Varanasi Part II

So, I left off at the point where we had just arrived at the station close to midnight. By the time we reached our wait-listed tickets had been cancelled. At this point of time one of my aunts and I really wanted to board the train, as otherwise the jobs of 3 people and the business of another 2 would suffer. As for me, I just wanted to be back by Monday evening. But I also backed down when I realised that there was a slim chance of us getting tickets and I was equally happy to hire a cab in the morning. But maasi still went to talk to some official at the station who gave us tickets in a compartment and told us we'd get seats 2 hours later. Oh well! Somehow through the bickering and sullen faces(mostly by my cousin) all of us decided to wait for the train. There were still a few minutes till all hell was to break loose. And then the train arrived. One look at the compartment and there was a united claim of "I'm not getting into that, no matter what". Amidst talks of acting foolish we exited the station, only to wait for our cab for another half an hour. When we finally got back past 2 am, all we wanted was to eat and sleep.
We had my kind of plans for the next day. Sight-seeing, walking around the city kind of stuff. At the same time my excitement was dulled when I heard we'd board a train from Lucknow the next day, thus making it impossible for me to reach back by the time I wanted to. I got mad because it seemed shopping had become more important than anything I wanted to do. And since I lack the self-control to hide my anger, everyone knew I was pissed.
Our day started off with a visit to Sarnath, a place of religious importance for Jains and Buddhists located a little over 12 kilometers from the city. The first place we visited was a temple that was built by and is currently managed by Tibetan monks. This was followed by a visit to the Mulagandhakuti Buddhist shrine and the Chaukhandi Stupa. With the evening came plans of witnessing the famous aarti that takes place everyday at the Dashaswamedh Ghat. We reached with enough time to spare for a boat trip to most of the other ghats. Well-lit, dark, bustling, deserted-there are all sorts of the ghats along the banks of river Ganga. Our boatman was a friendly fellow who kept telling us small history tidbits. While I would have hated to miss out on it, I can't honestly say that the religious ritual which attracts hundreds to the river bank everyday was my favourite part of the trip. We called it a day pretty early as we had to take a cab to Lucknow the next morning.
When our sullen cab driver arrived almost an hour late in the morning he turned up without a luggage carrier. This meant that the 5 hour journey wasn't going to be very comfortable. We had no choice then except to make do with what we had. The journey was slow, time wasn't on our side and neither was our sleepy driver. By the time we got to Lucknow we would have reached the train station half an hour before schedule, which to me made a lot more sense than visiting that one very important shop that my aunts had visited some time back. But not to one person in our group. And somehow we braved the city's traffic, visited the shop and would have made it to the platform 10 minutes before the train had to depart. But things never happen that easily, do they? 
A newly built part of the Lucknow station has 6 platforms a little way away from the main station. We were blissfully unaware of this fact. So while I was running towards the platforms I saw my mum rushing towards me to inform us that we were at the wrong station. At this point we had about 7 minutes to board the train. My cousin found a coolie who found a hand-cart to load our luggage. It was a situation of complete pandemonium. Bollywood comedy movie kind of pandemonium. She was rushing behind the coolie. Her mom was running behind them. My mum and two aunts were driven in the cab to the other station. I ran past them all after receiving instructions to pull the chain, if I board the train. Yes, we knew it's a crime. No, we didn't care. I couldn't see our train for a few moments and I thought we'd missed it. Then I saw it was at the last platform. It seemed like we might just make it. I ran like never before, thankfully found the ticket checker and started blabbering about how my mum is at the other end of the platform and she has a knee problem(both of which were true) so could he please make sure that the train would leave just a minute late? He seemed unsure so I got into the train looking to pull the chain. And then I realised there wasn't one. I ran out to find the others, went past my maasi who was bewildered by seeing me run in the opposite direction and then I ran back with mum. All of us entered different compartments and just as all our luggage was dragged on and the coolie jumped off(God bless that man) the train began moving.
Finally we settled down and by the time we deboarded at the New Delhi station we knew one thing. Despite the ups and downs there wasn't a single incident that we would want to change about our trip. Except maybe the next time I visit the city, I might not have the guts to go saree-shopping.

VARANASI Part I

VARANASI. That has got to be the most insane trip I've ever been on.  I've been on quite a few vacations with friends and family but this was nowhere close to being what I expected it to be.

