Sarnath
October 28, 2018
By: Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
The more things change the more they stay the same.
I have arrived back in India for the second Dhammayatra and while it all feels the same it does feel different.
The first moment I was knocked off my spin was on the plane from Toronto to Delhi. One of the stewards was Indian and responsible for the announcements in Hindi. I did not understand one word, as I do not speak the language, but all of a sudden I heard “dhanyavaad”, which is thank you in Hindi, and I dropped right into the groove.
The second thing that told me I was back was listening to someone gathering their luggage saying Tika Tika, which is an Indian way of saying sure, sure or yes, yes or hold on….
The smoky air greets you instantly, and while not quite as bad as was reported during my stay last year, it is so bad the weather screens at the airport said the weather was “smoky”. Not cold, fair or warm, but smoky.
When you leave the Varanasi airport there is now a brand new “International Highway”. It is wonderful as it cuts the time by well over 45 minutes, but at the same time, it bypasses Varanasi and all of its hustle and bustle that I enjoy so much.
Cars, bikes, and cows still fight for the road, and cars tend to drive in any lane they care to… some things never change.
2017
2018
They are bringing a whole new sewer system to Sarnath. The broken down school bus remains, they are just digging the trench and placing the pipes right next to it, ahhh India.
It is 90 degrees and very smokey today. The festivities begin tomorrow so we are all in a flutter with setting up tents, cleaning rooms for guests and reacquainting ourselves with each other after a year. I am also downing aspirin like crazy, did you know that pollution can cause severe headaches in some people? They say breathing the air in Delhi is like smoking 44 cigarettes a day, it isn’t quite that bad in the state of Bihar, but bad enough that the air smells heavily of smoke and is thick and brown like some remember Los Angeles to be in the 1960s.
Food from here out will be all vegetarian with a lot of chickpeas and cauliflower, even for breakfast. This year I came a little bit better prepared with seeds and nuts, and a big jar of peanut butter. My roommate here in Sarnath is the same, (adorable, and wonderful), but lo and behold, my mattress seems to be a tad bit softer.
One takes the good with the bad, and yes the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Namaste