something fishy

Vivek Raj, , , , 2 Comments

Ironically, even when I was born and bred in West Bengal, I am not much of a fish person. My mom though says I was very enthusiastic about fish as a child and catfish was my favorite. I for sure can’t recollect the species we mostly had at our home and I don’t think anyone even cared back then. They could though be easily distinguished with their prominent whiskers.

One of my aunts (mausi, masi) lives in rural West Bengal and they have huge ponds where they farm fish. I believe none of them are operational right now, but I remember, back in the 1990s and 2000s, she used to send us a variety of fishes – most prominently Bata, and others including tiny fishes called “chunu” and dried fishes called “shutki.”

We also had the usual Bengali staple of Rohu and Katla with the occasional Hilsa aka Ilish, Shoal, Bhetki, Tilapia, Pomfret, Silver Carp, Bangda, Girai and others.

When I got married and moved to the USA in 2014, fresh fish became rare but we occasionally had frozen fillets of Swai and Tilapia. When we got a car a few years later, mobility increased and we started going to Indian groceries and resumed with our favorite Rohu.

As our palette broadened, we started having a variety but mostly in restaurants. Since Neha is not very fond of fish having a gamey taste, we mostly end up eating those which don’t have a strong smell. Since I don’t have such a requirement, I have on occasions tried fishes beyond our usual but I never kept a note.

Below are all the fish species – with their scientific names if possible, I remember having eaten.

Magur (Clarias magur, Endangered) – I haven’t eaten any in a very long while and since they are now classified endangered, I will never be eating them again.

Singhi (Heteropneustes fossilis, Least Concern) – I haven’t eaten any in a very long while.

Tangra (Mystus tengara, Least Concern) – I haven’t eaten any in a very long while.

Bangda or Indian Mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta, Least Concern) – I haven’t eaten any in a very long while.

Girai aka Spotted Snakehead (Channa punctata, Least Concern) – haven’t eaten any in a very long while.

Shoal (Channa striata, Least Concern) – Very old but distinct memories of eating them.

Rohu aka Rui (Labeo rohita, Least Concern) – Native to India and perhaps the most commonly eaten fish by me and our families.

Katla (Labeo catla, Least Concern) – Native to India and one of the commonest eaten fish by me and our families.

Bata (Labeo bata, Least Concern) – My mom says this was the commonest fish masi used to send.

Tilapia – Not native to either India or USA and have been introduced for pisciculture in both the countries. Commonest ones available are Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, Least Concern), Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus, Least Concern) and Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus, Vulnerable).

Bhetki aka Barramundi (Lates calcarifer, Least Concern) – Native to India and popular as fish fry. I remember my frequent trips to Benfish for the same at Sector V, Kolkata.

Puti aka Pool Barb (Puntius sophore, Least Concern) – These are medium sized and great for frying whole or even as simple curries. I absolutely loved them.

Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Near Threatened) – Not native to India but farmed quite a lot in West Bengal including at my aunt’s farms.

Goldfish (Carassius auratus, Least Concern) – Not native to India and a popular aquarium fish, these were rarely caught and I remember them having a few times.

Shutki aka Bombay Duck (Harpadon nehereus, Near Threatened) – These were dried fish sent by my aunt, sometimes ready to eat and sometimes mom would cook. These were very smelly and only I ate them. I absolutely loved them.

Hilsa aka Ilish (Tenualosa ilisha, Least Concern) – It’s a very bony fish and I mostly had it when my Bengali friends made it and shared. Absolutely love it. We made it once at home but it didn’t turn out that good.

Pomfret/Pompano/Butterfish – Native to both India and USA, there is confusion regarding the species I have had in India and USA. The one from India is most likely the White Pomfret (Pampus argenteus, Vulnerable). We have purchased them a couple of times for making fish fry as a chakna when our families were here and they turned out amazing – in picture above. They have a strong smell when fried but taste heavenly. I purchased them again in March, 2026, when my mom was visiting. They were wild caught and $13 per lbs. Gemini AI suggests they were Florida Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus, Least Concern). They are sold as Silver Pompano. One of our friends made Pomfret fish curry for us sometime ago. I am assuming that was also Florida one.