Now I knew from the time we had planned this, that I might not be able to accomplish all that I would like to on the trip. The reason for this was that out of the 6 women who were going(my mum, three aunts, a cousin and myself), 4 were going for the sole purpose of shopping, 1 was equally inclined to shop and get some sightseeing done and 1 wanted to just explore the city without entering any shop that sells sarees. The one divided between the two activities was my mum and the last one happened to be me. Add to this the fact that the only other person in my age group LOVES shopping and that we've never been super close. We don't hate each other; we've just never interacted much.

So, we were scheduled to leave on the evening of 11th December, the day of my last exam for the semester. I wasn't particularly happy about this because like most people I wanted to go out with friends post the exam. What made me even more unhappy was the fact that I would have to miss a dance class. If you're one of the very few people who know about and read this blog, you know me well enough to know how much I hate having to miss a dance class. But I made my peace with both these things. But as soon as I got out of college, I got to know that our train got delayed and was scheduled to leave 10:30 p.m. Because of certain 'logistical' issues, I still couldn't attend class but I managed to meet a friend for a steaks lunch. And then there was another delay. Our train was scheduled to leave around 4:30 a.m. With barely 2 hours of sleep we were halfway to the station when we got a message that the train would now leave at 7:30 a.m.! This game was no longer any fun. But finally we left for Varanasi at 7:35, after an 11 hour delay.

The talk during the journey mostly revolved around the details of an upcoming wedding in the family(hence the shopping trip). But for me it was about catching up on some much-needed post-exams sleep. What struck me most when we arrived in the city around 11 p.m was the bustling road. It could have been 6 in the evening for all anyone knew. This was pretty much it for the first day. Well this and a really bad car ride from the station.

Our day began quite early on Saturday. My aunts had done their research and zeroed in on a few shops. We landed up in the first one before most shops had even opened. And then it started. The looking through innumerable piles of sarees and picking only a select few. This could have been bearable had I not been expected to drape sarees to help in the selection process. A couple of hours later the owners, who are relatives of a friend of my cousin's, told us that they'll get some more stock for us in a few hours. Truth be told, I think they just needed a break. But did we? Absolutely not. That is, except for me. Then onto another place. I can't call this one a shop. It was more of a cross between an office and a maze. Spread over 3 floors it had 7-8 glass-panelled rooms on every floor, each stocked with something different. There were secret rooms and corridors and too many racks lining the corridors. And a reception. This one was followed by a quaint little shop which isn't very easy to spot. By this time I was mentally too tired to even be annoyed by all the shopping. It was 7 p.m and we were right back to the first shop to pick up our stuff. Before this day I never fully understood the depth of the dialogue from Dilwale Dulhaniye Le Jayenge "Haath thaka diya tabse sariyan dikha dikha ke". And then the high point of my day. We were served 3 different types of chaat that one finds only in Banaras. Aah! That is all a hungry, tired, bored, street food lover needed.

Finally the shopping ended and we had to rush back for dinner before catching our train. Miraculously we had some time to spare so we decided to visit the most famous temple in the City of Temples. The approach could really use some work. It's a winding alley that is poorly lit, wet and full of dirt and muck. But once you get to the temple it's a different story. I'm increasingly becoming an agnostic so my reason for being there wasn't completely religious. I love monuments and architecture. And this temple seemed to radiate the very idea of Kashi as we think of it. The city that's been around forever and has it's own niche somewhere between the fast evolving metropolitan cities and the still rustic towns. The covered courtyard, cold stone paths and multiple idols in the Kashi Vishwanath temple all seem to radiate a certain strength that is only built over time. We happened to be there in time for the last pooja of the day, which was absolutely worth attending. A large group of people chanting at their loudest would stop to periodically ring all the bells in the temple continuously. And there were way too many bells to even estimate. That 15-20 minutes long ritual was unbelievably invigorating.

Post this, we reached the station around 11:30 pm. Now this is where the craziness began because as it turned out, we didn't have confirmed tickets. There was still a way to board the train, there were other ways to get back home and there was a group of ladies with divided opinions. We knew we were in a mess. What we didn't know was that there were going to be fights, tantrums, screaming matches, a lot of rushing around, loads of laughter and an unexpected stopover. All of that in part 2 of this crazy extended weekend!