VARANASI: THE SPIRIT LIVES ON

Kashi, as this ancient city was known was much in news these days as the hot political climate of Uttar Pradesh was all charged up with anxieties, aspirations and prophecies. With all that coming to an end and the results almost there, it is time to talk about the heritage of this city, its legacy, its tradition and of course its culture that has survived despite all those onslaughts of so called modernity and development, and even politics survived because Banaras and Banarasi still lives on. What keeps this old city ticking is the life style of its people who still retain much of that eternal charm that a Banarasi is known for. Qualifying for being called a Banarasi has some basic requirements. Fortunately, in the hurly-burly of politicking, that has survived. Visiting the city after a considerable time own with a curiosity of what might have changed ever since the city became the most talked about political address of the country after Delhi. Moving from the sprawling campus of the 100-year-old university of this country, the Banaras Hindu University to the maze of largely encroached roads of the city, where all kinds of vehicles and animals peacefully co-exist, was a unique experience. The crowd has grown; the vehicles have grown but the nature of the movement has not changed. True some of the spacious areas have become crowded but apart from that the other things still remain the same. The pace of the city for instance. The city always had a speed of its own with the happy-go-lucky Banarasi with an easy going life style having no desire for speeding up. Yes, the new generation crowd has acquired some of the traits of the trendiness that qualifies the modern-day youth, but by and large the Banarasi in him lives. So the morning breakfast in the difficult to trail lanes and by lanes of Kachauri Gali and Pakka Mahal is still a treat, the typical kachauri and jalebi symbolised by Ram Bhandar. Even those coming for the first time fancy the culinary attraction of the traditional food that has been a part of the life of this city. Something like the vada pav of Mumbai that makes both the city dweller as well as the visitor hang around in those numerable joints. For the shops selling those, they already make brisk business by the time it is nine in the morning. Similarly, the supper delicacy is still the rabri and the malio that makes one and all throng around those joints. Lassi and rabri continue to be in fashion despite those new MNC products trying to make aggressive in-roads. Then the ghats of Varanasi, the burning ghats like Manikarnika and Harischandra and the pilgrimage centres like Dasashwamedh and Assi still retain much of their prowess to draw people. And the temples, of course, are still the same centres of religious significance they used to be. The Kashi Vishwanath, the Kaal Bhairav, and the Sankat Mochan have the same attraction for one and all. But to cap it all some new initiatives have begun that serve as icing on the cake. The District Cultural Committee has started two very powerful cultural events like Subaho Banaras and Ghat Sandhya at the Assi Ghat that have enlivened the cultural life of this heritage city. So Banaras lives on. Despite changes, despite speed despite the malls, the levies and the politics.