I step on the soils of Benaras and a sudden feeling of purity embraces my heart as the immediate sight of holy pundits with grotesque dressing which can be seen in no other city in India but for the land of Gods ( as the people say). I've been to this city many other times in my childhood but was never so 'keen' in knowing more about my native place so much when all I ever knew was to simply hog on the 'Rabdis and lassis' from my favourite roadside 'Lassi shack' whose sign board attracted me to take a picture of it which had a pietistic picture of Lord Shiva the 'saviour' of the people of Benaras and the owner's name -(which was rather whimsical) 'Pehelwan' painted on it.
Its my second day, on this holy piece of land and its time to visit that what is the main attraction of this sanctified expanse which happens to be a water body that is not only for the people of Benaras but in fact for the people of the entire country considered to be holy and the only place where they could be free of all their sins (so now you know where to go!), The Ganges. I head to the popular Assi ghat situated somewhere around Lanka to witness the fascination of the sunrise. The enchantment and tranquility that enveloped us that particular morning is beyond my reach of expressing it in a bunch of English letters. As the morning proceeded and the brahmins who regularly came to connect to God and bathe in the river Ganga, we felt the gurgling sound coming right from our stomachs,obviously indicating gluttony , hence the 'golgappa' ( golgappas are round ,small bowls made of semolina which are filled with spicy flavoured water and some fiery indian chick peas..aah the grumbling again!) 
Next was to head in the pure wood (sometimes 50 yrs old) 'naukas' (boat) without a life jacket and still feel perfectly safe on the mellifluous river and the confident look on our bhojpuri speaking boat driver's face. Sitting there with my eyes closed listening to the harmonious flow of the water that would penetrate into my soul and left me at a place where I felt connected to the omnipotent. It was one of the most awesome mornings of my life! 
It was now time to indulge in the famous Benarsi sweets which could prove to be PARADISE for people with a sweet tooth like mine! The imirtis, gulab jamuns and maal puas would just melt in your mouth in such an amazing way that it would force you to believe that you probably might have done something extraordinarily great to have the opportunity of tasting something like this! ( now that's the amazement talking!) I end the day with the most satisfying shopping spree at the Vishwanath Gali after witnessing the greatest event of the city - The Ganga Aarti.Its astounding beauty would leave you jaw dropping and taking up 50% of your camera's memory (even if you don't get a proper shot)!
Having a day spent in complete bliss I rather added another magnificent city to my list of enthralling places and encouraging me to travel until the day I'm alive!
Keep travelling, the world is huge and our lives too short! :)
