The Sacred City of Varanasi

INDIA DAY 2:

Today begins my adventure around India guided by Semester at Sea.  This was my first guided trip (excluding Cambodia with my family) so I knew it would be different than any of the other countries.  Looking back, I really wish that I had done independent travel because we only skimmed the surface of the unique culture, interaction with locals and true experience as we passed by sitting in an air-conditioned tour bus.  However, India was our most foreign country and I will undoubtedly be back as soon as possible to experience it more thoroughly.  It was by far my favorite country and the least western as well.  Unlike any other cultures I’ve seen on the voyage, Indians have held on to their traditional morals, ways of dress, and even transportation systems without being heavily influenced by the West.  To give a quick visual of driving down the street, imagine pedestrians, bicyclists, cows, water buffalo, goats, rickshaws, cars, motorcycles and buses all fighting for their spot without strict adherence to which side of the road to drive on.  It was complete chaos, but somehow it worked.  Horns were constantly sounding and no one ever moved over 25 miles per hour. 

We transferred to the airport hours before sunrise to catch an early flight all the way across the country to Varanasi, a town sacred to Hindus and one of the oldest cities in the world. Throughout my journey, my sense of smell has been one of the most important because countries vary so much in scent.   The smells at this early hour of the morning were as strong as they were the day before- sometimes a human urine or feces smell, other times rich cooking aroma.  Most of the time, however, it simply smelled dirty.  Looking back, the smell of India stands out in my memory along with the physically deformed beggars and children salesmen. 

We arrived in Varanasi before lunchtime and had a full day planned. Our first stop was Sarnath, the birthplace of Buddhism.  We visited the place where Buddha preached his first sermon and also witnessed the meditation of his religious followers.  What I found most interesting about the area was the number of children selling souvenirs to tourists.  Before arriving, we were told not to buy from children because they are basically slaves to corrupt men who get the money.  I watched this scene of children running around the park and noticed the head man behind a small ruin watching the children and pointing with his stick for them to approach certain tourists.  If you have ever seen Slumdog Millionaire it was exactly like that movie.   I feared for the children and had to resist walking up to that man and smacking him with his own stick.  The children were always dirty, but had the most beautiful smiles.  Some could even speak in over 10 languages. 

Later in the day we visited a silk factory before going into the holy area of Varanasi by rickshaw.  Our entire tour group unloaded from the bus and hopped on 2-person rickshaws (bicycle pedaled carts) for a ride down to the Ganges River for the sunset religious ceremony.  I had to hang on tight so as not to be bounced off the seat between pot-holes.  Again, the streets were completely packed with varying modes of transportation and the occasional cow standing in the middle of the road.  Cows are sacred animals in India and the people do not eat red meat.  So, cows are everywhere- the women even collect their excrement to make into paddies and use as fuel.  Once we made our way past the street vendors, beggars, and other swarms of people we suddenly appeared at the top of a mind-blowing scene of hundreds pilgrims doing their sunset devotions at the Ganges River.  Hindu chants blared over load speakers and small wooden boats came and went along the shore sending dead relative’s ashes out to the river.  All along the river small candles on flowerbeds floated away into the darkness.  I climbed to the rooftop of the highest building and took a few minutes to look down on the scene and appreciate the moment.  Having personal religious meaning or not, this scene was undeniably spiritual and overwhelming.  I descended back into the crowd and moved along next to the pilgrims.  After a scary rickshaw ride back to the bus and almost getting lost, we made it back to the hotel safely for just a few hours of sleep before another 3am wake up call.