it was the first night at varanasi. as i decided to venture into the dark & dingy ganga-fuji restaurant. the owner waxed eloquent about his food and chatted about tourists, varanasi and everything by the river. the food turned out to be decent though not as brilliant as he promised it would be. he was warm and chatty and made the experience interesting.
what i liked more about this restaurant was the wall covered with notes & drawings left behind by tourists. they say you leave a part of your soul in every city you visit. well, i would feel like voldemort and his horcruxes if i did that! i don’t leave my soul anywhere, but i steal a little nuance, a little story, a little part of every city when i leave. that is what i take away with me.
i came across this sketch of varanasi as seen through the eyes of a tourist… i really like this representation of the city & her river, or of the river & her city? they seem to be inter-twined, conjoint at the hip and connected. for me it shows how human civilisations are clustered around the most important element for survival of life – a never-ending water source! and that is how i see varanasi.
merry to go around 