Recently I read Brad Pitt finds Varanasi staggering. Ashton
Kutcher will pose as if spellbound with Vrindavan. Now what exactly are
we missing here?
Either these people are too media intimidated to say the
truth or wear a special pair of shades, which we Indians are clearly devoid of
coz, honestly, all I find these places to be is – only- filthy. And this when I
am already used to the rubbish and chaos of metros and everybody’s
insensitivity towards it. Come to think of it, not even one person around me is
bothered about my peace, the one honking relentlessly or the one trying to
break the queue or the one with the most screeching ringtone ever or making the
loudest conversation ever. Each person around me is just so not bothered.
What next? Do I book myself to a tranquil holy city holiday
hoping it to bring me peace for a few days?
Visit to the holy cities is tormenting. Touts, muck, conmen,
holy men haunting you for money… even the slightest thought of peace or anything
enchanting cannot touch me. You just want to get out of the place sooner than
you came in. Try closing your eyes for a few seconds to chant, the commotion
and the fear of being pick pocketed is so overwhelming, that you can’t even feel
what the place is or ever was. I am sorry but I cannot pretend to get into a trance
or appreciate anyone who has gotten into it after seeing urine, shit and the unfathomable
stink from the holy waters. I am no Naipaul but I cannot overlook the obvious. Small
conveniences are still so inconvenient, shockingly, considering we are such a powerful
economic dynamo.
On the contrary, I feel peace is where all the westerners
hail from. Open clean spaces, nature, cool breeze and silence can give you tranquility
and beauty like nothing else. So if they really say the truth about India, they
find here what we cannot and we find there what they cannot.
Perhaps we are just not used to seek what we want to find in
surroundings which we usually get easily.
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