While walking through a very narrow by-lane, I asked the Sadhu, “You mean that we all are actors in this stage called Universe?” He smilingly nodded.

“And every action has a story behind it! Just be here and take notes of those and you get the best story of life…” He looked at my camera and the indication was very obvious…. Shoot, shoot and shoot… it’s the stage you get it what you are looking for! I do not remember the year when this interaction took place as I am visiting Varanasi for more than a decade. Every year was different, every day was different and every moment was different! Varanasi Ghats are full of actions and every story either starts or ends up over there! From morning to evening, the Ghats are full of activities other than the ritual of The Ganga Arti which takes place twice in a day. But the Ghats talk and it has a language! I could hear that beyond the gong of the bell. Sometimes it murmurs and sometimes it is silent with vivid activity which speaks for itself! Be it a kite runner, or the morning prayers or could it be the old woman taking her time to put the holy dots on her forehead, I could find that someone is very closely narrating the life! I saw the joy in a child’s face after catching a running kite, locals spending a relaxed time together or a very serious religious ceremony being performed  by a couple in front of a priest.  Even a disability is overcome by sheer determination when someone comes to take the holy bath in The Ganges! Be it a marriage to be performed or offerings to ancestors, the extremities are worth looking at. The Ghats are places to pray, for the business of getting clients to perform religious rituals as well as a regular for the barber to shave the head as death is the only constant!

About Abhijit Bose