THE IMPURE SOUL IN PURE GANGA-

The river as it flows, blobs and bubbles, pushes forth and back an arena of emotions,time, materialistic beliefs and sounds of life. On a larger scale it is a sea of drifting waters. To me earliar it was just a river, but now as I sit there pondering upon the time, I have dealt with this faith taker, I see deep within. I realised it is not just the water that moves with it has moved the belief, the faith of the people, the sustenance it provides to the people of Kashi, and to those who have been believing in it is what makes this river holy.

It is a teacher in itself, I look within and it reflects my own self, shows me the selflessness. All these years it has been a provider and shall continue to be one. The image of you in it, is blur and sometimes still, but gives you the essence of life as you see yourself in it. A complete absorber and a reflector at the same time. I see the sun shine bright on it, Ganga ji reflects back and absorbs to give you the dark silhouette, and yet is transparent. A mirror to myself, to analyse or understand oneself you require a mirror and it is that one being that breathes with you, moves and never stops flowing.

A dip in the holy water, a belief that has overpowered man, and has been the legacy for ages. On the outside it rises, and just flows with waves that crash at the ghats, but within this voluptuous vastness it provides you calmness and freedom from your sins. It is an untangible vision, transparent yet only felt within.

I would have never learnt the metaphorical meaning of this river, it reflects upon me. The very first day when I was so troubled and distressed by the fact that the water is dirty and polluted and how people could drink it and not notice its deteriorating cries. But as a part of kashi, I now know that people will still perform the rituals, still destroy the river but the river shall flow on….

Throughout the journey of these amazing ten days spent in kashi,  talking to few people about our mother Ganga, different views, different  beliefs aroused and I was amazed to get the reactions varying. Rahul Sahani, a seventeen year old boy who lives at the ghats and goes to the little star English medium school, although in his eight grade he has a vision that one expects from the youth. He was the only one person who was openly true about his city, the pollution of ganga, the thugs in the city, loot with the foreigners. Innocent but true and showed such concern that I could see hope rising in the city towards saving the grace of the Ganga.

“CHILDREN CAN’T DECIDE WHAT TO DO, BUT FAMILY DECIDES WHAT TO DO. PURA DHANDHA HAI..KALYUG HAI YEH KALYUG”

He inspired me to believe that questioning is not going to help, realisng it yourself and putting yourself at blame is the best way to find a solution.

Scream from a Son!!

 In concern to the GAP, and the sight to which we saw the River being used or overused i thought of using skills of exaggeration build a verse-
 The son of the river Ganga- Bhisma Pitahma, lies on the Gangamahal ghat, and looks upon the fate of his mother. He is worshipped daily but at the cost his mother dying, deteriorating into fragments.. he calls out to all and screams

"“She is dying, almost dead, We are wanderers of this crazy world. If we lose her now, we lose our mentor, a wise elder. We are one down, we have lost one of our own. Nurturers, carers, listeners, feeders, parents of all, I am losing my Mother!Let us weep and fill our tears within her"

  Inspiration taken from Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Death- a natural element unnatural to the mind.

Death- a natural element unnatural to the mind.

Banaras is famous for many things like its history culture, food, people but one disturbing element called Death. A place where people come and stay, and wait for their death. A place where death is natural to them. The cycle of life is best understood here. Never in the world have I seen death put out so much I front of you as in Varanasi, just makes you realise how temporary life is. In life one exist to find the truth of living life and dies to ash and it repeats. A tragic scene t watch your loved one burn to ash, but Banaras believes in giving yourself back to the earth.

In Hindu customs, women are not supposed to attend any crematory rites but through this trip I experienced the feel of it. No remorse on the face of the pandits, the few members of the family stand by chit chatting, a secluded but selected group of people who are considered to be the lower caste are appointed to see to the burning of the body 

As rightly quoted by Mr Mishra, Professor at BHU- “ Nobody wants to make a career out of cleaning”. 

