2 August: CSIST (Crazy Stuff I Saw Today)

Yesterday I wrote this out as a rather scant list. Today I filled it in a bit with story elements I didn't have the energy to type yesterday.

kids playing in park

words from Master Ugwe, Kung Fu Panda

The running of the bulls, Varanasi?

Nandi, at Kali Temple, Varanasi

exterior, Kali Temple

Detail, sandstone carving, Kali Temple

Temple bats, inside. No joke.

Kali

Rooftop over submerged ghats

Hospice, Varanasi

Foot series 3: all dogs here look
at least a little bit like this

Foot series 2, cow dung drying in sun

Foot series 1, flowers at Kali temple

Tara, mother goddess

cows awaiting milking

buying bananas

cows calm at the center of the fray

idle boatmen while away afternoon playing game

Devotion bags at Bank of Ram

Bank of Ram, bags of devotional writings

buying bananas

2 August: CSIST (Crazy Stuff I Saw Today): heritage walk through old Varanasi.

• bats hanging in temple room, lots of them. It's a wonder we didn't set them into flight with all the noise our group made moving from room to room in the complex
• dead cow in road (or on its way out)
• Dennis hitting a cricket ball out of the park (yay!)
• a bloated body (cow? human?) moving swiftly down the Ganges with 3 crows perched atop it. Hard to see what it was exactly, dry-peach-colored, indistinct shape, but big enough to spot from 150 meters. It is illegal to give the dead over to the river in this way, but some people still do it. There are two main crematoria near the ghats, one to north, the other to south. They are run by folks who used to be (still are?) untouchables. The buildings in which these enterprises operate contain their own temples, as the Dalits/Harijan were not allowed in the temples that served the wider public. Not too long ago (3 decades?) a prominent Brahmin filed a suit to restrict Dalits from going to the "regular" Hindu temples. The Supreme Court sided with the Dalits. 
• riverside pooja, or prayer to the gods. This particular evening pooja to Lord Shiva was "invented" in 2000 as a boon for the tourist industry, just in its infancy here at the time. The ceremony ended with 108 votive candles, tiered into a lantern shape, swirling in the night air, as the priest chanted. 108 is the number of days Shiva fasted when Parvati died, I believe.
• monkeys go after a girl (12 years old?) whose rolled paper they mistook for food. They bit a guy's jeans, grabbed another guy's hand. Not nice animals. They are sand colored, some with red bottoms, the smallest the size of kittens, the largest are the size of my backpack (when they sit). 
• an older woman had two (?) molars pulled by a guy using a pair of pliers (I didn't see them). She didn't make a sound, just got up and rinsed her mouth out. Given my relationship with difficult dentistry, I did not get close enough for a good look. But the dentist and patient both squatted roadside, between other merchants (selling veggies, clothing, etc. from cloths spread out on the ground). This was on a busy street. Unbelievable. 
• a small charity-run hospice...not sure what to write. I don't want to disrespect the families, the dying, or the institution. I was not prepared for it, so I experienced it and processed it later. Briefly, Varanasi is the most holy of Hindu cities, the only place the sacred Ganga turns back north (6.5 kilometers toward the land of her birth) in her path from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. People come here to die. If possible, they bring their aged loved ones to die here. This hospice is about 100 years old, runs as part of the Dayitha (sp?) Trust to ensure that families have at least some access to the succor of a death close to the Ganges. We entered the building, traversed the prayer room and courtyard, and were led to see the space the hospice provides. A few silent workers carried on with their duties, cleaning, cooking, etc. We went into the room of a woman and her family...individuals of three generations there, resting when we arrived. It was a very awkward moment, little light filtered in to their large corner room.  On the one hand, I was horrified at the thought of intruding into a family's private grief. On the other hand, I wanted to see what the guide was showing us, despite my inner discomfort. I admit, I stood to the side as others entered and spoke to the family. The grandmother had been there for over three weeks, had stopped speaking and taking food. She was so small, curved under a sheet, facial skin stretched across her large eyes and protuberant teeth. It was so unnerving, They said she still recognized people close to her. I have been so insulated from death. We spoke of this the other day--Americans really try hard to keep death at a distance. I'm sure this is not true for all. But Hinduism is really different in this regard. I don't wish to suggest that Hindus don't suffer when people die; that'd be absurd. And I don't know enough to say the degree to which people rely on the cycle of reincarnation to alleviate "normal" fears of death.  
• cow poop everywhere. As the light faded it became harder and harder to keep up with the guide, watch out for bicycles and avoid the omnipresent cow patties in the narrow, narrow streets.
• urinals in a random lane, tiled and separated into stalls, but not closed off. Not even the wall of stalls. This is one man-urine-y place. Seriously. There was no parallel place for women.
• rickshaw graveyard, a lovely garden with deteriorating bicycle rickshaws. I captured one on camera. 
• Shiva is connected in popular mythology with (forget local term for marijuana). Hence, there is more mention of it, drinks with derivatives of marijuana, smoke apparently happening in devotion. Not for leisure, as in US. We saw drinks made of milk, saffron and other ingredients...can be made with small amounts of pressed pot.
• Geckos, although they're not strange. There are more of them here than I've seen so far.
• so much more...I cannot even recall!