How can one begin to describe Varanasi? Well Mark Twain did, in his now ubiquitous quote: "Benares (Varanasi) is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together". Quite. Well my stab at summarising this most intense of cities is that it's a bit like if Manhattan had a baby with Kabul. A really brash and rebellious baby that doesn't take any shit from anyone but also likes to have it's own way and will crawl over all the other babies to get his favourite toy. Intriguing and completely infuriating at the same time. Indeed, Varanasi is one of, if not the holiest of Hindu cities, and the overpowering religiosity is present with every breath you take. This is weirdly juxtaposed with the fact that everyone is basically trying to hustle everyone else: be it tourists or Indian pilgrims, or the average man on the street. Another example of this strange mix of the mundane with the spiritual and existential is an average day by the Ganges. The river Ganges flows through the city like a main artery, pumping life into the city, and creating a hub of activity and gathering of people by the 'ghats' or steps that lead down to the water. A typical Ganges-side 'tableau' might look a bit like this: someone having a good scrub in the holy water in the morning, someone else washing their clothes, a dog having a frolic in the water, someone else performing some religious ceremony, and dead bodies being ritually washed in the water before being cremated. Or just dumped in the river if they do not fit the criteria of those who get to be cremated. The burning ghats (the ghats specifically designated for cremation) I found somewhat disturbing. Although in theory I am all for the idea of pragmatism and the de-mystification of death, and indeed I'm sure it is a far healthier attitude, actually seeing people go about the cremation in such a matter-of-fact manner and the fact that bodies are lined up and burned 'a la chaine' just felt weird. Also the lack of outer manifestations of grief (women are not allowed to attend, as it is believed that if the relatives cry the soul of the dead person will remain in some sort of limbo) and presence of punters who seem to be just hanging around for the craic, means that it is an utterly prosaic atmosphere.
There are plenty of elements of the surreal in Varanasi, not least with the complete free range of cows (sometimes sporting pretty flowery decorations on their horns), casually dotted around the narrow streets and sometimes having a bit of a rest in an air-conditioned saree shop (spotted last week!), nonchalantly going about their business without too much preoccupation for others. Their business, by the way, seems to consist mainly of foraging for scraps left for them in the street, getting in the (my) way, and pooing every two metres. Oh, and being holy. Incidentally, that could be another level in my India computer game: avoid stepping/slipping and breaking your neck on cow poo whilst walking down a narrow alley which has been submerged in darkness due to an unannounced power cut.
Ah.. the powercuts. Yes. They are frequent.. daily, in fact; and usually lengthy. The electricity is controlled by the regional authority and is basically switched off when 'the powers that be' decide that the city has used too much and needs to be punished. Well, not quite but it feels that way! As I lay in bed bathing in my own sweat for a few hours every night, I silently curse that little man who sits there and flicks the switch.. And you never know when the cut is going to come, so that only ads to the feeling of utter powerlessness.. While the power is on you know that it is ephemeral and could, hypothetically, go at ANY second.. Ugh. Seemingly Uttar Pradesh (the state in which Varanasi is located.. also quite trendily known as 'U.P.'..) is one of the more corrupt states or India. Last week we magically didn't have a single powercut for the whole day. I thought, wow, cool, but secretly feared the moment when it would inevitably come. Then the guy from the hostel told me that there was probably a 'VIP' in town. You know you're in a developing country when you hear this sort of thing.. I couldn't help but be reminded of when I was in Cote d'Ivoire and that one of the two bridges that connects one part of Abidjan with the rest, would regularly be closed so that Gbagbo could cruise along and avoid the traffic jams... I actually saw him once, with the window of his swanky car down so that everyone could see him. He might want to reconsider his security arrangements whilst traveling...(?!!)
This brings me to a question I have been asking myself since I arrived in India over two months ago: is India a developing country? I know these geopolitical terms go out of fashion very quickly and I believe (according to the Economist) that we should use the term 'global south'. But of course we are told everyday in the papers and by CNN that India and China are the new 'Superpowers' who are poised to take over the world any day now. But I cannot reconcile this picture of fast-paced progress and technological development, with what I have seen with my own eyes, and with the people I have met. There is a huge disconnect between the overwhelming hand-to-mouth existence of so many, and the image portrayed in Indian Vogue of the Mumbai/Delhi-based, pale-skinned, Dubai-shopping fashionistas. Or even the films and TV. Obviously I'm not suggesting that Indian Vogue is a hard-hitting, gritty true life publication. Even it's European/American counterparts are designed to be aspirational. But clearly these swanky people who take the pill, work in advertising, and have (it must be said) really nice clothes, do exist! I would love to see where though. And I would love to know how they manage to live in a parallel world and ignore all the poverty. I know we are equally guilty of this in our own countries, but the scale of poverty here is just overwhelming and so much more in your face. It's just harder to ignore. From powercuts and corruption to Indian Vogue and social injustice...? But I have to say that from my short time here this point has struck me over and over again: the apparent contradictions and the fact that people seem to live side by side, whilst existing in entirely different worlds. Even different centuries! And at the moment in Varanasi, I'm stuck somewhere in the Middle Ages..
