while dada stayed back in the hotel, i made quick dashes on two kinds of pilgrimages.. one the religious kind to kashi vishwanath and gangaji, and the other the commercial kind to various pasals selling stuff from saris to jhilkey bastra for our tiny gopalji, to put put steamers, agasti achar, and of course alu papad and the inevitable ram bhandar mithaai !! trying to grab a couple of birds with one net!! : )
we waited quite a bit at the airport in kathmandu waiting for our flight to arrive. dada didn't know it then, but he had already left behind his wallet (with some money only) on the security check conveyor belt!!! (he discovered the loss only in the evening in banaras)
the plane finally arrived...
...and we took off heading north over jorpati area...
.. the plane carrying only 25 passengers...
...flew past the growing basti 'neath shivapuri
and headed west out of the crowded valley
a glimpse of langtang while our aircraft was headed west...
... and a bit of annapurna ii peeping over the clouds when our plane headed south...
... and before we descended 'neath the twaanlo of the plains
as we descend towards banaras... a meandering varun river, which lends its name to half of the name of 'varanasi'...
...past babatpur station...
we were received by bijaya shresthaji ('minister' of the bidya dharma pracharini nepali samiti)
heading into banaras we drove past clumps of cows and bulls...
... and dilapidated buildings
... and some old imarats jostling for space amongst newer cousins
at the hotel we met up with durga dai (bijayaji's older brother, and the one who chairs the samiti), as well as the chief guest for the next day's ceremony, mr. brajendra tripathi, deputy secretary of the sahitya academy in delhi
while durgaji and dada chatted, bijayadai rikshawed me on a whirlwind trip towards chowk for some 'instant' shopping.. we passed trendy new shops...
past paint shops doing brisk business in the pre-diwali fresh-coat-of-paint fervour
we went through a maze of gullies to deepak agarawal's wholesale outlet of semi-finished saris.. saris kept in bundles as if they were laundry being taken to the dhobi...
after ordering saris to be finished and delivered to the hotel the next day, we went and bought some agasti achaar for muwa
next stop was a chat place frequented by locals.. where bijayadai and i shared pani puri, dahi puri and matar chiura
our next stop was thatheri galli..
to ram bhandar, to be precise, to shri ram bhandar, where we ordered mithaai for next day delivery!
although it was sunday.. there were still a few shops open to spruce up the paint work for diwali...
the thatheri jumble of wires...
the beautiful portals of the singha haveli (or something to that effect) in the galli...
... and the stone animal that gave the building its name...
next morning i went on an early morning walk around the neighbourhood... this is our hotel (ajay) in lahurabir, very near to where nepal bhawan used to be...
and the torn down prakash talkies where as kids we had gone to watch many a movie, as it was right around the corner from nepal bhawan...
i could not bring baba his 'tullu pump: made in banaras'.. but i got him this photo instead...
a promise of better bastis for tomorrow...
... and the reality of today...
the gayatri temple just by the lahurabir roundabout
the statue at the entrance of the temple...
later i went along with dada back to the area... here he is nearby prakash talkies and the mithai place, basanta bahar, where it seems he consumed quite a few plates of rabadi!!
... and in front of the place where nepal bhawan used to stand... now pulled down and replaced by a building housing a trendy shoe shop and an eatery 'spicy tadka'
we had tea and puffs by the roadside.. ahh the flavour of chai in a matka
the view from the hotel. dada said that the building across was one of the most talked about modern buildings of its times, belonging to an eye doctor, who had examined him when he had haemorrage of the eye as a student at bhu
dada watched some ntv 2 programmes (the only nepali channel available on the cable)
later in the morning baijayadai took me to gangaji, kashi vishwanath.. but i could not take my camera along with me as it would not be allowed in the temple premises... : ( so i missed out capturing the essence of vishanath galli with its tiny stores... gangaji with the ghadang ghadang bridge at rajghat...or for that matter the chickan wear store in gudaulia where a huge white bull stays inside a shop the whole day.. resting on the clean white marble floor of the shop like its mascot!!
in the evening we headed for the paradkar smriti bhawan, of the kaski journalists' association for the samman ceremony...
en route dada pointed out the ishwori memorial hospital for women (now renamed rajakiya jilla mahila chikitsalaya) where dipudaju and prabhatdaji (?) were born
we drove past beautiful remnants of the past .. this colonial style building...