Swai – Most probably Sutchi Catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, Endangered) but could also be Basa (Pangasius bocourti, Least Concern) since both are marketed as Swai in the USA. These and Tilapias were the first fish we got in the USA as frozen fillet. These are very low in nutrition and not native to the USA and are surrounded with controversy regarding their farming practices in South East Asia as also the contaminants present. There is unsurety about the species we got but since one of them is endangered, we STOPPED buying them.

Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar, Near Threatened) – We had it a few times at restaurants and Neha slowly got used to it. We often visit a close family friend in Virginia and we had Salmon curry at their place once and we liked it so we made the same at our home. Otherwise, we most shallow fry it or bake it. I absolutely love the crisp skin of the fish. The smoked Salmon bagel I had at St-Viateur Bagel, Montreal, Canada, was mind blowing.

Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Least Concern) – I remember having it once at Bonefish Grill, Towson. I had it again on 1/26/2025 at The Bonefish Grill, Bel Air, and absolutely loved it. The Chilean Sea Bass will have to wait.

Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua, Vulnerable) – I remember having it a couple of times as fish and chips and in tacos.

Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus, Vulnerable) – I remember having it a couple of times as fish and chips and in tacos.

Skipjack Tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, Least Concern) – Occasionally as sushi and tinned ones for sandwich.

Sardine – Not sure about the species but got the tinned ones for having it in sandwiches.

Surmai aka Indo-Pacific King Mackerel (Scomberomorus guttatus, Least Concern) – I remember having it in a Konkani thali at Maratha Samrat, Pune, Maharashtra, when I was visiting India in November, 2022 and then again in October, 2025.

Mahi Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus, Least Concern) – I had it in tacos at Looney’s Pub, Bel Air.

Red Snapper – Not sure of the species because both the Northern (Lutjanus campechanus, Vulnerable) and Southern (Lutjanus purpureus, Least Concern) are found in the Caribbean Sea. We had quite a few varieties of fish during our Cancun, Mexico, vacation and while it was difficult to get the species name for most, some agreed it was Red Snapper. It has a very neutral whitefish taste so Neha also loved it.

Yellowfin aka Ahi Tuna (Thunnus albacares, Least Concern) – I had it in tacos at The Greene Turtle, Bel Air on 1/31/2025. It has a very distinct taste with a very red meat core.

Karimeen aka Green Chromide (Etroplus suratensis, Least Concern) – I had it at Ente Keralam – Poes Garden, Chennai and absolutely loved it.

Besides the above, I am sure I have had a few more varieties – including perhaps Swordfish, but I don’t remember them. We also had fish curry at Margaritaville Resort, Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica, and it was amazing but I didn’t enquire about the species back then. Even Neha loved it.

Besides fish, below are the other aquatic animals I have eaten.

Among all the aquatic animals, shrimps and prawns are my absolute favorite and I have had them multiple times in India as well. Since there are so many kinds usually sold together and they look similar, it’s difficult to specify the species.

The Bagda Chingri aka Tiger Prawn (Penaeus monodon) are a delicacy and larger in size and rather more expensive so not as commonly eaten.

The Golda Chingri aka Giant River Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is used in the Bengali delicacy called Chingri Malai Curry.

The Indian Prawn (Fenneropenaeus indicus) is also commonly eaten.

I also occasionally had crabs sent over by my mausi or at her home. I also remember having crabs, octopus, sharks and lobsters at Indian restaurants.

When I moved to the USA, I started having some more including –

Calamari (Squids), Scallops, Oysters, Mussels and Clams. I have had these multiple times at restaurants and have made Scallops even at home.

I have also had a whole American Lobster (Homarus americanus, Least Concern) at a restaurant in Maine with just melted butter and a slice of lemon and absolutely loved it.

