City of Eternity--Varanasi

Ever since I arrived in Varanasi, I had started to get sick. Especially the headache was killing me.



Varanasi’s history could be dated back to thousands of years ago, so it deserves the name “City of Eternity”. It has long been a populated big city. Until now, while talking in the street, it is almost impossible not to bump into someone physically. It was hard for me to imagine which city would be more crowded than it. My friend Nick was so into Varanasi. He stood there and shouted loudly: “Look! This is true India. This is true East.” Not me. Thank you! I am Eastern and I grew up in a packed traditional market in Taiwan. I have been very sick of being in a crammed place. And not only that, here the local people tracked you down and followed you everywhere, which really pushed me to the edge. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.


However, Varanasi had an undeniable attractive attribute of itself. The distinctive culture was built along the Ganges River. So if you want to see the true spirit of it, of course, the river was the must-visit.

Early morning, when it was still dark, we headed for the riverbank. To our surprise, we were not alone. People, old and young, men and women, also came out with their family and strolled down to the riverside. They had cups or mugs in their hands, some even with some kind of sticks, of which I was told were from a special tree and were used as their toothbrushes. Some people carried bottles or jars in order to take the divine water home, and some brought flowers for their rituals. And we were the very small part of this huge human stream flowing into the riverbank.

We hired a boat, sculling from the middle of the river, so we could see the waterside. Local people with colorful dresses were doing all kinds of activities you could think of. Some were bathing and chatting; others were brushing their teeth and taking care of their kids at the same time; and still the others were practicing a prayer, with drinking the celestial water as their endings. I looked at this brown holy water. Tree branches were floating, and the scullers were spitting into the river once every three seconds. More than that, there were two dead bodies drifting in front of everybody but it seemed no one cared. I thought about sputum and germs and bacteria and viruses; yet, they saw eternity in their eyes.

I dropped my jaw and stared at those devout people from all the castes. In a place that was so close to Gods like this, everyone appeared to be so humble. And the caste system seemed to be out of reach here. I was so touched by the sincerity and devotion of every single face's. Imagine myself to travel through the time and being in the same place two thousand years ago, it must have been the same picture. And in two thousand years from now, will it be still the same sight? No wonder hundreds of millions of people have been obsessed by this exotic country and coming here to seek for the mysterious eastern dreamland. Even for me as an Eastern, I could not help submitting myself to the enchanting sunrise in Varanasi and falling into the ancient sweet charm. Just like what I read in a book, like it or not, once you have been in India, you will never forget it. For it is a place that makes you remember your every day.