Benaras- my epic saga (part 1)

Benaras / Varanasi.... I prefer calling it the former;
...and ...Benaras it was...for a week and half.

There is a certain bridge, just 10 minutes off the station of Mughalserai ( i love the name), which heralds the "arrival" of Benaras. while crossing the bridge,the approaching ghats unravel itself amidst the fog and mist depending on which time of the day one chooses to cross over.And, it is a beautiful sight; worth taking pictures of..a "good zoom" was what i had lacked, since i was relying on my digicam minus the "good zoom".Since anyways, Benaras conjures up a memory of images and the old-world charm (a term, im going to use generously, to describe Benaras) that I had seen around; the view was exactly what i was looking for/hoping for...the first sight of the ghat, the stretch of ghats along the river (Ganga, for all you ignorant souls..may there be none) bed and rows and rows of anchored boats (those quaint ones where a slight dis-equilibrium will topple the boat over).


The first station on the other side of the bridge is Kashi (and i don't want to go on to explain its history and its place in history); lets leave it at,"the oldest pilgrim spot" perhaps.A feeling of religiosity creeps in, as we near Kashi and yes it is a huge exaggeration but it is not-too-much considering one is entering Benaras,(and by-the-way) it is "older than history as mentioned in the "Lonely Planet"

And...once one lands in Benaras, one word is apt to describe the place: "crowded" !!
The road outside the station was my first insight and first impression of the place and crowded it was..with cycles, rickshaws, bikes and more cycles,rickshaws and bikes; Though i thought i should perhaps give it a chance since it was a railway station and all bordering areas around it, have that "look and feel" to it: "crowded" to the tee.But no, this was surely an exception.And the most surprising bit is that(or perhaps it is not), none of the vehicles seem to be colliding with each other, not that i wanted them to; they were all in this queer sense of directional motion (whatever that means!) and sense of timing and sense of just-how-much-would-cause-too-much (collision, that is).They were all in perfect harmony with one another,and in prefect unison, ofcourse i did hear few abuses being hurled around (but, anyways).

And i remember asking oh, but where exactly is the "holy- bit"!!
Guess it was around the ghats and the one lakh temples, certainly not around the station.