Salvation is what they shall achieve, unlike the cruel world, a man cannot die in peace. He has to still pay tax, and different rates are for different days. People await in queues, with money in hand for their chance. Death has become a trade. A belief and the attachment to the dead person does not let his family let him go away without the holy rites that he deserves. It is said, In the end we all shall die and what we require is the earth to seep us in .Sometimes there is a fine line between faith and exploitation, that line seems to be crossed nowadays “Sab kuch dhanda ban gaya hai”. This is sad part , the commercialisation but to look at it from a broader aspect..

Banaras has its own take and taste at this, they celebrate death, they believe in the parting of the man from this earth is the only way to meet god. God does exist for them. It is faith ruling over reality.

these which carry a dead man,built with strength cost you money!

UNBOUNDED EXPLORATION- ORDER AND CHAOS

Not as tourist but as as a native I begin to start my exploration of this city, chaotic and yet in order is what strikes me to believe it has sustained itself. Banaras Is all about the madness, the “alharpan” a termed coiled to indicate the madness in the people (told to me by an auto rickshaw driver named Umesh Shastri). Unlike the normal auto rickshaw there are still hand driven tongas which go side by side the fuelled rickshaw in harmony on the narrowest lanes ever. Amazement fills me with each increasing step, and as I start to bury myself in this feel I realise that there is so much to absorb and it shall take me a lifetime. Judgemental is what our human mind is, and often we figure to create perceptions which are false. Certainly I wasn’t dismayed by the people, so loving and caring, they welcome you by a warm smile, talk and and ready to talk forever.

Young and old, all have their ethics intact and love their city intently. Like any other city there is drama, tension, fights, sales, narrow lanes, unfinished roads, cycles, increased number of cows, and much more to it, but surprisingly nobody complains. None, they belong to this place and this is what makes their place their own.” COEXISTENCE” of religions, people, animals, is what Banaras is all about.

“BANARAS TOH GALIYON KA SHEHAR HAI”

 Ramesh ji (Book seller at Chowk ghat, 63 years old, and a super jolly man)

It is a maze of streets in there, and after certain days of getting lost and finding my path again, and walking and walking I sat to see the map and figured that the streets are ordered. Yes they are, and each of them finally connect to the cities prideful institute BHU!

We often have things that we want to change in anything be it us or things or places, but Banaras is one place I wish never changes. A change in the city will be crazily difficult, it is not a perfect city but no body wants perfect as well. It has evolved through stories and people who are the bearers of the story. I wanted to explore the cultural shift in the city, but after all that my mind could grasp and execute, I realised that the culture never changes, people believed and still will believe, people never questioned some will but most will still follow, because they require the need to believe. The culture is their way of living which with time adapts to all but people change, time moves and culture hangs on. All our scriptures and sayings have still just taught us to be true to ourself have a clean heart and that is the way to find peace. It still prevails. Only the form the stories have changed principles are the same. Life moves on, people go in search for a living but a Banarasi will always remain a Banarasi.

THE REAL TRUTH OF LIVING,MOKSH KI PRAPTI-

 a sadhu is a wandering monk who has renowned all the worldy pleasures in search of peace and satisfaction often termed as eternal salvation. IN an ashram up the reva ghat was a sadhu called Mahesh, and he had given up his life of being an engineer to attain something tha he felt was missing. He told me the decision was a difficult one, especially as in our country the profession of a sadhu was usually a trade, a means to earn more, or a fraud. He quotes-

“Sadhu ki jeevan ek jhole mai hoti hai, maya mai nahi hoti,nahi mandir ya ashram mai, agar ham ana kalyaan karenge toh desh ka kalian apne aap ho jaega, ham dharm ki raksha kar rahe hai, sache dharm ki, koi akhada thodi chala rahe hai yeh hamara jogipana hai!”

Magesh (aghori sadhu)

       

The city of light-light of life, not the visual one the one to be felt, the light is our knowledge-that’s the work of a sadhu. The skull is the symbol of impermanence of life and it is that last thing that remains before you go back to the earth in the form of ash. And that’s how death and life are related, impermanent. A cycle of death and life is what we have to understand in life. Nature has to balance itself with us. One has to go for another to arrive. We are taught sharing within the basics of nature, while growing up we forget it.

