Greetings from Varanassi! If you dont know about this place then I feel bad for you son. In the last four days we have been to Pushkgar, Jaipur, and Agra. I have nothing truly pleasant to say about Agra besides the Taj Mahal and Agra fort so I'll keep those opinions to myself. But everywhere else had been nothing short of a blessing. Pushkgar was beyond words. It's a small mountain town and the only place where one can worship Brahma. Brahma is the Hindu god that creates life after Shiva has danced the world into destruction. We were very lucky to be here on the full moon because this sacred town has a festival during the day where you try and generate as much good karma as possible. We made friends with a Canadian traveler named Kirk (who I kept calling captain Kirk), who then had the wonderful misfortune of dealing me with for a whole evening while we walked around the small streets of Pushkgar. We participated in their tradition to have a blessing and prayer at the lake by a brahman priest since Pushkagr is considered a scared holy city. Pushkgar has an extremely special place in my heart because I finally felt comfortable enough to go out and talk to the merchants. I had one unique conversation with a brahman who taught me about the chakras and the caste system, along with many other topics that I choose not to go into detail.
Now onto the wonders of Varanassi. This city is the only city I would be completely content with living in. And coming from me, that's saying quite a lot. Not only is it placed on the holy ganga river but even the graffiti has a sense of spirituality. There's one graffiti that teaches you the laugh mantra which makes me have a giggle fit every time I do it. but that also could be due to the fact that I laugh at everything. Either way, it's amazing. There a burning ghats, which is where peoples bodies are cremated along the river. Seeing a burning body is something I chose not to describe but it definitely makes one reflect on how finite our existence really is.
I've had some many personal discoveries while in India. An example being that as long as I dance in the street with my headphones in, I don't notice all the merchants trying to hustle me into their shop to buy their "one of a kind goods that I wont see anywhere else". I've also learned that monkeys, dogs, and cows are the squirrels of India. You find one down every corner, some in narrow alleyways that you cant even fit through. The poverty here is unspeakable. It's extremely hard to express my feelings about India in just a blog, and I don't know if I could even express them in person. But all I know is that this trip has been everything that I've wanted it to be and so much more. The good and the bad and the ugly have been life changing and I only hope it continues.
Namaste,
Lindsay Pugh
Now onto the wonders of Varanassi. This city is the only city I would be completely content with living in. And coming from me, that's saying quite a lot. Not only is it placed on the holy ganga river but even the graffiti has a sense of spirituality. There's one graffiti that teaches you the laugh mantra which makes me have a giggle fit every time I do it. but that also could be due to the fact that I laugh at everything. Either way, it's amazing. There a burning ghats, which is where peoples bodies are cremated along the river. Seeing a burning body is something I chose not to describe but it definitely makes one reflect on how finite our existence really is.
I've had some many personal discoveries while in India. An example being that as long as I dance in the street with my headphones in, I don't notice all the merchants trying to hustle me into their shop to buy their "one of a kind goods that I wont see anywhere else". I've also learned that monkeys, dogs, and cows are the squirrels of India. You find one down every corner, some in narrow alleyways that you cant even fit through. The poverty here is unspeakable. It's extremely hard to express my feelings about India in just a blog, and I don't know if I could even express them in person. But all I know is that this trip has been everything that I've wanted it to be and so much more. The good and the bad and the ugly have been life changing and I only hope it continues.
Namaste,
Lindsay Pugh
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