I love crab cakes and being a resident of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay area, we just can’t have enough of it. They mostly use the famous Maryland Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus, Least Concern) and for some of the best ones, head to Bel Air’s Looney’s Pub.

The Whiteleg Shrimp aka King Prawn (Litopenaeus vannamei, Penaeus vannamei), Atlantic White Shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus) are some of the most commonly ones available in the USA.

american durga puja

Vivek Raj1 Comment

When we came to America in the summer of 2014, little did we know that we will celebrate Durga puja in the country for almost a decade. I was born and raised in West Bengal, where Durga puja is the biggest Hindu festival – celebrated with the greatest pomp and show. Since 2021, Kolkata’s Durga puja is an “intangible cultural heritage” of the world as declared by UNESCO.

Durga puja is essentially the same as Navratri, which begins on Mahalaya and ends on Vijayadashami but is celebrated a bit differently in Bengal. Most Bengalis don’t abstain from liquor and meat during this time which is the norm in much of the Hindi belt and also in Gujarat where Navratri is celebrated by dancing in front of the devi for 9 days. There are other variants all across India including down South. In Bengal, Durga ma is worshipped in pandals mostly from the 6th day to the 9th day and the thakurs are immersed in water on the 10th day. Most of the “pandal hopping” is done on these days but having lived most of my life in Bengal and having seen so many Durga puja pandals, there is a lot of diversity in the way the devi is worshipped. Most pandals have Ma Durga with Ma Lakshmi, Ma Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya but a few – mostly in areas with people from the hindi belt, have all the 9 forms of Ma Durga instead. Howrah’s Ghasbagan celebrations reflected that diversity in Bengal.

This diversity also transcends the borders of Bengala. While Durga puja is celebrated with the greatest fervor in Bengal, it’s equally popular in the neighboring states of Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and to some extent in Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal as well.

While in India, I have seen Durga puja from almost all these neighboring states and can confirm they are not even a speck compared to the scale it’s celebrated in Bengal with Kolkata as the epicentre.

I have fond memories of Durga puja from India too and after a visit to the famed Maddox Square Durga Puja in 2006, I had written a blog as well. I will try to find the link to that writeup.

Meanwhile, celebrating a decade of Durga puja in USA, here is reminiscing the same.

September-October 2014, Virginia

This was our first Durga puja in the US and the most special one too. We lived in Maryland’s Baltimore county then and didn’t have a car. Unknown to us, one of Neha’s dad’s friends stayed at Virginia and when he came to know about us being in the country, he gave us a call and came to visit us. He informed us about Durga puja celebrations and told us to visit their home around that time. In the US, most Durga puja happens in public schools which are rented for the weekend around the festival and the entire puja is wrapped up during that time period. Most of these pujas are organised by Bengali expat associations. The one we visited was organised by North Virginia Bengali Association (NVBA) at Fairfax county’s J. Michael Lunsford Middle School. We stayed with uncle and aunty for the weekend and had a great time. We saw firsthand how Indians living in the US stayed in touch with their faith and culture. Artists from India were also invited to perform. Most of these events have food as well and are ticketed.

October 2015, Maryland

We lived in Maryland’s Washington county then and even when we knew quite a few Indians we didn’t have friends so no one asked us for visiting any Durga puja. We didn’t have a car till yet. We did visit Shenandoah National Park with an Indian family in the neighborhood during Durga puja.

October 2016, Delaware

We were back to living in Maryland’s Baltimore county and this time visited a Durga puja at Gauger-Cobbs Middle School in Delaware. An Indian family from our neighborhood invited us. It was organised by either BADV or Udaan. We just went for darshan followed by lunch at a South Indian restaurant nearby.

September 2017, Virginia

I had a car by now and I was still in Maryland’s Baltimore county and had made a few friends. I took my wife and 2 others friends – Romita and Kalika, to meet uncle and aunty at NVBA’s Durga puja celebration – this time at Loudoun county’s Potomac Falls High School. We hadn’t purchased tickets so it was just for darshan. Kalika treated us to lunch at a nearby restaurant for her birthday. We also visited Washington Kali Temple a few days hence with Romita. Temples mostly follow the exact puja dates as opposed to those organised by associations.

