Varanasi, It's not a holy city anymore, except for the feeling of nothingness when walking on the banks of The Ganga.
I pushed myself to a 360-kilometre ride with unpredictable traffic when a Couchsurfer accepted to host. But upon reaching, he said since he lived in a joint family, my shabby appearance would be unacceptable to his family. I said that's okay and decided to take a capsule in the house of gipsies or HOG hostel that he recommended.
I met some good people there, a biker from Bangalore on a 390 duke, A few people on business, a realtor from Delhi. Conversations on life and politics went on for a long time. Rajesh the biker from Bangalore was with his friend Arjun and we did a ride together to Ramnagar palace the next day.
Varanasi, It's not a holy city anymore, except for the feeling of nothingness when walking on the banks of The Ganga. It could be because of so many souls who rest there every day. The moment we leave the ghats, we enter into chaos, a place overcrowded with, all kinds of people in a rush. Even walking is not easy on those roads, one just cannot walk freely, even the shops selling devotional and pooja items are countless. But you get to try food from numerous stalls and a wide variety of chats and Indian delicacies but nowhere to eat comfortably. The population is out of the equation and it was a disaster to think about a future.
I was by the river when all my college friends from Bangalore had got together for Karthik's wedding. While I was in the boat the guy who was supposed to be hosting me messaged and said he was sorry. I said that was ok. And then he said he wanted something and asked if I would give it.
I ask him what, he says not money but something.
I said go ahead and ask, giving or not depends on me.
Then he goes on like the man in Shillong, this time he wanted a picture and I said I was not interested in men and stopped texting. For a moment I thought what was happening to people?
Mostly it's the Karma of the soul, the life they lived in the past, the way they treated people for personal and materialistic desires, people forget their wrongdoing with time but the curse continues to remain on their souls until the ones who suffered decides to let it go.
I Visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple, tried the bhang of Varanasi and spent a lot of time on the banks. I struck a conversation with Naga Baba and asked him about his life. He was living as a Sadhu since the age of 18 and said it was a calling and one day he simply left since he wasn't happy with his life back home. Then I asked him about meditation and their reasons for meditation. He said he cannot disclose that. Naga baba was an Aghori who had a disciple who was a sadhu, and the sadhu was treated quite low. He was being used as a helper and Baba even kicked him for not massaging his legs. I wondered why would a sadhu go through such pain from an Aghori? "For a sadhu to go to such levels, salvation or moksha could be something deeper than my understanding"
In the evening witnessing the aarthi for Ganga is one fulfilling experience.
I left Varanasi to Lucknow where I had my friend Abhishek from Misfit wanderers. Abhishek had visited us in Coorg a few months ago and said he would host me. We went to a wedding and crashed the buffet before reaching his house. He and his friends took me around the city to see some beautiful Moghul Architecture and treated me to the famous Tunday kebab and bhang lassi from a shop that was open since 1939. I was so stoned after the bhang, I remember at one point I was riding ahead of him rather than following. They put me in a relative's old house to sleep and made me feel comfortable. I woke up fresh and rode towards Nainital.
Unfortunately, the bhang took over my digestive system and I had to stay back another day. After experiencing the cold in Bihar, I had to be prepared for Uttarakhand and further. I fixed a visor to the helmet and found a decathlon to buy some thermal wear. I had a balance of 4500 and here I shopped for the gloves, thermals and a pair of socks. When I came out it was a miracle, a 15000 plus bank balance. It was 3 of my cousins sending 5000 each.
I slept in a dormitory for 250 rupees near the railway station. The place was so crowded and polluted, I had to park the bike about 500 metres away and just couldn't finish my meal in such surroundings. It was in such a pitiful state. The next day I got ready and Rode through the foothills of the Himalayas to reach Nainital after a day.
I had stopped writing for some time now because I didn't feel anyone cared or would mean anything to anybody. Yesterday 10th December when I reached Nainital, I was feeling calm. I felt comfortable with myself after a very long time. Maybe because I had finally got the confidence of completing this ride. I called my best people who were always there for me even without being connected. Spoke to Deepu, Saji, Bhagath and Abhi. Turned out Bhagath had a twist in his life. He was dating a colleague and wanted to get married. These two had been dating for about a year or a little more when they started working in the same place. He was an accounts officer for the Bangalore electricity board and she was a colleague.
I Called Abhi, he wouldn't answer. But he called me later at night and we spoke for more than an hour. Was telling him about what I was experiencing and he inspired me to continue writing. Not for anyone but for myself, just to share the experience.
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Thankful to them all, Thankful to the One! Much metta
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