Words of Banaras X - The Finale

The vibes of Varanasi interspersed with the millions of stories found in every corner; of it’s powerful essence; I leave this place in it’s paradox of chaos and calm...

 - written with phone -

Words of Banaras IX

Traveling, in true essence, is like reading the love stories of cities, villages and sometimes of their ruins, it’s about feeling euphoric for their fortune and mourning for their tragedy. Whilst traveling, you strive to find out about their past, present or perhaps attempt to picture how they might look like in few decades. Similarly every love stories start somewhere and leads to present, sometimes to a promising land, sometimes to ruins, consisting obstacles, uneven surface, just like, cities had affairs with its creators, protecters, attackers, traitors; it might have seen many best decades and suffered many centuries. What if it hadn’t any affairs, no historical events, nothing at all, just simple plain existence, would it still be considered travel worthy? Perhaps not, without memories, it means nothing. With memories, even a piece of paper becomes so precious that its value can’t be determined; whilst without memories, the whole world seems inconsequential. Each city, each village is a love story.

Bodhi tree in Korean temple, Sarnath

- written with phone -

Words of Banaras VIII

At this moment, I am wandering around in local Tuk-Tuk in the outskirts of banaras and this song is being played in Tuk-Tuk and the lady, sitting beside me, is also humming along with this. I know this is little thing but I cannot express how relaxing it feels. How small things matters. I should continue keeping poker face, looking outside, so that  she remains comfortable and keep humming. I love it.

 - On NH 31-

- written with phone-

Words of Banaras VII

Everyone speaks a language not everyone can understand but there is a language called “language of love” - everyone can decipher. The cows of Banaras are so chilled out and soft-spoken that if you greet them with good morning, they respond with “Dhur Mardwe, Mahadev!”, perhaps they are high on Mahadev’s blessings too. Har Har Mahadev!

- written with phone -

Words of Banaras VI

A joke just came to my thought just right now, and I am laughing hysterically, it’s so funny, so here it is:

A husband used to often drink and his wife didn’t like that.

One day, the husband instead got high in the evening - not alcohol but something natural :)

He was really high as fuck as sky.

Suddenly his wife called on phone.

He picked and said - “baby I love you, I want to hug you.”

Wife asked, did you drink again?

Husband: No darling, I am not.

Wife: Kaoo meri kasam! (Swear on me!)

Husband sweared on her.

Then conversation diverted to other stuffs.

Not too late, husband said, “baby I love you, I want to hug you.”

Wife: Are you drunk? Swear on your mother.

Husband said, “No darling, I am not. I swear on my mother”

Then conversation resumed between them.

Then. Same circles and husband sweared on everyone saying, “No darling, I am not”

He was not lying, right... hahahahaaghhg.

...........…..…............…..…............…..…............…..….

Here I am laughing hysterically. I should not laugh, I might be making other uncomfortable. Huh 😏. Okay inside laughing start. Now everyone happy including me :D

Coming back, hey, I created this joke:D

Coming back, do you remember that smile when you are just smiling and also sometimes laughing little bit too without making a bit of noise because of no reason at all, that blush, that’s called “bliss”. That’s what I am having on my face. I am blissed with a bless blessfully.

- written from phone -

Words of Banaras V

What does chaos signify - Lack of order, isn’t it? But isn’t it lack of order too if we don’t understand the underlying meaning of what’s beneath the surface? What could an mathematical equation mean to an illiterate - nothing, but a mathematician could instantly recognize its underlying meaning. What might be chaos for one, could be order for another. It’s all about perception. But then again, mathematicians are not born mathematicians, are they? They learn, they learn from their failures and thus they become what they are. The real question is, are you prepared to embrace your failure as you would embrace success, if yes then you are on the way, just hold on - something amazing is coming your way!

