VARANASI

VARANASI

The first think to know about Varanasi is that it is one of the 7 most holy cities in India. This is the city that Indians come to to die, literally. Much of Varanasi's fame comes from the fact that bodies are cremated at the margins of the Ganga River 24 hours a day, in open air. Yes, that means that everyone can watch this very important aspect of Hindu India culture. The city itself has also become a tourist place and thus is filled with sellers and rickshaw drivers constantly on the attack.

We (the Polish women Edyta and Magda) arrived in Varanasi at 5am or so. We were all pretty tired. Someone from their hotel had come to fetch us and so the ride to the hotel was pretty harmless rickshaw wise. I checked out their hotel then went across the street to look at the one I had planned on staying at. It was a dump! So, I paid a little more and stayed at Hotel Buddha where the girls were staying. Again, definition of a good hotel includes buckets of hot water if you want hot, a few bugs, and definitely sleeping in your bed sheet.

Important in the Varanasi story is the agreement I made with the hotel representative. I was to stay there for 4 nights and the room was R300/night. In the bargaining process we agreed on R250/night and that I would pauy R300 if I stayed less. I know, bad bargaining for a traveler like me, but I live and learn. More on this later.

It was now 7am and we paid R750 for a tour of all the temples in Varanasi, visit to stores, and a boat ride on the Ganga. The boat ride is the most famous activity as the sunset and rise in Varanasi is supposed to be outstanding both because of nature and because this is the time that morning poojas (prayers) and artis (ceremonies) occur so you can get a great look from the boat. Well, it rained non-stop while we were in the city. We got on morning without rain and that was when we did our boat ride. We agreed on a tour for the next day and left the hotel for our day in Varanasi.

It was pretty crazy. We basically walked on all of the ghats. Ghats are like stairs/sidewalks in front of different important building and ashrams. The river front is separated by these as different Hindus perford different ceremonies in different ghats. Of about 25 ghats, two most important are the ones where people are cremated. So, on our walk we passed by this ghat.

I don't know if it is my own issues with death, the way in which the human body looks when it is being carried wrapped up in beautiful silks, or simply the seemingly known scientific way in which it is all done, but the whole experience was pretty outstanding. I thought I would be shocked, but instead I was really happy that people in India have such a meaningful process for their loved ones. Here are the basics...

Everyone can pay anywhere from 2000 to about 25000 to be cremated. Prices are decided based on many things, but one of the most important being the type of wood that is used for the burning. Ok, it is very scientific, I lied. Each log is carefully weighed and since they know exactly how many logs of each type of wood needed to be used for an ideal cremation, it all works out. The most prestigious logs are (shoot, I forget) hhmmm, sandle wood?

Everyone can be cremated, except - sadhus (spiritual seekers), pregnant women, children under 12, and people that have been bitten by snakes. Why snakes you say? It is from an old story where I snake bit Shiva and therefore it is pure. So the pures - sadhus, children, etc are not burned. But, what happens to them. Take a moment. Guess. Yes, they are carefully wrapped, tied to stones and thrown into the river. And, what happens then. I am happy to say that for the most part they stay there, but many bodies have floatted up and it is a difficult situation for foreigners and others when they do.

The cremation process has its own customs. The person gets brought from somewhere (not sure if it is their home) on top of a rickshaw, or a jeep or something through the crazy city traffic. They then get on a line to be cremated. One family member, usually the eldest son or another man (women stay at home weeping) is chosen to perform the ceremony. The ceremony is a series of prayers and flower throwing and sandlewood chips tossing. Perhaps the most surprising was that the rest of the men of the family sit a bit farther away and watch until the body is completely burned. All is burned, except that men's chests don't burn, and neither do women's hips. These pieces are tied by a string which the prescribed family member than swings into the river. In some cases the ashes are collected, but for the most part they are thrown into the river.

The three of us had an opportunity to watch two of these ceremonies, each time with a self-prescribed guide who immediately asked us for a donation after he finished talking. In the second case I asked the guide for a teaching. I said, we have been watching this person's death ceremony for 10 minutes and you have been trying to get us to go to a sari shop that entire time. I come from a culture where there is quite reflection in these moments. What happens in India. The family is quite, but here you are talking about consumerism. He looked at me rather blankly and said. We are not sad in India when someone dies, we celebrate, we talk. I looked around the rest of the 30 or so people, all mostly quietly. I looked at Edyta who said, WELCOME TO INDIA. I looked back at him, sighed and said, what were you saying about the saris? Oh, India.

The other great experience in Varanasi was our tour. We paid and were promissed many things, which quickly got changed to lesser items. Well, they had another thing coming if they thought Edyta and Magda and I were going to be ok with this. We all spelled out every promissed to us and our tour added up to:

-A first visit to the Ganga at 6am. It started to rain and we made them take us back to the hotel and do the Ganga the next day. This was their commitment to us. Rain = no tour.
-They took us to all the temples (only about 4). They complained that we were taking too long, but we reminded them of their promisse. They then took us to several shops, which they also looked at us disapprovingly, and we reminded them that we were at these shops because they were getting commission.
-The next day we went on our river tour and at every step, with every person, we got a long, long sob story (which I am sure was true) about how we needed to give them a big tip. We all read that in total this tour could have cost about 2/3 of what it costs and I know we all operated with this. So, in all interactions we said - talk to the hotel, they booked the tour.

Was this easy? No, but the balance between honest versus dishonest requests for money is nearly impossible in India. Somedays you give in, somedays you don't.

The other unexciting thing is that I got sick. I was tired, it was raining and overall it was just wet and cold. I managed to get some nighttime Vicks, some India medicine and drink lots of water. Other than this horrible smog cough that I still have, I was basically fine after 2-3 days.

Oh, this was also the place where I randomly decided to to go Bodhgaya with the girls. This proved to be a great change in plans. Bodhgaya was fabulous! More on it next.

And, yes, the promisse I shook on. As I was leaving the Hotel Buddha a different guy told me all of my accounts were clear. I paid R500 for two nights. In the back of my head I know I made the promisse to pay R300 a night if I were to stay less than 4 nights. I told him fine, but knew right there and then that it was the wrong thing to do. After I was thoroughly convinced by many a traveler that India has f&*$ed me over much more than R100 and that this was their fault and not mine, I just could not do it. I made a promisse, I shook on it, I had to follow through. And, I wrote a note to the hotel about my agreement, put the R100 in the envelope and will send it off today. Will it get there? I don't know. Will it go to the right person? I hope so. What I do know is that we live in a crazy world with different levels of dishonesty for different reasons and people who change their promisses when it works and does not work for them. I am not perfect in any stretch of the imagination, and I am the first one to screw capitalism in the face. But, I made promisse and I intend to keep it. Maybe my act can make it so some of these hotel folks think twice before screwing tourists on room charges and tours. Maybe...

OK, up next -
BODHGAYA where Sidhartha became enlightened.
BOMBAY where I got my break in Bollywood movie out December 9th.

"Into the Woods to Find the Giant..."
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