Stay In Varanasi For Five Days; Friday For Future Movement In Germany
It was Mr Raj Kumar of Padmavathi Guest House who assured me room would be spared once you leave the guest house in which you were residing. Given this assurance which meant a lot to me i vacated Luxmi Guest House in Dashaswamedh and moved to Maa Padmavathi Guest House. Mr Upendar Yadav was at the counter who handed over the keys of a room on first floor. Having reached Sankatmochan Temple (Lord Hanuman Temple) i could not access the same as the doors were closed and i returned to my room in battery operated e rickshaw. E rickshaws galore in the city of Varanasi with the belief that its plying doesn't add to pollution. Pollution per se is non existent in Varanasi and that's the sweetest part about this holy place. As i began the search for flights to city of New Delhi from Varanasi from Sai Travels located in Tripura Bhairavi in Dashaswamedh, the wait was long as the proprietor going by the name Mr Abhishek didn't have enough funds in his account to issue a ticket. It almost cost a fortune as far as air ticket for Delhi meant as flights limited in number were on the brink of getting filled. During course of my stay in Sai Travels i came across a group from South India which was eager to get ticket issued for travelling to Bodh Gaya to and forth.
With air ticket in hand i set out for having food and SHREE Cafe in Dashaswamedh was kind enough to dispense meals even at 4 pm. During my innumerable visits to SHREE Cafe i came across different set of individuals. There was one guy from Okinawa in Japan and another Mr Ristoff from Germany. The Okinawa Guy was staying in Varanasi for the past 10 days and something that showed his craze. A professional photographer, Mr Ristoff had visited Varanasi in the past in 1999 and 2002. He spoke about Friday For Future Movement In Germany. This movement entailed school students along with their pupils skipping schools on Friday to protest and lend their voice to issue of climate change across Germany and stress on efforts that each individual should make to to nip the climate change intoxicants. I broached the subject of different chancellors like Helmult Kohl in the past to Ms Angela Merkel at present. Mr Ristoff seem least interested in politicos and their caravan given their inward outlook and their inability to gauge the mood of the populace. Same was true for politicos in India who were hellbent in pushing an agenda like CAA which was out and out divise. Mr Ristoff had made innumerable visits to China, to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, the latter which i had visited in the mid- 90s. Mr Ristoff hailed from Cologne in West Germany. A Special word of thanks to Mr Babloo and Mr Subhash of Raja Tea Point near Baba Store, Mr Anurag of tea centre near Baba Store, Mr Dinesh Yadav who ran his tea store from a place opposite Aditya Inn Hotel. A Special word of thanks to Baba Store for dishing out biscuits. Not to miss were occasions sprinkled with abuse that greeted me now and then that had its origin in large scale unemployment in the country and some khakiwallahs strength to act as devil. Perhaps they were carrying on with the legacy of abuse from the National Capital of Delhi where there was rampant hooliganism not only in your neighbourhood but across Delhi State. I also happen to have spicy snacks from Kashi Chaat Bhandar which witnessed a large turnout in the evening hours. This snacks along with taking meals late in the evening had led to acidity and except for this stomach irritant the stay in the city was largely good on my stomach.
I happen to meet a group from Trichy in Tamil Nadu State in India and they disclosed that Rameswaram had connectivity with Varanasi with a train starting from there on Monday and reaching Varanasi on Thursday. I told this group that i had travelled extensively in Tamil Nadu State to places like Chennai, Rameswaram, Kanniyakumari, Udhagamandalam and Madurai. I also happen to meet a group from Slovenia which was headed towards Goa. On Monday i visited Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the morning and evening, the evening visit giving me an opportunity to touch Lord Shiva's Lingam something that would remain etched in my memory for long.
Tuesday as usual i took black tea and got ready to leave for Kashi Vishwanath Temple. In no time i was inside the temple and evening sortie was no different. Wednesday i was supposed to leave for Delhi and being a New Year Day there was palpable rush in Temple. The serpentine queue to Gate Number One made me opt for Gate Number Four and sighting of Lord Shiva's Lingam was all i craved for. With near perfect sighting i exited from Gate One and returned to guest house. Not to be set aside the observation that the cops inside the temple were cooperative and unassuming with no lust for power that some politicos of this country longed for. Post meals from SHREE Cafe which ran under Mr Santosh Pandey's watch who was a photo journalist i returned to my room only to leave few minutes later. While leaving i came across Mr Ashok Yadav who made it a point to stress on the fact that people of this city revered Sankatmochan Temple and the presiding deity and the rush on New Year Day was huge. I would remain ever grateful to Mr Tanna Lal Prajapati the porter who carried my baggage to the Auto Stand from where i was supposed to take auto for Airport. In all i stayed for five days in Varanasi and the itinerary was built on hope and largely linked to aspirational index.
The best part about Varanasi is the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the occasional visit that one makes to occasional chat with Buddhist monks and the urgency that one shows to take a dip in River Ganga that has been revered for centuries.
