Day 23 - Postcards of Varanasi

Varanasi or Benares,

The city of contrasts,

The paradise of paradoxes,

Where life

Slowdances with death,

Grab a bite

Or burn a body

You can do either

Or both.

Crassly commercial,

yet profoundly mystical,

The city through which

Flows the mighty Ganges,

Polluted and putrid,

Yet powerful and pure,

Where you can cleanse your soul

Amidst the all-abounding filth,

And take the direct route to heaven,

Provided you pay your way.

The city that no one can know

In its entirety,

But only in bits and pieces.

Presenting a brief cameo of that city of contradictions - Varanasi - with haikus based on some fabulous pics clicked by my friend and colleague, P. Vijay Kumar, with his kind permission.



Sadhus in saffron

Launder their muddy souls and

Hang them out to dry.

Meandering through the

Pious river, a boat that’s

Made in India*!

* Phrase courtesy Sid Chatterjee

Death waits its turn to

Climb Manikarnika Ghat’s

Stairway to heaven.

Bridal wear or shroud,

Benares silk is the key

To eternal bliss.

The power of prayer,

Races through high voltage wires

In God’s waiting ears!