BANARAS

A lot is said about this magical city, a city that existed before time and will exist beyond. A place preferred for dying, because it is a notion that death here is liberating, liberating you from this world, from rebirths, and this endless cycle of birth and death.

We heard our drivers call this city Kashi, the city which sits on the pinpoint of Lord Shiva's Trishul(Trident). A city along with its inhabitants who are dear to the Almighty Father Shiva and Almight Mother Parvati. We heard a couple of people say this to us, and we could sense who said it with a depth which could be felt vis a vis where it was to get a heavy tip. People go there looking for the truth, for the answer and one thing I observed was the certainty with which people believed that crime will always be lower here, and that this city will never perish, even when the world finishes or even if time comes to an end.

I was listening to the river, watching the silently flowing river.

Reverence of the priests for the ganga at morning arti, I could only imagine how we must have begun this tradition. Imagine a lifeline, a river where you and your animals drink peace, where your crops take root and nutrients from, water which replenishes and cleanses our homes. Imagine its beauty and glory in the light of its indispensability and then see that no matter what we do, can we never pray enough to it. Neither can we ever repay it for the nourishment it provides us. Ganga is famous for washing away sins of this life, some people say all lives. 

But I question, if we can't care for something so precious and sacred for us, how do we care for anything?

The lust for salvation, a city that guarantees answers, people full of faith and stories, city full of temples and ghats, highlights what human wants. They say once you have learnt, worked, created a family, you have this uncontrollable urge to experience the ultimate bliss achieved through salvation "Moksha".

Kashi promises! Kashi delivers the promise only if you believe and only if you try to be there fully. Only if you leave it all behind.

When you hear silence, be grateful

Don't be anxious, don't chatter mentally and physically 

To drown this silence, to smother the voice of this silence.

Silence demands to be heard. It exists where no words can.

Relationships need silence, to grow, to heal and to evolve.

When the river makes a soft rumble, only to be drowned by the motor of the motor boat.

Be grateful for the silence and calm of the river.

When you see wood and flowers floating in it, remember what all floated in it once.

See the ashes and burning pyres along the banks of ganga, see the silence.

Witness silence, not just hear it.

Feel it, not just listen to it.

Silence brings up the inner chaos, you needed and need to face.

Let the pain, grief, sorrow surface and let it drown again.

Let the waves come and go, let them be.

Don't judge them by their magnitude or direction

Definitely dont be afraid of them.

For what is an ocean without its waves.

For what is a sentence without the silence between the words.

Every journey adds up, because the journey is the destination.