We also went for dandiya on 23rd September at The Fieldhouse, Chantilly, Virginia. Entry fee wass $15.

October 2018, Maryland

We were still in Maryland’s Baltimore county and this time went only to Washington Kali Temple.

We also went for dandiya on 13th October at Meadowbrook Athletic Complex, Ellicott City, Maryland. Entry fee wass $12.

October 2019, Maryland

We were still in Maryland’s Baltimore county and went to Washington Kali Temple.

October 2020, Maryland

The world was suffering from COVID19 so no celebration of any kind for anyone. Neha was pregnant and I had lost my dad to the pandemic in September. Definitely the most sombre festive season for us.

October 2021, Maryland

We were still in Maryland’s Baltimore county and went to Washington Kali Temple. We were still following mask protocols and there were timed entries. We were parents now and this was our daughter Navya’s first Durga puja. It was so heartening to see her crawl all over the temple floor.

October 2022, Maryland

We had moved to Maryland’s Harford county and went to Washington Kali Temple. This was Navya’s 2nd Durga puja and she had a great time exploring her surroundings.

October 2023, Maryland

We are still in Maryland’s Harford county and went to Washington Kali Temple – our 6th visit to the temple during Durga puja. Like every year, this year also, we were offered a stomach full of tasty bhog prasad. This time Navya too enjoyed the prasad. This was Navya’s 3rd Durga puja and she loved it very much. She played with people around us and stayed nicely throughout the 1 hr puja session.

Every year, on Navami, Neha makes a bhog of puri, chana, alu sabji and halwa. Since we have a daughter now, families celebrating Navratri give prasad and gifts to Navya as well.

October 2024, Maryland

We are still in Maryland’s Harford county and went to Washington Kali Temple – our 7th visit to the temple during Durga puja. Like every year, this year also, we were offered a stomach full of tasty bhog prasad which we enjoyed a lot. Navya was only interested in the potato sticks aka alu bhaja. We met quite a few of our colleagues at the temple and it was nice to catch-up.

We also went for dandiya on 12th October at Dulles Sportsplex, Sterling, Virginia. Entry fee was $12.

JAI MA DURGA.

happy birthday ma

Vivek RajLeave a comment

My mother is my favorite person on earth. I have had a very difficult childhood – through poverty and both physical and emotional abuse, and often had suicidal tendencies. My mother’s unhinged love, care and the food she prepared, were some of the major reasons I survived. I have written multiple times how we could barely afford birthday celebrations. On most occasions, we simply had a good meal at home. My parents rarely celebrated their birthday. 2 years ago, I wrote a post on the birthday celebrations of my dad – months after he departed for the heavens above. This one is for my mom. She turns 58 this year and I pray to Mahadev that she gets to celebrate many more such birthdays.

Below is a snapshot of mom’s birthday we remember.

2013

Mom was in Bangalore to be with my eldest sister Nandini who had delivered a baby boy on July 9.

2014

I was already in the USA – Cockeysville, Maryland, and Neha was to fly to me in a few days. I celebrated mom’s 49th birthday by making alu matar. Neha took mom, dad, my youngest sister nisha and my youngest mausi to The Park Hotel, Kolkata to celebrate her birthday.

2015

We were in Hagerstown, Maryland. Neha made masala dosa to celebrate mom’s 50th birthday.

2018

Neha made a non-vegetarian spread on mom’s birthday. Ma had made masala dosa and dad had ordered a cake.

2019

We were back to Cockeysville, Maryland, and Neha made matar paneer to celebrate mom’s birthday.

2020

Neha prepared a nice birthday lunch of kachori, alu panch phoran, alu gobhi and kheer.

2021

My sister Neha and her fiance Neeraj gave mom some very amazing customised gifts.

2022

Last year, Neha and I celebrated mom’s birthday in a very sattvic way. We curated a special spread and celebrated on the deck of our new home. My sisters took mom to Masala Mandi – an amazing restaurant in Bangalore.