It was Mr Raj Kumar of Padmavathi Guest House who assured me room would be spared once you leave the guest house in which you were residing. Given this assurance which meant a lot to me i vacated Luxmi Guest House in Dashaswamedh and moved to Maa Padmavathi Guest House. Mr Upendar Yadav was at the counter who handed over the keys of a room on first floor. Having reached Sankatmochan Temple (Lord Hanuman Temple) i could not access the same as the doors were closed and i returned to my room in battery operated e rickshaw. E rickshaws galore in the city of Varanasi with the belief that its plying doesn't add to pollution. Pollution per se is non existent in Varanasi and that's the sweetest part about this holy place. As i began the search for flights to city of New Delhi from Varanasi from Sai Travels located in Tripura Bhairavi in Dashaswamedh, the wait was long as the proprietor going by the name Mr Abhishek didn't have enough funds in his account to issue a ticket. It almost cost a fortune as far as air ticket for Delhi meant as flights limited in number were on the brink of getting filled. During course of my stay in Sai Travels i came across a group from South India which was eager to get ticket issued for travelling to Bodh Gaya to and forth.
With air ticket in hand i set out for having food and SHREE Cafe in Dashaswamedh was kind enough to dispense meals even at 4 pm. During my innumerable visits to SHREE Cafe i came across different set of individuals. There was one guy from Okinawa in Japan and another Mr Ristoff from Germany. The Okinawa Guy was staying in Varanasi for the past 10 days and something that showed his craze. A professional photographer, Mr Ristoff had visited Varanasi in the past in 1999 and 2002. He spoke about Friday For Future Movement In Germany. This movement entailed school students along with their pupils skipping schools on Friday to protest and lend their voice to issue of climate change across Germany and stress on efforts that each individual should make to to nip the climate change intoxicants. I broached the subject of different chancellors like Helmult Kohl in the past to Ms Angela Merkel at present. Mr Ristoff seem least interested in politicos and their caravan given their inward outlook and their inability to gauge the mood of the populace. Same was true for politicos in India who were hellbent in pushing an agenda like CAA which was out and out divise. Mr Ristoff had made innumerable visits to China, to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, the latter which i had visited in the mid- 90s. Mr Ristoff hailed from Cologne in West Germany. A Special word of thanks to Mr Babloo and Mr Subhash of Raja Tea Point near Baba Store, Mr Anurag of tea centre near Baba Store, Mr Dinesh Yadav who ran his tea store from a place opposite Aditya Inn Hotel. A Special word of thanks to Baba Store for dishing out biscuits. Not to miss were occasions sprinkled with abuse that greeted me now and then that had its origin in large scale unemployment in the country and some khakiwallahs strength to act as devil. Perhaps they were carrying on with the legacy of abuse from the National Capital of Delhi where there was rampant hooliganism not only in your neighbourhood but across Delhi State. I also happen to have spicy snacks from Kashi Chaat Bhandar which witnessed a large turnout in the evening hours. This snacks along with taking meals late in the evening had led to acidity and except for this stomach irritant the stay in the city was largely good on my stomach.
I happen to meet a group from Trichy in Tamil Nadu State in India and they disclosed that Rameswaram had connectivity with Varanasi with a train starting from there on Monday and reaching Varanasi on Thursday. I told this group that i had travelled extensively in Tamil Nadu State to places like Chennai, Rameswaram, Kanniyakumari, Udhagamandalam and Madurai. I also happen to meet a group from Slovenia which was headed towards Goa. On Monday i visited Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the morning and evening, the evening visit giving me an opportunity to touch Lord Shiva's Lingam something that would remain etched in my memory for long.
Tuesday as usual i took black tea and got ready to leave for Kashi Vishwanath Temple. In no time i was inside the temple and evening sortie was no different. Wednesday i was supposed to leave for Delhi and being a New Year Day there was palpable rush in Temple. The serpentine queue to Gate Number One made me opt for Gate Number Four and sighting of Lord Shiva's Lingam was all i craved for. With near perfect sighting i exited from Gate One and returned to guest house. Not to be set aside the observation that the cops inside the temple were cooperative and unassuming with no lust for power that some politicos of this country longed for. Post meals from SHREE Cafe which ran under Mr Santosh Pandey's watch who was a photo journalist i returned to my room only to leave few minutes later. While leaving i came across Mr Ashok Yadav who made it a point to stress on the fact that people of this city revered Sankatmochan Temple and the presiding deity and the rush on New Year Day was huge. I would remain ever grateful to Mr Tanna Lal Prajapati the porter who carried my baggage to the Auto Stand from where i was supposed to take auto for Airport. In all i stayed for five days in Varanasi and the itinerary was built on hope and largely linked to aspirational index.
The best part about Varanasi is the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the occasional visit that one makes to occasional chat with Buddhist monks and the urgency that one shows to take a dip in River Ganga that has been revered for centuries.
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