed of crime. as much as I'd like to believe that this is done out of genuine concern for their fellow man, I've met too many rickshaw drivers and happen to know that they receive a cut of the overinflated room price. The third Major export of Varanasi is recently impoverished tourists. I'd like to believe I'm fairly savvy of most of the common scams by now. I still wear my "Pushkar Passport' bracelet though. it helps remind me that sometimes I'm not as clever as i think i am. In Varanasi, this is a useful thing to remember.
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