Varanasi: the city that fell because of our irresponsibilities

As I heard the old man who was rowing the boat, I couldn't help but think, "What a paradox!" And later I again thought the same! Varanasi has been photographed to death. There is no scenery, just a heavy dose of religion and culture that I couldn't care less about. Also, I judge too quickly, like when I thought Rajasthan was boring and then Tamil Nadu. As you guessed it already, at first I was not interested in Varanasi. But the only reason we all travel is the uncanny ability of these places to throw surprises at us when we least expect. We are left with eyes wide open as we see what we never thought we would find. Sometimes one needs to let go and let the place take you by surprise in its stride.

You’d think you can’t live freely but apparently, you can’t die free either!

The river was gently flowing and the boat was going along with the flow. The old man had little to do other than keeping the boat close to the Ghats. At times he was merely reading the names of the Ghats as we passed by. Occasionally some of his words would catch my attention. He said even death comes for a price here. I looked up interested, he continued. He went on to say that these Ghats were owned by Dom Raja and he collects tax for each and every dead body that comes to the Ghats to be cremated. Without wood from the Dom Raja, the cremation is not considered complete and one just doesn’t attain Mukti or nirvana like that. Death taxes have to be paid and wood has to be bought. Here we stand at one of the oldest and holiest cities famous for releasing the soul from earthly existence and putting an end to reincarnation but it appears you can only buy freedom, even in death! The paradox heightens even more when we think of all those people who come to Varanasi just to die. They wait for their last breath at Mukti Bhavan and god save them if they have no money, for the journey would get them nowhere closer to escaping the eternal cycle of rebirth!

The holiest city is also the dirtiest city!

Since childhood we’ve all learnt it over and over again, cleanliness is next to godliness! But here at Varanasi, the age old learnings go for a toss. Or maybe it is this resilience to the filth that makes Varanasi the oldest living city. The river is polluted to the maximum or maybe the holy Ganga can take a lot more. But the true paradox here is when people come here to wash away all their sins by taking a dip in the holy waters or is it a case of two negatives turning positive? The river takes anything and everything and dissolves in itself, anything from burnt bodies to dead cows to sewage to all the offerings in the name of prayer. It is not just the river but the entire city is mired in loads of garbage. I always imagined something holy to be insanely clean. I remember the festivals that we celebrated at home and how important it was for everything to be sparkling clean for the puja. But here at Varanasi, it is a different world altogether!

We all expect this city to be heavenly but then we are the ones who are making it look the way it is now. May be it would not have been so tragic looking place if we had taken a bit of care. Varanasi is all about purity and serenity. People book even business class flights to come here and do the rituals with a hope to give peace till eternity to the wandering souls of their loved ones. They even take the chance of booking last minute flights if they have to. So don’t you think it is our major job to keep it clean? Consider giving it a thought!

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