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Impressions of Varanasi

Annette
2005-08-29 19:18:06

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The river is calm as we shove off.

Little specks of light float on its edge -

flickering candles set out by early arrivals.

A weather-beaten houseboat drifts in the distance,

toward the Eastern bank of the Ganga....

I remember well how glad I was to finally be on my way to Varanasi. Travelling around India, I would hear on a bus, train, or plane that Varanasi was "overwhelming, simply magic". Armed with such praise for the city, I departed Agra still shrouded in a chilly, early morning fog. The Indian Airlines flight, packed to capacity, was uneventful except for the fellow passenger seated next to me. Jolly and eager to please, his Kohl-rimmed eyes smiling at me jovially, he explained that he worked for the airline. To prove it to me, he made considerable demands on the flight attendant to get softdrinks, coffee, as well as tea, which he urged on me in Indian hospitality.

I took his kindness as a good omen for the visit to Varanasi, also known as Benares. The city conjures images of a most exotic kind: the sacred Ganges, innumerable places of worship, winding alleys filled with shops selling the famous silks of the area, pilgrims, gurus, and finally the ghats - steps leading down to the river.

Encountering India for the first time, the masses of people everywhere, the closeness of humanity, is unsettling at first and takes some getting used to. There seems to be no elbow room in the cities, and Varanasi is no exception. The local population of well over a million is supplemented every day by thousands upon thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Everyone shares the city with the largest contingent of cows I ever encountered roaming freely in an urban setting. These cows were moving about everywhere and had right-of-way in every instance. Mostly, they were kindly tolerated wherever they happened to lay or stand. At worst, they were ...