traveling with scissors: Varanasi and Calcutta

Where to begin. These two places were inspiring, exhilarating, irritating, disorderly, confusing, morbid, heinous, corrupt, stunning, radiant, repulsive and blithe all existing in one single moment. This being my most challenging of all my travels, I was grateful to have my friend Michael with me in Varanasi or I might have lost my cool in the narrow streets of this three ring circus. We dodged the unrelenting scams, shared the experience of frequent near head on collisions in the rickshaws and went sari shopping together. He's going to make his into a wall hanging and I into a duvet. This cow dung obstacle course is known for its vibrant fabrics and is most famous for the burning ghats on the Ganges river. People come to Varanasi to die so their body will be cremated on the shore of the Ganges and ashes scattered into the holy waters. Holy men and babies are not cremated but are submerged in the river, I have heard several rumors of dead babies and animals floating at the surface. Not to mention the millions of liters of feces and other sewage being dumped into that river, I passed the boat ride and a bath and was more then satisfied with the view of the water from a distance.

Michael and I met a local on our first night there and he took us over to see the ghats, I couldn't believe what was before my very eyes. I was within feet away from a burning body and didn't realize it at first. I was not expecting everything to be so exposed for the public to see. They do this twenty four hours a day at an average of 200 each day. It is not unusual to see corpses being carried through the streets as they are being carried through so frequently. They are being carried in the same manner one would carry lumber to a construction site.
Calcutta was much more civilized but still not easy. It took me almost three days to get there from Varanasi. It should have been a simple overnight train ride but I missed my first train after waiting eight hours because of delays because the track that it was originally supposed to arrive on was changed and I couldn't hear on the loud speaker that they switched. I couldn't figure out why there was whole families of Indian people sleeping on the floor of the station. They are camped out with blankets, pillows, food, the works, because they are aware that they are going to be there for a while. Even when I finally boarded a train it sat in the station for about an hour and continued to cease all through the night. I feared I would never reach my destination. When I finally did arrive, I went to see a Hindi movie because I heard that cinema is such a big deal in India. They like lots of suspense and action and dance scenes and not one dull moment. There was no build up to the plot, or subtleties. The entire time people were scaling the walls, jumping from one building to the next, shooting things and having wild car chases and then an intense choreographed bellydance scene thrown somewhere in between. The audience cheers and claps and eats and talks on their cellphones. The men here were following me around the streets wanting to know where I was from, if I want to buy something, offering me a chai or a rickshaw ride or asking me for money. I tried being direct as possible since I realized early on that they can't take a hint, for example saying "get the f*@#k away from me!" doesn't phase them one bit. I tried ignoring them and they would follow me for blocks. If they weren't saying anything, they were shamelessly staring and watching my every move like a hawk. I stayed focused on the purpose for coming there and that was to see where Mother Theresa did her healings and to see the little Bengali girl I sponsor which made it worth every tribulation. Who would have known that very sunny day in Manhattan on my way to the library when someone asked me if I wanted to be a sponsor would have brought me to Calcutta. I am so glad I paused my ipod for this solicitor because it changed my life and someone else's. Her name is Koyel and she is five years old, she is beautiful and funny and clever. I brought her a Barbie and she was obsessed with it, it is only the second doll she owns. I also took her shopping and let her pick out a toy and a dress and took her and her dad to lunch. What an incredible experience.
Submission accomplished.
a man with his daughter dressed up for a festival