2023

For the first time, we actually sat down and planned a nice birthday trip for mom. All of us siblings contributed. My younger sisters and their husbands planned a trip to Maharashtra. They took mom to Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga, Pune and Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga, Nashik. They also took her to the Sula Vineyards in Nashik but since mom is observing the extended Shravan month, she is abstaining from meat and liquor until Raksha Bandhan. She did have pizza, loaded nachos and other delicacies nonetheless.

longest bridges of india

Vivek RajLeave a comment

republished from a facebook note from god knows when

list of all bridges in india with at least 1000 m over water –

dhola sadiya (bhupen hazarika) bridge (9150 m, road, lohit, assam, 2017)

mahatma gandhi setu (5750 m, road, ganga, bihar, 1982) *

bandra worli (rajiv gandhi) sea link (5600 m, road, mahim bay, maharashtra, 2009)

bogibeel bridge (4940 m, rail road, brahmaputra, assam, 2018)

vikramshila setu (4700 m, road, ganga, bihar, 2001)

vembanad rail bridge (4620 m, rail, vembanad lake, kerala, 2011)

digha sonpur (jai prakash) bridge (4556 m, rail road, ganga, bihar, 2015)

arrah chhapra (veer kunwar singh) setu (4350 m, road, ganga, bihar, 2017)

godavari fourth bridge (4135 m, road, godavari, andhra, 2015)

chahlari ghat bridge (3260 m, road, ghaghra, uttar pradesh, 2017)

munger ganga bridge (3190 m, road, ganga, bihar, 2014)

jawahar setu (3061 m, road, son, bihar, 1965) *

nehru setu (3059 m, rail, son, bihar, 1900) *

kolia bhomora setu (3015 m, road, brahmaputra, assam, 1987)

korthi kolhar bridge (3000 m, road, krishna, karnataka, 2006)

netaji subhash chandra bose setu (2880 m, road, kathajodi, odisha, 2017)

godavari bridge (2754 m, rail road, godavari, andhra pradesh, 1970)

old godavari bridge (2754 m, rail, godavari, andhra pradesh, 1900) decommissioned

godavari arch bridge (2745 m, rail, godavari, andhra pradesh, 2003) *

penumudi puligadda bridge (2950 m, road, krishna, andhra pradesh, 2006)

badaun ganjdundwara bridge (2334, raod, gangam uttar pradesh, 2012)

pamban (annai indira gandhi) road bridge (2300 m, road, palk strait, tamil nadu, 1988)

naranarayana setu (2284 m, rail road, brahmaputra, assam, 1998) *

farakka barrage (2240 m, rail road, ganga, west bengal, 1975) *

kanaka durga varadhi (2200, road, krishna, andhra, 1995)

second mahanadi rail bridge (2100 m, rail, mahanadi, orissa, 2008) *

pamban (annai indira gandhi) rail bridge (2065 m, rail, palk strait, tamil nadu, 1913)

sharavathi bridge (2060 m, rail, sharavathi, karnataka, 1994)

rajendra setu (2000 m, rail road, ganga, bihar, 1959) *

first mahanadi rail bridge (1951 m, rail, mahanadi, orissa, 1899)

gautam buddha bridge (1848 m, road, ganga, bihar, 2013)

vashi bridge (1837 m, road, thane creek, maharashtra, 1997)

new yamuna bridge (1510 m, road, yamuna, uttar pradesh, 2004)

thanthai periyar bridge (1500 m, road, kaveri, tamil nadu, 1971)

koilwar (abdul bari) bridge (1440 m, rail road, son, bihar, 1862 ) *

golden bridge (1412 m, road, narmada, gujarat, 1881)

silver jubilee railway bridge (1407 m, rail, narmada, gujarat, 1935)

mahanadi bridge (1400 m, road, mahanadi, orissa, 1961) *

neelathanallur madhanathur bridge (1400 m, road, kollidam, tamil nadu, 2011)

