A King's Life
Monday, September 09, 2002
Havent been around for a while huh...well, for a reason, and a really good one at that. I was travelling, and just as situations and environments were playing with me, I was playing with ideas. Slowly, as I chew on them, and regurgitate, I will pen them down, and as is customary to A King's Life, not in any particluar sequence - First then is a writing which resulted in Varanasi, soon after an unplanned Bhang trip.
August 21, 2002
Shanti Lodge
Old Varanasi
Full moon night.
Bhang is a long term drug.
We popped a ball each yesterday night, and since then, both of us have been reeling without a break. Monkeys have only compounded the situation, with one even going as far as stealing Gerlinde's walkman from the window sill. Maybe monkeys and bhang and walkmans are bound in a mysterious loop which we humans dont' yet understand, but for sure, it is a hard truth to realise, especially expensive.
All day long then, actually more the afternoon, we loitered around in the astounding maze of old Varanasi lanes, not knowing for sure where we were headed or supposed to - much like wound up toys scampering around in all directions, trying desperately to unwind at all costs. The mysterious alleysways added to the drama of it all. Getting lost in these streets is not even a bother now, since after just a few moments of taking impulsive, or for some self-respecting individuals, intutive, rights or lefts, one understands and gradually accepts the inevitability of it, just like that of death, and the consequent equanimity that prevails along the burning ghats. And the sooner one accepts it, the easier it becomes to navigate, to become immersed in what lies around you, the seductive sweets, the sounds and smells, the burly cows and the people going about their business the way they would only in Benares, rather than bothering about where to go and how to get there. Maybe you will get there, maybe you wont, so why then lose out on the experience of the journey itself. The process is as important as the product I guess, and the streets of Varanasi, old Varanasi, are an unparalleled education in that.
