Bring Out Yer Dead!

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(Apologies for the Monty Python reference) Ok, I present to you, the Indian train system. Its beauty lies in its sense of “free-for-all”, unfortunately, utter chaos is the main product of a system seemingly created to intentionally lack any aspect of orderliness. Of course this brief analysis is conducted exclusively through a lens of a New Delhi departure and Varanasi arrival, however, suspicion leads me to believe the following details apply to most (if not all) legs of the same class train regardless of location. To begin, purchasing a ticket from the (thankfully) separated Foreign Tourist Bureau is an exercise in bureaucracy, and is a good generalization on how a number of things work in India. Our first ticket purchase was relatively breezy…we picked up the required ticket request slip, began filling it out with useless information (like the home address and phone number we don’t have and our age and sex), queued, handed it to an agent, paid the fare and presto, ticket issued. After we caught wind that tickets on popular legs were being snapped up rather quickly, we went to purchase the rest of our train tickets around northern India, exposing ourselves to significantly more anguish. To make a long story short, 3 hours, 10 request slips, 1 ticket cancellation (and subsequent refund), and 4 visits to the agent later, we finally sorted out 4 consecutive train trips. It was a less than enjoyable experience and seemed rather pointless given the fact that the trains (at least in Sleeper class) were obviously way overbooked once we climbed aboard.

After the lengthy process of selecting and purchasing our train tickets for Northern India, we were ready to hop on our first train, fearlessly pointing in the direction of Varanasi. To get to our platform to catch the train, we had to pass through a wooden structure that had a resemblance to a metal detector followed by a sleepy looking line of police propped up by foldout chairs and sitting behind card tables. Since the “metal detector wasn’t detecting metal and the police weren’t interested in detecting suspicious activity, we passed through both obstacles without incident, inched our way on through to our departure platform. Now, train platforms in India are amazing people watching opportunities because the really are a microcosm of everything that goes on in India. Due to the lack of security, everything is allowed on the platform and the swarm of activity parallels the streets outside the train station. Vendors, beggars, monkeys, cows, homeless, pee-walls, stacks of baggage, stacks of food, families on blankets, sadhus, white travelers, and anything else imaginable jockeys for position on the concrete slab. With the exception of the monkeys and cows, this concoction of people and stuff flows onto the train (at least onto Sleeper class), creating a suffocated existence for the duration of the trip. Chai wallas step over crippled beggars throwing angry glares at the bottled water vendors as everyone plays their hand in attempt to choke a few Rupees out of the sardine-packed passengers. Sleeper cars configured to hold 8 people are oftentimes seen carrying triple that amount until the person who actually has a ticket kicks the others off, or, a fight ensues because multiple people have a ticket for the same spot. We had the pleasure of two late night arguments in our section, reducing the sleep time to roughly nil even with the earplugs firmly squished into the ears. Another fun fact about basic “Sleeper” class is that you are not provided with sheets, a pillow or a blanket, so, nearly everyone is seen just laying in their clothes on top of a wooden bench covered in nylon fabric…talk about Spartan! The lack of A/C isn’t as big a problem as we initially thought it may be as plenty of cool Indian nighttime air finds its way into the train cars through wide open windows and doors. Oh yeah, this is traveling at its very best.

Our arrival at the train station in Varanasi in the morning was met with the expected flurry of rickshaw wallas, and, after selecting one that we thought looked the least obnoxious, we were on our way to find our lodging along the edge of the holy Ganga. Unfortunately, we picked a trailer, and he made his best attempt to guide us into the lodging of HIS choice. After dipping and diving in the narrow alleyways around near Manikarnika Ghat (main burning ghat), we shook the leech off and checked into the Sankatha Guesthouse. As we began our lengthy check-in process, Rozy glanced outside to find the rickshaw walla ducking behind a trashcan to avoid being seen.

Ok, on to the good stuff…Varanasi, wow, definitely one of those places you have to see to believe. Everything in the old city is centered on the Ganga, and, the sense of spirituality and focus on prayer is all consuming and visible at each turn of the crooked alleys. Walking around the alleys near Manikarnika, it is common to hear the sound of men chanting, bells banging, and drums beating indicating the approach of another body bound for the burning ghat. Draped in orange cloth and paraded through the streets on a bamboo stretcher, you can see this procession at any time of the day or night as the burning ghat is open for business 24/7. Down on the actual ghat, bodies burn (we saw as many as 10 little pyres at once) in plain view on a relatively small platform of logs as family members, tourists, locals, ghat workers and a mix of animals sit around and watch. Bodies that arrive from out of town are set on the ground in a building adjacent to the ghat, once again, in plain view of passersby and covered only with a thin orange cloth. As the bodies burn along the water, dozens of workers (mostly teenage boys) continually chop wood, stack pyres, shovel ashes and wade in the Ganga water just off the shore sifting silt in search of metal chunks not consumed by the fire. The whole process unfolds so openly and in such great numbers that burning bodies really feels like an integral part of life in this town of 1 million plus.

Walking along the Ganga through the many ghats (for burning, washing, and bathing), presents a great opportunity to really connect with the town. Hundreds of people carrying out their activities in plain view of one another, and, genuine conversations with the locals happen easily and frequently. Most people are really quite nice and happy to chat you up on a number of topics, however, a rather large number of people just so happen to have connections to the silk industry and are very interested in showing you their shop or factory. Pilgrims bathe openly in the holy river, sadhus (I suspect a number of them to be drugged-up fakers) lounge, silk vendors prowl, boat rowers call out, and kids run around (sometimes selling trinkets, sometimes just being kids). The whole environment is very relaxed and is perfect for sitting around and observing human behavior at its oddest. In our continued struggle to better understand Hinduism, we asked lots of questions of people, paged through our guidebooks, and pondered what we saw. The multitudes of Gods, concept of reincarnation, fantastically intricate ceremonies, colors, smells, procedures and conformity all seemed very difficult for us to make much sense of and I think we both have a strong desire to put the pieces together in order to come up with a reasonable explanation for what Hinduism is all about….hint, hint to my Hindu friends…drop us your input please!

Unfortunately, cleanliness doesn’t really seem to be a priority in Varanasi, and, it is important to carefully consider each step taken when roaming the alleyways or walking the ghats. Animals run the show in this town as cows block streets, defecating everywhere, monkeys swing from trees and buildings all around, goats travel in packs along the ghats by the dozen, and dogs and cats sleep underneath overhangs everywhere. It is difficult to find a bin wherever you may find yourself in the town, so, it certainly isn’t any wonder why trash lines the streets. Public toilets are another thing that does not exist, so, it is quite normal to pick up on the strong stench of urine on walls and corners. All of this less than hygienic activity (along with 30 large sewage drains) flows downhill into the Ganga (along with the ashes of the dead and the suds of millions of bathing people and animals) continuing its legacy as an incredibly dirty body of water. The amount of trash floating and the dirty dark grey color of the Ganga is quite surprising especially when you see pilgrims bathing and drinking the water all throughout the day. Although Varanasi may not be the cleanest place on Earth, it is easy to become awe struck walking thru this ancient city chock full of time honored tradition and genuine hospitality.

Out for now…



STATISTICS

• Flights taken = 8
  
• Intercity trains rides taken = 10
  
• Intercity bus rides taken = 29
  
• Times lost = 15
  
• Total instances of diarrhea = 3
  
• Total number of requests for pictures with Daniel = 5
  
• Total megabytes of pictures taken = 23,200
  

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Photos

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