second narmada bridge (1365 m, road, narmada, gujarat, 2000)

vangal mohanur bridge (1350 m, road, kaveri, tamil nadu, 2016)

third narmada bridge (1344 m, road, narmada, gujarat, 2017)

saraighat bridge (1300 m, rail road, brahmaputra, assam, 1962) *

maharana pratap setu (1270 m, road, banswara, rajasthan, 1987)

prakasam barrage (1224 m, road, krishna, andhra pradesh, 1885)

elgin bridge (1126 m, rail, ghaghra, uttar pradesh, 1896)

ghaghra bridge (1100 m, road, ghaghra, uttar pradesh, ?)

malviya bridge (1049 m, rail road, ganga, uttar pradesh, 1887)

sharavathi bridge (1048 m, road, sharavathi, karnataka, 1984)

airoli bridge (1030 m, road, thane creek, maharashtra, 1999)

old naini bridge (1006 m, rail road, yamuna, uttar pradesh, 1865)

* bridges crossed by me on either train or car

kashi trip 2022

Vivek RajLeave a comment

My wife has been in India since mid-April 2022 and it was supposed to be a 3 month long vacation. We got married in May 2014 and within months, both of us were in the USA – far away from our parents and siblings in India. Life kept happening but then COVID19 struck and our world turned upside down. We suffered a lot the past 2 years but we believe in hope. Amidst that, our daughter Navya was born in December, 2020 and one of my sisters got married in April, 2021. I think dad is watching over us and we are slowly getting comfortable making plans for the future but we are still cautious and don’t want to leave things for the future. So with that in mind, when it was feasible for my wife and daughter to travel to India – even with peak summer in India, we didn’t think twice. Over the years, we have understood one thing, despite the limitations, we have to prioritize family over everything else. So even when we have to travel to India in November, 2022 again, we didn’t plan Neha’s vacation to time that. The weather would have been better too. We didn’t want to leave anything to chance. My laziness, procrastinations and habit of excessive planning has robbed me of so many things over the years. Had I not been the way I am, probably mom and dad’s tourist visa would have been ready by March, 2020 when COVID19 became a pandemic and we would have brought them together with us to the USA. Maybe dad would still be with us.

Anyways, what’s past is past. Neha travelled to India and she was having a nice time. I too was having a nice time with some free time for me at last. I hiked a lot and made some new friends but after some weeks, I started missing my wife and daughter so I thought why not make a quick travel plan to India. Additionally, there is always the excitement of surprising my mom with an unexpected visit. Moreover, Navya was getting naughtier by the day and it would have been an uphill task for Neha to travel with her back to the USA. That’s how the 10 day travel materialized by May-end and I hoped to make the most of it. I purchased my return tickets on May 29, 2022. I was to travel July 1 by Air India and return on July 10 by Emirates.

The plan was to travel from USA to Delhi to Varanasi by plane and then drive to Prayagraj the next day to meet my younger sister Neha – traveling from Bangalore, my wife Neha and her brother Akash. Initially I thought of staying the night in Delhi but Varanasi worked better because there was an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Varanasi after my Air India flight landed at Delhi and it worked for me. I always had the option of taking an afternoon flight to Prayagraj the next day of reaching Delhi but who would want to miss an opportunity to visit the abode of Shiva? When Kashi was finalised, I asked a friend to join and he agreed. It didn’t take long for June to end and the next thing was an hour long delay from USA. I was still hoping to make it on time to Delhi to take the flight to Varanasi but it would be touch and go. When I reached Delhi, i made a run for the Air Vistara counter – jumping queues and thanking Delhiites who held onto their expletives on a sweltering Delhi summer morning. I barely caught my flight and reached my hotel in Varanasi around 4 PM on July 2. My friends’ train was delayed by several hours so while he was supposed to reach hours ahead of me, he actually came an hour after I arrived. I had informed him of the delay in my flight but he was kind enough to take a chance to travel from Lucknow to meet me and tour Kashi together. After a cold shower – and that became my undoing in the days to come, and a few minutes of rest, we set off for exploring the city at around 6 PM.

