BurningMan, India Style - Part 3

Varanasi (Sunday, Sept. 3)

We awoke at sunrise for a Ganga cruise with two of our new friends, Richard + John. The sun was a red orb rising across the swollen river as we headed upstream towards one of the burning ghats. We passed people bathing and one CRAZY looking sadhu sitting up high on the banks meditating and holding a staff with a skull atop! Fa-re-kee! Later, another was covered in mud doing a headstand on a platform in the river! More bodies bathing + burning, side by side, as we gazed on. We returned and had a tasty breakfast, complete with REAL coffee, before Darin and I parted ways with our friends to head to the main burn ghat (pictured) and get in a proper headspace for our 'round-the-globe mental commune with our friends AT the burn. Knowing and trusting these people as some of our very best friends there was NO doubt in our minds that we WERE making a connection. We felt it so strongly as images of someone's face would come to mind and we'd say their name aloud. Then another, and another. Soon we were crying from the bittersweetness of missing them and wishing we could be sharing the burn together, but knowing that they are as happy for us being HERE as we are for them being THERE. A Brahmin (priest) approached us and began saying "No crying. God gives life and he takes it. It is the way of things..." That misguided condolence brought us around, and despite the 1000's of miles that still separated us from our friends and the yearly ritual that has come to mean SO much on so many different levels, we were able to smile. We continued saying names, but this time with renewed cheer. All the while, bodies were carried to the river, dipped in the holy Ganges, then burned on the platform beneath us. Talk about a moment for thoughtful reflection!

Eventually we made our way away from the ghats and the crowds and spent a memorable afternoon by ourselves, feeling very connected and reminiscing about past burns. As the afternoon wore on we emerged to see how our Man was enjoying his Ganga view and chat with our new friends. We'd decided to postpone our burn a day to allow us more time to savor what we were feeling and the spirit of it all.

That evening we enjoyed a great stroll through a quieter neighborhood, watching locals going about their evening rituals and feeling very at peace with the day.