Lanes and By Lanes

So there I stood outside the airport under the bright blue sky with the heat radiating from every possible direction. Unlike some of god’s blessed children I had no one holding placards for me outside the airport. So I had to make do with a taxi. Whenever I go to a new town, I have this fear of getting ripped by the auto-rickshaw and taxi fellows. Yes, experiences in Madras (Chennai) have left deep incurable scars in my mind. So, I went to the pre-paid taxi counter.

I was told by the Hotel receptionist that the fare would probably be close to Rs.550 for an A/c cab and Rs. 450 for a non a/c. The guy at the counter put forward a fare of Rs. 700 for a/c and Rs.550 for non A/c. Not having much of a choice I settled for the non a/c taxi.

I asked the guy at the counter “Sirji, taxi kahan hai?”

He replied “Ek minute, mere saath chaliye”

He got off the seat and started to lead me towards the taxi. This guy was the taxi driver. Woh, maybe I unwittingly did get ripped off. Given my strong preference for ignorance over sad truths I decided against cross verifying the fare with the hotel guys.

There isn’t much that I remember of the ride to the hotel except the odd cows, lots of wall adverts of Jaypee Cement and the innumerable sweet shops. And oh, there was this guy on the street holding a rifle like an innocent cane. So casual that it was surreal.

First two days I was put up on company accommodation at Hotel Pradeep at Jagatganj. Decent for a 2-star business hotel. The layout and the rooms are quite business hotel like. Well furnished with split a/cs. The staff though is an eye-sore. They wear clothes which would fit an obese American. Given that none of the staff weigh more than the average American teenager, their clothes are at least 4 sizes too big. Thus the shirt ends up looking like a kurta, except that it is not a kurta. I quite do not get it. Why spend crores on hotel infrastructure and not spend some 20,000 bucks on well-dressed staff. The staff is a factor in the overall experience. A learning here for me, I guess. That said the staff were extremely helpful and prompt. To sum it up, I would not really recommend it as it does not seem worth the Rs. 2200 it charges (I am not factoring the staff’s outfits here) and also it is far from every key spot in the city. I am sure they took pains to zero in on the location.

For the first two days, it was all work for me. My work took me to the suburbs and the commercial areas of the city. It is said that Benares is a city of lanes (gulliyon ka sehar). The lanes are really small and the cows everywhere make the lanes seem smaller than what they actually are. The auto-rickshawallahs though, like to take this as a challenge. They make the autos twist and turn with almost a telepathic control over the machine. If required, they even boss the cows out of their way. Some talent!

Varanasi is made of the Old City and the New Town. The Old City is made up of the ghats (steps) on the banks of River Ganga. It is very easy to get lost and very difficult locate anything here. Varanasi, from what I hear, is an ironical blend of the holy and the unholy. Kashi Vishwanath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines is located here. People come to die in the Old City to die. So much so that they refuse to go to the Benares Government Hospital as it is considered to be outside Kashi. At the same time, prostitution is rampant in the city. Also, the sanyasis in the Old City are notorious for harassing tourists for money. Thankfully, I managed to ignore the few who came my way.

One of the guys here said something interesting which summarizes in one line the essence of the Old City - “Raand, Saand, Seedi, Sanyasi; Isse bacche tho Seva Kaasi”. Translated it supposedly means “Prostitutes, Bulls, Steps, Ascetics; Escape from them, you will achieve salvation at Kashi”

Next, I intend to put up a photo-blog of this unique and glorious city. I type this with half an eye at the calm Ganga in all her magnificence. Peace!

What’s that smell?

I have always had the travel bug inside me which was perennially irritated when I was at home. So when I learnt that my new job requires me to travel to atleast 2 cities every month, I was a bit excited. Excited because it meant getting to see new places, ‘a bit’ because it is work after all. So there is an objective which cannot (and will not) be compromised. But thankfully, there is a way I can have the cake and eat it too. These visits almost always happen on Thursday and Friday. So I can just as easily take my return flight on Sunday and go ghooming from Friday evening to Sunday morning. My first trip brought me to Varanasi.

Flights from Mumbai to Varanasi have weird timings. All flights land in Varanasi between 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. So given the fact that Indian airports are almost always intelligently located miles away from the city, a whole day is wasted. What’s even more weird is that there is a direct flight from Varanasi to Mumbai , but evidently none in the opposite direction. My flight was a Spice Jet 4 and 1/2 hrs flight with a Delhi stop-over.

Long flight, yes, but it gave me an opportunity to see how certain people behave. I do not mind people shouting in the flights. It is a personality disorder. Maybe, even I must have indulged in it while travelling with my friends. However, what appalled me was the manner in which people utterly disregarded safety instructions in the flight. For whatever reasons, mobile phones are supposed to be switched off while flying (or atleast in ‘flight mode’). However, there was this moron who was talking loudly as the flight was taking off on the runway. What’s more, my neighbour took a call as the flight was landing at Varanasi runway. Obviously, he never switched off his phone or even put it in flight mode. People! Sigh.

So the flight finally reached the UP Cow Belt. The flight journey did not seem that long as I got time to catch a movie (LA Confidential). Since it is raining in Mumbai, I expected the same in Varanasi. Me, not having done my homework AND wanting to be well-prepared for the trip, carried an umbrella with me. Only when I got down at Varanasi I realised that monsoon was yet to hit these parts of the country and the place was a baking at 43°C. Clearly, my umbrella was redundant. I walked on to the arrival lounge. I was in for a shock. All my senses were rudely awakened. First was my eye-sight. When you get into the arrival lounge of an airport you expect clean ceramic tiles, nicely painted walls, space, air and LIGHT. At Varanasi airport lounge, all I could see was Human beings. The lounge is a small pathetic room which would have struggled to pull-off as a Railway station waiting room. There was barely any light and it was crowded with everyone looking for luggage on the sole conveyor belt. Given the fact that it was crowded, everyone was shouting and the very interesting acoustic system meant that my ears were in for a treat. But both these senses (visual and aural) were completely overshadowed my the third sense – nasal. The lounge, if I can call it that, had this overbearing pungent smell. It was unreal. To me it was a blend of the smells at Kurla railway terminus, Mohammad Ali Road and Dhobhi Talao. I felt choked for fresh air. Maybe this is how it felt when Borat was under Azamat.

As I looked towards the conveyor belt, the indicator said Indian Express and therefore I waited. After I while I realised that the Spice Jet luggage was coming in though the indicator still said Indian Express. Aaaaaaarrrrrggghhhh. After waiting endlessly I got my luggage and went out. The Spice Jet personnel were checking everyone’s luggage tags and tags on their tickets. Very sensible, I must say. While it causes major inconvenience, I sure it prevents a lot of theft in the small crowded room they like to call the arrival lounge.

Ok, I gotta rush now for work. Today after work, my micro vacation starts. Kashi Vishwanath temple and Ganga Aarthi on the agenda today