- written with phone -

Words of Banaras IV

There are times, especially when things turn sour, many blame destiny or fate instead of gracefully accepting their imperfection. It’s singularly infelicitous, how only a handful of people I have met so far have had the grit to blame self for their choices, words and actions. Is it really that difficult to blame self? Perhaps, the instinctive desire to see self as a good person make them shift the blame to something which won’t even care to argue with such utter nonsense. In essence, these are manipulative, unscrupulous, and devious people. Certainly, some face unescapable unpredictable horrors that might be beyond their imagination, such as, accidents, diseases. However, I have seen innumerable who take refuge of destiny to mask their fault, their laziness, indiscipline, and lack of morality, this is the place where they find their oasis, their querencia; they conveniently forget the existence of “just” (or karma) which is omnipresent, which is neither kind nor cruel, neither in favour nor against, neither early not late, neither victim nor perpetrator; it can never be outrun. The universe never makes an effort to demean you, it lets you control everything, yet instead of being grateful we try to find excuses to blame it and that’s what destiny is for them - an excuse of weakling, slave and moral-less souls to shift blame. On the contrary, destiny is what you work for, what you pursue, what you seek for the higher purpose, you have a choice in the matter. What you believe, you act out, you account for it. What you truly seek is vigorously seeking you. You control everything!

A random note from my beloved professor (2017)

- written with phone -

Words of Banaras III

Last night, a person (he/she), sitting little bit far but in front of me, started clicking self-ie(s) and I thought, how this universe is so exquisite as well as so perilous beyond imagination, yet we humans tend to put ourselves in front of its sublimeness and consider the (re-re)clicked image alluring if only we find ourselves pretty in that frame. Would you have considered the same image of yours enticing if that image gets clicked in front of a horrible accident site with dead bodies lying around? Would that person, who was clicking, have considered same picture radiant if the ambience had been of a slum? If not, how could you take so much pleasure in your appearance when you know you can’t compete with the beauty of universe. Infinite is the ultimate truth, it can’t lie, yet we confine ourselves with unreal finite, not due to ignorance but for the comforting lie. Instead of realizing that the universe is the center and we are merely a manifestation of universe, we think of ourselves as center and this universe as manifestation.

Perhaps this can only be realized, neither understood nor explained.

- written with phone -

Words of Roads

I’ve come to realize that I absolutely love late-night driving, especially on a heavyweight motorbike. If you’ve ever driven in the Indian traffic, you might be knowing the complete chaos that rules, the lack of basic civil courtesy, disregard for traffic rules, people become mindless zombies. Some say, animals, especially cows, possess safety hazards on Indian roads, I rather find careless people here as the most dangerous safety hazard, all of a sudden they appear out of nowhere (perhaps from the future), sometimes they pull the most bizarre moves even on the highways (known as NH), and you either have to be cautious or crash into them. In both cases, you can’t help but curse them with the most absurd curses of yours, it’s not funny, neither pleasant. It often feels utmost chaos, yet, there is something called traffic flow, which you might learn gradually, it’s similar to a wild river stream during monsoon, where every drop of water flow together in a rhythm, and all the non-water have to settle at the shore. You have to be in the flow rather than out of. However, when you drive for pleasure, you wanna drive for self, and thus the pleasure of driving get lost in the daytime when you have to be highly alarmed all the time for defensive driving. Then comes night, when it’s mostly peace and quiet and finally an unsettling order arrives. Certainly, heavy vehicles rule the roads at this time and they drive insanely fast but at the same time, they mostly follow the traffic rules and it becomes rather comforting, you can go as fast and as far you want to go. Recently I was singing at the top of my lungs while driving on NH-44 at over 100 Mph, the whole horizon of the lane was completely empty, dark, covered by forest on both sides, yet welcoming at the same time, the absolute pleasure I have thus far on this trip. Coming back to late-night driving, obviously, you still need to be alert, however, alertness doesn’t cause you exhaustion in a short while, continuous alarm-ness does. You feel more alone in the most comforting way, the moonlight illuminates the surroundings, the darkness envelopes everything around you except the road ahead, others can’t see you, you feel all alone in your own capsule. The distant village lights look like a shiny star, and when you cross their empty and dark streets, lit only be either moon or the odd street lights, it acquires a bit of hyperrealism. You know, next morning, these streets will again be full of possibilities, yet empty now, you cruise through the darkness in your own way, quietly and calmly, as if you don’t want to awake a sleeping friend. From time to time, I spy on the flickering lights coming out of their windows, sometimes the sound of raised voices, a song turned up loud, a woman‘s laughter, a baby crying, a man’s careful eyes starring at an unknown smoking his cigarette at the roadside. And then you move on. The cold breeze again greets your face, the engine heavy sound, the grip over the accelerator, the glide between gears, the vibration of the bike, everything feels calm, tranquil, and laidback. And as the night goes darker and darker, I feel an exhilarating wildness in my veins - like a swallow thrush, like a bird buffeted by the cold night air, like anything and everything.