Striking a conversation is one of the most difficult when it comes to strangers and people who are so culturally rich and vibrant. But I knew if I had to get to the crux of this city it was the people of Banaras who could help me with it. I did not want this trip to be like one for the tourist, but this was a city of my country and I wanted to be a part of it, hence building a relation with the people was the main idea to get to know the city better. After loads of talking, rather than questioning just being inquisitive helped. Questioning someone who belongs to a place is offensive and the latter doesn’t really take an interested but being a part of them and then talking is one of the skills that I was taught by my facilitator.  Many stories and many riddles helped me form my basic image of this city of light.

All what we see is an illusion, “MAYA” it attracts us but it is not permanent. This is what –M.P Kesri ji told me, he is man of mid-thirties, born and brought up in Banaras, even has studied and graduated from Banaras Hindu University, owns a luggage shop opposite the lane to Lanka gate. A wise man with such inspirational talks and rather open enough to share with me all his knowledge. I spent about two and half hours with him, and his story is the one that gave me an insight to my further research in Banaras.

“MAYA HI MOKSH KA KARAN HAI                  “ GYAAN KHAN AG HAAN KAR

MOH HI DUKH KA KARAN HAI”                     MAHA MUKH MAHIDAAN”

I was educated by Kesri ji about the history of Kashi, its identity being religion, and all its beliefs including the architecture a result of mythology. The city sustains itself on the beliefs of the people. The story of ‘Satyawadi Harishchandra’, one of the attendants in the court of the ruling Raja of Kashi, and was appointed with the duty to bear taxes on the dead bodies, and at the time of his childs death, he did not even spare his own wife but asked her for the tax to which she tore the saree piece in which she had wrapped the kid and handed over it to her husband, hence he quotes-

TEENO LOK SE NYARI HAI KASHI

SUGYAAN DHARM AUR SATYA KI RAASHI

YAHA KI HAI EK PAVITRA SHIKSHA

KI SATYA KI RAKHSA FIR ATMA RAKSHA

It means that this holy land, Prachinatam nagar, will teach a lesson for life, that truth is the essence of living and then you. He spoke with a sense of pride and love for this city, his belonginess to the city was not just Gangaji but much more than that. He in his own manner calls the city as ‘sanskritik rajdhani’ of India, where education is taught in the home itself, no where else will you see children still reading and learning the ved/vedas but Kashi. Aadhunik shiksha is what he feels one gets from the city itself.

One of the most interesting things that I learnt from talking to Kesri ji was , his idea of a change. I asked him about his favourite thing about this city and he told me, this city is a crazy one and the people here are the craziest of its kind. That is what makes this city, and that is what the outsiders come to see it. It has developed over the years but the fact that we manage to sustain its essence is because our system here is our culture. IT’S A CULTURE HERE SYSTEM ELSEWHERE. System is required to keep a city in order but we have made our culture our system and that’s what you come to see here and that’s what you like about this city. My city.

 “AGAR JYADA SYSTEM FOLLOW KAR LIYA TOH YEH KASHI NAHI SANTIAGO BAN JAEGA BITIYA”

MP Kesri ji and his words of wisdom.

A quote I once read by Sir Walt Whitman said “ I exist as I am, and that’s enough” is something that related to me, of how comparative we are in today’s world and greed and the materialism has overpowered every feeling and all that remains are useless aimless goals to achieve! L We have become the one dimensional man in this three dimensional world.

The city is old, the city is new. Its both at the same time and more..It has a palimpsest like quality,with one difference all the layers of signs can be seen at the same place at the same time.

Gangaji- THE UNIFYING MOTHER

 Banaras is famous for that one being that is its recognition, its identity; The river of the heavens-Ganga. An unnoticeable remark by all the people living in Banaras, is that they will never address the river as Ganga itself, respect and devotion has filled in them that relation that they share with it that ‘Maa Ganga’ or ‘Gangaji’ is what they call out with pride.

