mybugstories: Varanasi Morning at Ghats

A sensorial explosion, is how I would call the ghats in the morning at varanasi ghats!

Varanasi for me is Ghats and Ghats alone. Riveted by vibrancy of the space, I was mesmerized. Could it be possible for life to be so diverse and yet united by a river? For, it is the river that dominates existence at the ghats. The river Ganga that flows. The river that has an atmosphere that pervades the space and is unmistakable.

The morning cruise at the Ghats is indispensable. You could not come back without it!

Bleary eyed we all reached the Ghats before sunrise where our boatman was waiting. When the boat moved, sensually moving with the rhythm of the river, we forgot to breathe! Surrealistic and beautiful is the life on the Ghats, to be absorbed through multi senses.

What is the role Ganga plays in the lives of people? The river absorbs it all – women washing their clothes; a priest prostrating; a man spitting...and yet it flows on and on like a mother holding in her bosom the offerings of all her children. The experience of the morning cruise is indescribable!

We focused our cameras...but a while later, forgot to shoot! We rested in the gentle movement of the boat and simply observed, lulled into a quietude as if nestled in the mom's lap.