"
We knew we needed to come. Well, some thing you do," she continued, regarding an upcoming experience we
had been making plans for my parents-in-law`s visit, "don`t take your in-legal guidelines there whilst
they come. Varanasi is Hindu India`s holiest metropolis, the metropolis of the
lifestyles-giving Ganges River. " It is complete of the contradictions and complexities for which India is fa-
mous. Fruit and
vegetable sellers` songs ring via the air as,theywheel their timber carts via the masses: Alu,
phul-gobi, tomate; pyaz" (potatoes, cauliflower, toma-
toes, onions) echoes with another`s name of "Kele, san-
tare, nimbu" (bananas, oranges, limes), reputedly play-
ing with harmonies and melodies.
2 PJ-IO
Shrines committed to at least one or a number of the Hindu
pantheon of gods and goddesses are everywhere:
alongside the roadsides, in the iron window-bars of
the vintage homes that line the galis, gracing a desk in
many stores. Varanasi is the house of sadhus and saints, pundits and pilgrims, yogis and
"bogeys. Here, one
can start to see wherein today`s knowledge of Hin-
duism clashes with the concept of development, a few-
instances as not able to proportion the equal pot as oil and water. Vara-
nasi forged its spell on us, and lured us into its palace of myths, legends, and beliefs. "
She, along side others who voiced comparable sentiments, made us nervous.
