The first chords of Country Girl rang out from Marks mobile and ushered in a new day in Varanasi. It was 5:30AM and we had woke early to catch the sunrise over the Ganges and were not to be disappointed. At around 6AM the sun rose and filled the sky with deep warm red, yellow and orange hues. The atmosphere was peaceful, calm and tranquil all in good measure if you ignored the boatfuls of obese middle aged Americans on either side that is.
Varanasi is a city of 3 million sitting at the confluence of the Ganges and Assi rivers and is at the centre of the Hindu universe. The city however, has somewhat of a carnival atmosphere and at times, feels like a hangover from the summer of love. The scent of incense drifts on the gentle breezes off the Ganges and the music of numerous tablas and sitars fills the air. Ageing hippies lounge around in the Guesthouse smoking the herb trying to recapture the ‘60s, while younger dread-locked wannabes spend their time consuming copious quantities of Bhang Lassis scattering their vocabulary with such phrases as ‘it was a far out trip man’. I can’t remember the number of times I have been approached by a young Indian guy wearing a cheeky spiv moustache, ‘50s movie stars haircut and a cheap multi-coloured cotton shirt offering me ‘hashish’ or ‘marijuana’. I declined choosing to stay on the side of the law hoping to see England again some time. This town is how I imagine Glastonbury would feel, if I had ever been. Damn security fence!
Beyond the hippies however, there is a city which is at the centre of the Hindu universe, plgrims descent the Ghats along the banks of the Ganges to bathe in its purifying waters. Not sure how purifying water with human excrement and body parts can be mind you. Beyond the river and the Ghats are a warren of alleys and backstreets populated by numerous shops, cows and pilgrims who roam depositing offerings of flowers and candles at the shrines to the various deities which litter the streets. Menacing security guards sit with rifles at the shrines apparently waiting to gun down any ‘terrorists’ that may be lurking. Although they would do better to train their guns on the tossers who race through the alleys at high speed on there crappy knock off Italian scooters.
This is how I imagined India to be.
