Out of the Closets, Into the Streets: Week Thirty: Varanasi, January Protest

I started the week sick with whatever virus manifested on the train back from Haridwar and unfortunately had to miss a day of work while recovering. Of course everyone at TARSHI was really nice about the whole situation and after a lot of sleep and fluids I was fine to get back to work on Tuesday.

It was my last week in Dr. Puri's house so I spent a fair amount of my free time cleaning and packing up all of my stuff. A note on housing in Delhi: It has not been easy to find a place that is not either crazy overpriced or without things that I refuse to compromise on at this point, like a bathroom, proximity to a metro or a location in or near the neighborhoods where I work and attend meetings. Short term housing is often difficult to negotiate because no landlord wants someone who will not sign a lease and no flatmates want to deal with constantly finding someone new.

For those reasons, I was lucky to find this guest house but I was not sad to be leaving for a new location. It is in a nice neighborhood but between the mouse that was my roommate for the majority of my time there, the multiple articles of clothing that went missing in the wash (only really matters because I have essentially three pairs of pants and five shirts total), the problems with water, the unreliable wifi (only matters because I was being charged for it in the rent), the noise, and the rudeness I experienced when trying resolve these issues, it was time for a change. Another benefit of the Watson is that I am learning how to deal with a variety of housing, rent, roommate, and landlord issues that will no doubt be a part of my life at home. By the end of this year, I will have paid rent in many different places and under so many circumstances that I will feel much more comfortable trying to work through these issues in the future.

Rohini, Jasneet, and Phoebe were nice enough to keep my big pack while I traveled to Varanasi for two days, so on Tuesday I dropped my stuff at their house and a group of us headed to the Ethiopian Embassy to eat dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant inside. It was my first time to eat Ethiopian food, and it was delicious and so much fun. It was another of the moments when I was conscious of how many fantastic people I have met here and how lucky I am to be able to spend time with them.

The next day I finished packing up before heading to shop for Nehru vests with Jasneet and Carolyn. There is a men's tailor in Connaught Place that has a great selection, and I ended up with a really cool vest that I cannot wait to wear.

That night I took the overnight train to Varanasi. It left late, and so I anticipated a late arrival but I did not anticipate eight extra hours on the train. The very nice man sitting across from me who was a professor in Varanasi kept saying, "Two more hours," which was helpful except that it happened every two hours for six hours until we finally arrived in the city. It was only disappointing because my trip was already short and because of the late arrival, I had less than 24 hours in the city.

I will preface my discussion of that time by saying that the 24 hours were full of great new people, delicious food, and a beautiful place different from anywhere else I have visited.

Before leaving, I had made plans to meet up with Anna and Nyk, two travelers who posted about their trip in the Queer Couchsurfers group of which I am a member. I was really excited to see a post about Varanasi that matched with the dates I would be there. Nyk an Anna's train had arrived late as well so we made plans to meet later in the afternoon and walk to an aarti and grab some food.

Varanasi is fantastic in part because most of the city can be reached by walking along the river. There are several ghats, or areas meant for people to wash and bathe in the river, and they provide a walking path from one end of the city to another. I met Anna and Nyk at a ghat near to both of our hotels and we walked to Dasaswamedh where the big aarti is held every night. The aarti was beautiful just has it has been everywhere, and we offered pooja on the river before leaving to try a lassi restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet and eat some excellent street food.

The view from the balcony of my guest house. Assi ghat, the last in the line of ghats along the river. Later in the trip our boat guide told us that Varanasi is a combination of the names of the rivers around the city, Varuna and Asi, close to Assi ghat.

There are boats all along the river giving tours and allowing pilgrims to travel between ghats and offer pooja.

Walking the ghats in the evening. There was street art along a few of them.

Gandhi and Mandela

The aarti at Dasaswamedh:

Burned offering near my feet

Nyk, Anna, and I offered pooja

We stopped at the Blue Lassi and shared a variety of flavors. It was delicious. In India I have grown to appreciate lots of new foods that at home I generally avoid, including yogurt.

It began to rain on our way back so we walked the ghats in bad weather but got to see lightning reflected on the river.

The next morning we took a boat ride on the Ganges at dawn. I met Rebekah, who was also staying at my hotel, in the lobby, and we walked down to the river with our guide and picked up Nyk and Anna along the way. The fog was heavy, so we didn't see the sunrise but we did see all of the ghats from the river, and it was beautiful. We passed the main burning ghats, where people come to burn family members. Varanasi is a holy city, and many people visit to wait for their death so that they may die and be burned there. I saw several bodies being carried through the streets to the river to be burned.

There are many times during the year where I become conscious of the level of compartmentalizing that I must be doing in order to keep going at this clip without being overwhelmed by some of the things that I have seen. Seeeing dead bodies in Varanasi gave me one of those moments. It is not a normal experience but I could not afford to let myself take the time that I might have in another situation to process that reality.

After the ride, Rebekah and I had breakfast at the hotel before exploring the city a little more. Unfortunately I had to leave on a train early in the afternoon but it was great to spend some time talking to her and seeing more of Varanasi before heading back to Delhi.

The fog was heavy but it was still beautiful

Passing the ghats and historical homes and buildings of Varanasi along the river:

Goat on a ledge. Loved it so much I took a picture.

Building a ship on the shore.

On the bank of the river

During our walk along the river later that day, Rebekah and I saw lots of people and animals, and goats in shirts and sweaters always get me, so:

There are so many stray dogs in India that it's difficult to walk any street without seeing at least one or two. In some places, like Hauz Khas Village, people come with food and water and the dogs look like they get enough to eat, even if they don't get the affection they would in a home. In other places, it is clear that they don't get what they need. It took me a long time to kill the instinct to reach out and pet the dogs, but I learned that in Argentina, where there is a similar problem. In any case, they always remind me of Dixie and I couldn't help but take a picture of this cuddle puddle.

I arrived back early Saturday morning and moved into my new apartment in Mehrauli, a neighborhood in South Delhi near the Qutub Minar. Living in Mehrauli was a different experience to living in Malviya Nagar or CR Park, but more on that later.

After settling for a little while, I headed to Connaught Place to join in the protest marking the one month anniversary of the 377 ruling. A large group gathered near Palika Bazaar to write letters, listen to speeches, and hand out flyers. We passed out hundreds of flyers with information about the ruling all over CP. Because CP is a circle, we walkled the whole loop and returned to Palika Bazaar for a candle light ceremony and some singing.

Anna helping with postcards.

Waiting to distribute pamphlets.

Gethered in the park above Palika Bazaar

Bismay!

Manvi, Vinay, Partha, and Bismay

Listening to some speeches

Pamphlet distribution time

Candlelight vigil

Afterward, I went with several lovely people, including Nyk and Anna who had happily also come to Delhi that morning, to eat dinner and have a beer. It was a great way to end the evening and mark a return to Delhi and a new place.