Varanasi - No other place like this
The more I talk about this place , the more I fall in love with it. Every minute spent here was special to me. This place is a mix of everything - Mythology , Spirituality and Religious . To me Spirituality is what made me stay more connected to it. Varanasi is one of the oldest cities of India dating to the 11th century B.C. and that was the main reason which made me crave for being at this place. I would write about my whole experience in Varanasi in my next post . Here it is all about that one evening I have spent on the ghats and what it felt like.
That one Evening :
It was already my 3rd day in Varanasi and I didn't really get time to walk on the ghats till the morning. I woke-up early to visit the Indian Wrestling school on one of the ghats. I had an amazing Thali for lunch and was in food coma for a while before I fell asleep. It was around 5 in the evening with no plans for my rest of the day.
It was just one of those lazy evening I have during my travel until I have decided to take join a friend I met in the backpacking hostel I was staying in to go on a stroll on the ghats and witness the beauty of Varanasi . I was excited not just about the walk but also to that though of those tasty Jalebi which I had in the morning . I'm greedy at food.We have walked thru the narrow streets towards the ghats talking about everything we know or we could think of. We were so lost in our conversation and then it suddenly stuck in my mind , how beautiful river Ganga might look on a Full moon day ,with bright stars and dark sky. There is a saying - Imagination has no limits. I would refer that here as that would be the very apt thing to say . Imagining the beauty of Ganga in the full moon was not leaving my thoughts. We walked while talking about the topics we both felt connected to and after a while I was sitting there on the steps near the ghats and staring at the river . Just listening to the river was so pleasant and I found inner peace to the music of it. I couldn't believe that I'm finally in Varanasi doing my solo backpacking . That moment sitting there on the ghat, listening to the river, one side I could listen the sounds of aarti ceremony while the other side I could feel the heat from the bodies that are being burnt near the Manikarnika ghat. So it's spirituality on one side and religious on other. How lucky are the people here who can experience and cherish this every day. I started envying a bit just for that one second . It's all dark and river is calm. The lights I can see are from the different ghats and the evening aarti ceremony.
I get these sudden urges during my travel and there at that moment I had the urge to go for a boat ride at this beautiful time. I was really happy when the captain agreed to sail the boat to the middle of the river . I started having my usual little conversation with the captain asking about the place and things I shouldn't miss. Conversation with the locals is one of those I love during my travels. Amidst of the river there I was just lying back on the boat and admiring the nature. What an astonishing evening it was !! I found peace, the inner peace and feel in love more with this place now. After the breath-taking boat ride and the experience I just had it was the time to make my tummy happy with the yummy tikki chat beside the ghat. Food just added more life to what I was feeling at that moment.
That was my last evening there but one of the best memorable evenings. I was sure that I would cherish these moments which I had here forever.Someday I would go back, experience might change but not the feeling. Words cannot always express what we feel. Somethings are just meant to be felt, experienced especially the bond with places like this.
There is no other place like this - Varanasi !!
Note : There were no images clicked on the evening . I just want to feel every moment I had spent on the Ghat. The pic you see was clicked during the morning on the same day !