Varanasi Rawest Stains

When you first arrive, the streets and alleyways near the Ganges can feel like a shit hole… one giant toilet!

But what it really takes, is time to acclimate to all that’s going on in the surrounding environment.

Navigating from my guesthouse and making my way through the maze of homes, shops, vendors, temples,.. I must have eyes all around me. The streets here are stained with beggars, cows in the middle of the street blocking your path, stray dogs sunbathing where they choose, huge cow patties and smears, the smell of piss from outdoor communal urinals, shop owners accosting you at every corner to “Buy! Buy! Buy!“, rickshaw drivers swarming you one after another every 10 feet and fake guides wanting to give you directions. Of course, there’s the biggest, most unfortunate stain of all… the poor. Life here, near the Ganges can feel like a raw reality.

Varanasi’s raw streak can knock you in the gut

Today, the father (or older brother) of a boy I photographed came straight in front of my camera and gave the child a hard slap on the cheek, shocking both, myself, the child and a group of friends who had gathered around us.

[*Only days later, I realized that it's probable that it was due to the boy, Rajesh & his sister's insistence of me entering their home to take pictures of them in front of their altar that was the reason for such punishment]

Dirt is everywhere

Sometimes you feel like a faith in a God the only illumination in the darkness of these homes, which don’t even own electricity to fuel light..

An hour later, I passed the open door of a dark house & I saw a man initiating sex with a woman, in the way a dog corners a mouse! I stopped 15 feet away. Perhaps curious voyeurism on my part- something didn’t feel right…maybe it was the open nonchalance of an old woman selling jewelry just a few feet away. The man came into the doorway, looked around, smiled pleasantly at me, then returned into the house. Another man came out and closed the doors, holding them shut from the outside (see picture below). I could hear as the struggle inside as the couple banged against the door, while the friend held it back, grinning.

Was it willing, rape, or prostitution? I didn’t know …

My surroundings didn’t lend visible clues to distinguish a difference.

Ugliness is tiring and wears on a backpacking trip. I want a bit of beauty to feel rejuvenated. More than anything, I want to whine. Team M&D changed their flight plans immediately upon their arrival at their hotel (they were upset because it didn’t have a pool). They are leaving earlier than planned.

Indian people DO have a kind of warm curiosity about foreigners

They’re very similar to Nepalese, but unlike the Nepalese, it’s not always immediately seen. Indians seem much more like New Yorkers. The harsh lifestyle demands you to develop a rough exterior, a selective eye to what you want to see and a hard tortoise-shell to guard against the climate & daily rat races; but when you flip the shell over, you will find a genuine warmth, willing friendliness and a lot of curious stares.

People like having their picture taken & will thank you for taking it

…Then there’s the few who will try to charge you for it!

I never endorse begging or monetary rewards. However, I will endorse a kid being a kid and occasionally reward a child by giving them “a sweet” or a look at their picture after I’ve taken it. I’ve the curse of a powerful sweet tooth, so I always have treats in my bag (for myself). The reactions of the children upon receiving “just one piece” of candy or cookie, gives me both pleasure & sadness as I find that typically, that the “candy wrapper” is sucked dry as if it were gold!

A little boy was trying to make himself my “guide” by helping me find my way from my guesthouse out to the main street, so I gave him a chocolate cookie for his help. I was thinking he’d be disappointed because it wasn’t rupees but his face lit up as if I had just given him 5 dollars!

I occasionally resort to bribing/rewarding children with sweets–  it works on adults too!

Usually it melts even the hardest or quietest hearts. NO ONE will decline cookie or sweets! At the airport, when my driver’s car had broken down- I was stuck for an hour waiting in the sweltering Indian heat of a parking lot with a group of young male drivers, who could easily decide to carry me off into the bushes if they wanted to. I opened a package of cookies & offered it around. One by one, each hand reached into it. This friendly token put smiles on their faces and lightened my worries; after all, who would want to attack someone who’s just given them a cookie?

Durga Puja Festival is very prominent here.

There are tents, big and small, around the city (and in cubbyholes), house an enactment similar to the nativity scene with Durga and her conquering over evil. Along with Durga altars being put up, lights are also going up around the city. The decorating boy is pushed around on a wheeled ladder so that he can hang decoration lights.Sometimes, the night eclipses stains and the few lights there to light the darkness gives things a new glow…. a beauty.

The highlight of visiting Varanasi’s Evening Ganga Aarti 

Varanasi’s must see is the Evening Ganga aarti (video here). It’s absolutely gorgeous! Young priests dressed in ritual dhoti (?) line up on altar mats dressed with the elements of fire, water, incense, flowers and bells. An aged bhajan/chant song about the Ganges comes over the PA system and there is live drum accompaniment to sound beats. In ritual trance (similar to Butoh performances) the priests move slowly through each element.

Driven by chant, by drum beats, by ritual & by their devotion to Shiva & the Ganges, they move in hypnotic pace- haunting, sensual, divine.

This is my second night at the aarti. I could attend this performance every night & it removes the ugliness of my day.