 The river that has its roots from the extreme north and start at the Himalayas, flow right through the city for about a stretch of 3 miles. To my surprise after looking at the map of Banaras which has most to do with the river, one might notice the shape that it takes also has a relation to the main god of the city-Lord Shiva. It takes a crescent sweep towards the north, which is believed to be the abode of lord Shiva. The shape has been personified to be the mark on Lord Shiva’s head and hence they believe that his presence is there.

One of the reasons that Gangaji is believed to be sacred is the faith in the peoples heart. The belief  in life after death and the foreseen vision of liberation and transcendence which is termed as ‘moksha’. A dip in the river is  the symbol of your sins being washed away. This has been the belief, the ‘aastha’ of the people in Banaras and all over India. Belief is what makes the difference, the faith to have thought of the water as a purifier is what has made Gangaji what it is today. Often to tourists and people of the today, religion has grown, we have started questioning its existence and its need in our lives. The very first look a Ganga for me was mesmerizing, devotees taking their usual dips, Pandits performing aarti, and the holy water. Sometime our mind makes preceding entries and gives us an image that we would wish to see and alas! It wasn't what I saw. That very first time I could not understand; the colour, the dirt, the washing of clothes, the chemicals from the diesel boats, humans bathing using soap, and worse the sewage pipes that had an opening into the holy river of heaven- Gangaji!

Was it me who just saw it, wasn't it visible enough for the everyday children of the mother, or was I being an intruder. I kept shut, shut my eyes as well but the questioned was never answered.

A girl named Priyanka expressed her feelings by saying

"pehle maante the ki char ghanta Ganga maa mai khade ho toh saari bimari chali jaati thi, par ab char ghante khade raho toh maut aati hai"

Five minutes later i see a man drinking this water, i ask him why, he states
"Yeh paani amrut hai, issme aap kuch bhi daalo sama leti hai, meri maa ganga!!"

GETS ME THINKING......

Varanasi- A CITY OF GOOD LIFE

 Days of grace- amongst the Indian cities and states, Varanasi, a city of multiple layers exist on itself, taking further its legacy and still we find in it the essence of it being the 5000 years old. Life how we live in the developed or developing metro cities is so varying in terms of lifestyle, thinking, nature and above all the people. Before reaching the city I already had certain blur images of what I told by, or the bits and pieces I have ever seen on national geographic documentaries on Varanasi. A contrast provided my mind to break through the singled story being and want to explore the city –one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world as a native.

Throughout my journey of being there in Kashi, as it is called with love by the people of Varanasi;" I was amazed by the history of complex mythological stories with some having a combination of fact and fiction but not any having proof than the faith of the people. The culture ,the ritual traditions, its seasons of holiness, its sustainability and the river Ganga. A story isn't a story if not told in many forms, twisted and added with your own touch. That is Kashi. A story of million people, million minds, million gods and million mysteries. A city of life and death. The city gives us an understanding of the two main epitomes  of living. Your existence and the lack of it.

“ (’Dharm’) ki nagari” as it is called to be, the abode of the Trinity. India has always been controversial and sensitive on issues like religion and faith in god. Our entire history is constituted on the basis of it and Kashi is the center of the holy gods, the city of faith, the city of temples and in its literal sense the city of lights. A graceful balance seems to wash away the dust of the controversy of religion and peace is what people find in the midst of the humongous crowd, narrow lanes, streets filled with the life of the city and craziness. To have thought of the city just as a tourist I would never understand even the tiny bits that made the city, but now that the trip has taught me to see it with a perspective of a designer, a child of Banaras, this awesome city has been a challenging , captivating in all its columns and endlessly fascinating.

“BHAIYA EK BAAR JO BANARAS AAYE TOH FIR JAANE KA MANN NAHI KAREGA JO YAHA BASS GAYA SAMJHO MANN AB USKA YAHI SHANTI PRAPT KAREGA”