Varanasi Revisited - Jan-Feb 2006

January 21-22

My Nepal visa expires today so I make a sad farewell to Sauraha, a Nepali Village by the Chitwan Jungle. I've spent several days riding a rental bicycle around the Tharu villages full of wattle and daub mud huts, elephants, and the local jungles where I've seen peacocks, deer, crocodiles, and storks.

Me and the two others on our "tourist" bus are excited that there are only 3 of us on the bus. But we soon learn the methods of Nepali thrift when we stop in every village to try to take on passengers. At one village we wait 10 minutes at the gas station accumulating passengers before pulling up to the pumps. I'm guessing the driver was waiting to have enough fares to pay for the gas. It's a short 4 hour ride before I am dumped a few km from the border in a small village bus depot. The touts beg me to take a rickshaw, but I know there is a 8rs bus. I ask around and get pointed in the direction of a jeep packed full of locals, with 4 standing on the bumper. The conductor motions me to throw my backpack on the roof rack and for me to ride up there as well. So I get the princess seat! It's a short 15 min ride to the border town of Sounali. I am thankful for the short ride as I'm sure a long ride hanging onto the roofrack could be quite a thrilling adventure.

As we pull into the bus depot at Sounali, a shaggy hair and bearded man gives me the Hawaii thumb and pinkie wave peering from beneath his low slung hemp hat. I meet Ariel formally at the Nepal immigration counter as we check out of Nepal. Ariel is a 20 something Israeli guy into tantra and Reiki. I feel a strong energy between us and surmise some mystical travels are starting up for us. We end up taking a tourist bus from the border to Varanasi. Planned to bus 3hours to Gorakpur and take the more comfy train from there, but didn't want to risk having to overnight in Gorakpur if it wasn't possible to get a last minute train ticket. And as the bus tout reminded us, we could just get on this tourist bus with no other worries til Varanasi... and the bus would get us to Varanasi aat 6am rather than the train's 2am... better to look for a guest house after sunrise.

There were a half dozen Hindi guys hanging out on the bus.... it was three hours before departure. They offered to sell us hashish. The suggested the "best seats". We had initially been promised double seats for each of us... but that no longer held since we had bargained 50rs off our ticket prices. At departure time, all the worry of seats turned to nought when we discovered there were only 3 passengers! Me, Ariel, and an Italian guy, Alberto.

I remember the old big wheeled bicycles of the 1800's were called boneshakers. That ought to have been the bus' name. The sliding windows missing their latches vibrated open every five minutes letting the cold night air in. Try to sleep? Forget it. The bus felt like it was shaking apart... like we were going through the atmosphere, but never quite getting to hyperspace. About midnight, I started coughing badly as we passed through a town of burning plastic rubbage. Uggh, I thought, the air is bad already and we are not even to Varanasi. I thought of the 5 remaining hours... looking forward to sunup. Sleeping was impossible. Holding onto the seat was about all I could manage. Then, miracle of miracles, one of the couchmen says "Wake up! This Varanasi". "Here? Varanasi?" I replied...seeing it was only 1 am. Sure enough, it was no joke, he woke my friends and we were dumped into Varanasi at 1am! A mixed blessing since sleep might be possible now, but roaming late night Varanasi where everything closes and locks at 11pm wasn't ideal. A jovial autorickshaw tout glummed onto us promising 50 rs rooms. We took him up, but demanded to be taken to the ghats, where we knew we wanted to stay. Somehow the five of us and our luggage crammed into this autorickshaw: the driver and his henchman, Ariel, Alberto, and I.

A surreal late night circus, Ariel and the driver and henchman laughed and screamed joking like banshees as we careened the late night streets where sleeping cows were the main traffic. The first two guesthouses proved to be 250 rs expensive! Finally by the Hanuman Burning Ghat Ariel got us a 120rs room for the three of us. We got 4 or 5 hours sleep before searching more permanant quarters in the morning.

23 Jan

Today I walked down a narrow alley and was delayed as a rickshaw laden with furniture navigated the narrow passage. Every few yards, there was a step or obstruction to squeeze the load around. We got to a intersection where an oncoming rickshaw had to pass. It seemed impossible, yet the rickshaw wallahs were somehow making room around each other. Then a cow peeks around from the other alley at the intersection and in a moment walks right through, somehow bending space and getting around the rickshaws on this narrow alley! Oh, the Holy Cow of India!

Feb 11

As I strolled out after my lunch, I wandered a narrow alley towards the ghats wondering what to do. I came upon a dying cow surrounded by 3 tourists and a couple of locals. The tourists were attempting some love and healing for this poor cow. I saw some Reiki hands in the air and realized Spirit had something for me to do. Apparently the cow no longer gave milk and had been neglected by her owners. She'd been shitting water for nigh on a month and daily passed on her way to the Ganges. This morning she fell over and lay here all day. An Israeli woman seemed to be heading the care. A Canadian lady and a Dutch guy lended some loving hands. An a Hindi hoteller was enthusiastically helping. I laid my hands on the fleabeaten cow, giving her some Reiki and hoping she would pass easily.

The Hindi guy said he thought an injection would help. Meanwhile he poured some kerosene on her feet whcich drove a stream of maggots out. It was clearly a case of many cooks in this kitchen of love. Hindi's came by and everyone had a different idea. Me and the Canadian gal were hoping the cow would give up on life easily... even if she got up, she'd need some longterm care, and likely no one could give her that here... her owners certainly had abandoned her. The local guy suggested a fire near the cows belly for warmth... some garbage and wood appeared and a fire was built. Every once in a while the cow would mover her leg, knocking the firecircle stones and rest her foot in the fire. Soon the Israeli gal and the Hindi helpmate went off for some injectionible drugs. We gathered they were going for life saving rather than euthanasia drugs. While they were off, some locals came up. Different ideas. One brought some herbs and put them in a water bottle and we held the cows head up and poured the mix down. Another guy brought some herbs and put them on some coals by the cows nose as an inhalent. I feared they'd singe her nose. Someone came and said a vet was in the area if we wanted to call him. The Israeli gal and Hindi helper returned with what appeared to be antibiotics. Some injectible and some to be crushed and fed. The gal wanted to mix the edible drug with sweets, but the aurevedic guys disaggreed... no sweets for the cow they said! It was one of those cases where I wondered the cow wouldn't die from everyone trying out their idea of what was best!

Only in India... Anything is possible... I thought to myself and laughed. I was helping hold the cows head mouth up to the air to swallow her medicine... others were prying her mouth open... the drug mixed with sweets got in and now cupful by cupful they were trying to wash it down her throat with water. So I'm sitting there helping hold her head when a mouse drops down on my lap from overhead! I jokingly wondered if one of the monkey's that had peered down from the roof had thrown it. The mouse scurried around and around, going across my feet several times. After a couple of injections, based on the group consensus. Everyone went off for a break. Meanwhile the cow lay with a fire by her belly. The Canadian gal hoped the cow wouldn't burn herself.

In India, Any thing is possible!

I walked by a few hours later and the cow lay cold and dead... I pray someone removes her.... in November a dead dog lay in a busy alleyway next to samosa/fried food stand for a day and a half... I thought that was bad until I mentioned it to a guy at my guest house and he said the dog was laying there dying the day before!

In India, Any thing is possible! and it usually is!