Being Timeless

Images of this story are being in shot in Varanasi also known as Kashi by its ancient name. As an inevitable part of my spiritual quest I was extremely eager to capture this ancient spiritual city on my camera.  Mark Twain said, “Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.” I started early one morning for ghats at about 4 AM. As I walked towards Dashashwamedh Ghat which is one of the most active, I thought that probably I would be the only one reaching there this early. But I was in for a surprise, as activity had already started on this ghat. Flower sellers were displaying their goods, boatmen were preparing to take the pilgrims across to the other side of Ganga, sadhus and saints dipped in and out of the Ganga, taking their morning ritual bath, people doing yoga, milkmen bathing their buffaloes in the river, and pilgrims working hard to improve their karma by giving alms to the poor. The priests were busy giving blessings on the receipt of payment, parents busy arguing with barbers about the amount of money to be paid for the ‘mundan ceremony’ (the first ritual haircut of a Hindu child after birth) and children displaying their diving skills by jumping into the river from elevated platforms. Some people had come to get their hair shaved off, as required by tradition, following the death of a parent. It was this strange and fascinating array of activity that I witnessed at the ghats, long before the sun could make its way up to the horizon.  My camera began clicking spontaneously.