This, That and Some More

Image Courtesy: https://www.anamoralesblog.com/en/sarnath-and-the-wheel-of-dharma/ Sarnath is said to be the place where Gautama The Buddha gave his first sermon, it is approximately 10 KM from Varanasi and it takes about thirty to forty five minutes to reach there, depending on the traffic. It is a place of pilgrimage for all Buddhists from all over the world and on itinerary of all travelers who come to Varanasi. Thanks to all the pilgrims and travelers from the east, Varanasi had a thriving south east Asian food scene, there were many Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean restaurants (now shut) here and the famous 'Blue Lassi' shop was named by a Korean lady as the story goes. However due to the many travel restrictions during the ongoing pandemic, the pilgrims and tourists from the east are not yet able to travel to India, I hope they can come back soon to uplift their spirit and put the pandemic behind them. Buddhism originated in India so we all know about Siddharta's journ...

Picture Courtesy: Bongeats Kolkata is where home and heart both are, Gunter Grass had a love hate relationship with Kolkata and Dominique LaPierre labelled it as 'City of Joy' and it truly is a joy to be home ensconced in the warm welcome of family and friends. Here, the people are harried yet politically aware with a vague sense of dissatisfaction around them, phrases like "eyi chole jachche" (it's going on) or "benche aachi" (I am alive) are common responses when asked "How are you?" I have always been saying that France resembles Bengal and before I could articulate that thought, it was written by someone else , anyway people like to complain about the politics, weather, transport, rising prices and whatever else is worth complaining about. The city is culturally aware, progressive in thoughts and actions, has an exuberant expression of art and creativity during festivals, it has a street dedicated to book shops and a road dedicated to worsh...

Image Courtesy: TripAdvisor Kashi, The Ganges flows North here  Creating a whole world here Shiva is the Chief Deity  here Parvati dropped her earrings here Kashi, People come to die here In the hope of attaining Mukti here By breathing their last here And to be committed to the pyre here Manikarnika, the funeral pyres burn here A person is nothing but a body here Placed on a pile of logs here To be set alight by a person once dear Manikarnika, the Doms rule here Their kitchen fires lit by the pyres burning here Doms are the sacred keepers of the flame here Being an 'Untouchable' and a 'King' is the greatest paradox here Manikarnika, the skull of the body is cracked here Bodies turn to ashes here Ashes sieved for valuables and immersed in The Ganga here May I also have the fortune to ascend the cycles of life and death and burn here An ode to my recent visit to Kashi

Image Courtesy: Times of India A few cities have a food or a snack which defines the city and what it stands for, for example if one was playing guessing games and if 'Vada Pav" was mentioned, nine out of 10 times the person guessing would say 'Mumbai' as is 'Croissant' for 'Paris' and perhaps 'Roll' for 'Kolkata'. There may be others as well like 'Idly' for 'Chennai', 'Bagel' for 'New York' and so on. Mumbai is an ever-growing city which is bursting at it's seams and has about twenty million people, the city has a frenetic pace and people are always spending time traveling from here to there. Local trains are the lifeline of this city and people (seven million daily) spend a significant amount of time on trains, they form friendships, save seats for special people (if they can), do their vegetable shopping and cutting in the train to save time so that when they reach home, what was chopped can be wa...