.. past little clothing stores...
the organisers scurrying with their finishing touches at the venue...
the mukhya guest and the sammananiya guest
and the two with mr. nara bahadur dahal of darjeeling(in daura suruwal), the recepient of this year's madan smarak samman, and mr. shankar pradhan (in suit), who accompanied mr dahal to banaras from darjeeling
dada introduces dr. hari adhikary of the sanskrit university to mr . tripathi
the attendant gives a hurried 'personal' cleaning touch to the gilaas covers!
dada with mr. bantaba, reader at the nepali department in banaras hindu university
.. the crowd started gathering...
durga dai initiates the ceremony...the guy at the back is an impatient journalist who wanted the programme to proceed at express speed!
.. there was shanti paath...
mangalacharan by amit rai
and an emotional rendering of 'nepal janani bandey'
.. that totally engrossed dada...
there were khadas for the guests on the dias
... then dada spoke a bit...
... then he read out the samman patra...
...before handing it to dahalji...
... and everyone holding their pose for the cameras...
then mr. tripathi handed over the samman rashi (irs pandra hajar)to dahalji
a history of nepali language and the challenges it will have to face with globalisation from the sammananiya guest
... as shankar pradhanji captures the images on his camera
.. then it's dahalji's turn for the byakhyan on the iti briti of nepali shrasthas in his area
it was quite a long lecture...
...but the audience stayed and listened with attention
next it was dr. adhikary's mantabya as chair of the session
and finally dhanyabaad gyaapan from the mantri of the samiti, bijayadai
almost forgotten, at the end, was the presentation of the dosalla to the sammaniya guest by the mukhya guest
the two then exchanged their topis
.. and instantly seemed to have changed their respective nationaliities!!
dada has a word with dr. adhikary...
when the programme ended it was tiffin time...
finals words with the samiti chair
and a couple of group shots...
heading back to the hotel...
in a massive jam around the hardware stores area of the market
shashiji and her husband bijayadai, shankarji, dada, tripathiji and dahalji waiting to go for dinner...
we had dinner at 'spicy tadka'.. a nostalgic one for dada, expecially as where we sat he said, was probably where the kausi of nepal bhawan used to be, from where ama used to watch schoolgirls and their various outdoor activities in the school playground across the street...
we went to basanta bahar for some rabadi.. but learnt they had run out of it because it the 'dar' night before kadwa chauth.. so we settled for chweenk chweenk garney rasbari
next morning some unfinished business between dada and durgadai...
and a kachaudi and jilebi brunch that durgadai had brought along...
then dada and myself headed towards babatpur.. this was the only glimpse i got of a train during my stay!!!
we drove past girls that almost looked militant with their 'sun-block' clothing!!
searched in vain for some 'vama' bar soap ads of yesteryear , for sandaji's sake... but everywhere i looked i only saw my name being plastered on the wall, claiming me to be a great 'under ki baat'!!
a final farewell by banaras city...
the overcrowded departure lounge at the airport (the plane chockful was full of spanish tourists!)
our flight was delayed once again by over an hour.. but when we'd flown for half and hour, and just after we turned north (probably over hetauda) we saw everest standing unnaturally tall!!! after that we dipped 'neath the clouds..
...the valley running east...
over autumny paddy fields...
at the airport we met with friend and relative laxmi, deputy director of tia, who helped us retrieve with unbelievable help from the security personnel...
...dada's wayward wallet.. to dada's utter surprise, wonder, and restored faith in nepali's honesty!!