P.S.: Be extremely cautious while driving on mountainous roads during night time, or if you are tired or not confident, hire a driver or take rest.
- written with phone - 

Words of Banaras II

It’s drizzling, and I’m looking at Ganga from one of the Ghats of Banaras. I love the silence of this hour, the midnight when the Ghats are almost deserted and you can listen to the sound of Ganga with very little effort. The other day, I had crossed to the other side of the river at midnight where there was nothing except absolute darkness, from there you can see cremations going on at Manikarnika Ghat, one of the holiest cremation grounds as per Hindu mythology. It is believed that the soul attains moksha if its body is cremated here. The cremation never stops, every hour, scores of dead persons keep arriving. Among the funeral pyres, you sit, meditate and feel that the death is not painful and it is entirely insignificant to be pondered upon, just like life. Once you are gone, does anything matter except your karma? The life, it’s gone, when you could have made use of it, for self and others. Nothing lives for forever then why mourn for anything that’s not going to last in the first place. We know that already, don’t we? Part of me, again, wants to go to other side but then do I really need to go - I am already here, both sides are same, opposites are merely illusions because, in the end, one is everything and everything is one. Mahadev.

Advice: It’s strictly prohibited to film or capture images at Manikarnika Ghat. People come here to be forgotten and to find meaning for life and afterlife.

- written with phone -

Words of Banaras

In spirituality, non-dualism, also called non-duality, means "not two" or "one undivided without a second", which primarily refers to a mature state of consciousness, in which the dichotomy of “I and other” is "transcended", and awareness is described as "centerless" and "without dichotomies". This might look uncomfortable idea for many, as in this age, people usually see everything keeping themselves in the center. In Hinduism, the ideal goal of a life is to seek moksha from the cycle of reincarnation - the final freedom, that you can hope to achieve once you realize your self’s identity with the absolute. I know it might be sounding too vague, it was/(still) is for me. I asked an Aghoris monk here in Varanasi, is it possible for a worldly person like me to get this final freedom - to never return once I leave everything behind. After all, most of my life, I have only done things for myself, keeping myself in the center - my happiness, my sorrows, my life, mine success, mine failures - full of “I”, “my” and “mine” - I can’t possibly get to that stage - at current stage, I am absolute opposite of what should have been. He listen and said, all the opposites, the two sides, all of them are ultimately illusory, because in essence all are same, you think you are on the opposite side of the river, but there is no opposite side in the first place, you are simply at the river, you don’t need to follow anyone or anything, but just perceive the illusory nature of the world around you, live consciously instead of blindly following expectations and customs, be kind to self and others, embrace degradation and pollution the same way as you would embrace purity and growth. To develop such equanimity in itself is called yoga in this life and moksha in afterlife. Everything that has had happened, it was perfect and to deny its perfection would be to deny the sacredness of all life in its full manifestation, as well as to deny the supreme being. You need to go into total darkness, then only you can appreciate the real beauty of light - that’s when self-realization happens. Every soul is Shiva but he let us choose our own path and we cover our soul with nooses and bonds, with fear, love, hatred, greed, obsession, sensual pleasure, anger and worldly possessions. On release from these bonds, there will not be any more “I” and then the soul obtains moksha. Strive for sangfroid - स्थितप्रज्ञ.

Har Har Mahadev!

- written with phone -