We decided to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple first. I had been to the temple earlier in January, 2020 but it was such a troubled experience back then. For security reasons, we had to keep our phones away but since there is no such facility provided by the temple management itself, we had to keep our items in locks at local shops nearby. And then at the end of the line, someone said, smart watches are not allowed so I had to go back and come again. Towards the end, for a reason I don’t remember, we were separated from our father-in-law so me, my wife Neha and mother-in-law did the darshan together and we were not even sure if father-in-law could do that. It was a mess even when I felt blessed after the darshan. Cut to July, 2022, after the inauguration of the remodelling of the temple complex to open a corridor connecting the temple – a jyotirlinga, with a ghat on the ganges, I was really anxious to notice what changed. We entered from the gate near Gyanvapi and it felt divine to stand among thousands of devotees who patiently waited for their turn. I bought some lal peda for prasad and I had no idea it’s so popular there. There were multiple lines and while we indulged in chit chat between ourselves and with folks in front and behind us, the macaques nearby were a clear distraction. They are known to pounce at devotees and snatch away the prasad and everything else. There was little police presence and there were multiple lines and after some time there was a mini altercation when one of the lines was abruptly told to merge with another. Things cooled down quickly because ultimately it was about the darshan. And while me and my friend Abhishek discussed multiple things – including the revival of Sanatan Dharma by Shankaracharya, the mundane architecture of the corridor – the gate was heavily adorned though, we were approached by a priest to move ahead of the line by paying Rs 300 each. Amazingly, that was the official price for a special line but there was no information board mentioning that at the door near the mosque. We decided to pay because we had other things to do as well. There was quite a tussle at the special line as well and bulk of the tourists there were devotees from down South – mostly Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and this I am basing off my friend’s confidence in his ability to identify languages from down South. Amidst that, a visibly annoyed devotee told one of the devotees from south why they come to visit Kashi Vishwanath if they don’t want to speak Hindi. I thought of intervening but that man was soon lost among the teeming thousands. That was nasty. My friend remarked, South India has a multitude of grand Hindu temples and so many people from the Hindi belt go there for a darshan. What if people from there starting asking us to learn their language before visiting. I understand the politics of language is dirty but these are allegedly normal people with so much ignorance and vitriol and that too in the home of Shiva. I pray for sanity among people. I pray for brotherhood. Even me and my friend were there – getting shoved and pushed, but we kept our cool. The only thing in our mind was Shiva and we kept taking his name. Jai Bhole Shankar. We were able to have a divine darshan after a wait of around 75 minutes and we during that time we were even allowed to touch the Shivling. We visited the remaining temples at the complex, had a view of Ganga from the ghat and then went back to get our phones and watches from a shop outside the complex. It was incredibly hot and my t-shirt was wet but we had a lot to cover. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience at the temple complex. New guest houses are coming up between the ghat and the main temple and it was nice to see so much space at one of the holiest temples for hindus. Happy to see Mahadev having some space which he so deserves.

Next was to have some food because it had been hours and I hadn’t had anything to eat. Since my friend knew the city a lot better than me, we decided for some lassi, tamatar chaat and thandai before visiting Sankat Mochan and Durga Kund temples. There was an ancient Kali temple – one of the oldest in the city, we also visited. The lassi with malai topping was amazing. The tamatar chaat from Kashi Chat Bhandar was good too – but my friend said they make it better. The thandai was cool and refreshing but it hit me after a few hours and even when my friend said I wasn’t any different from my usual blabbering self, I could feel the difference. It was really turning out to be quite an experience. We took an auto from Godowlia – one of the melting points in Kashi, to the Hanuman and Durga temples.

I felt great after both the darshans. The laddu at Sankat Mochan temple is incredibly popular and the owners were one of the busiest folks I have seen. They were packing scrambled laddus non-stop in various denominations. I distinctly remember the taste of the lal peda but not so much of the laddu from either Sankat Mochan or Bade/Lete Hanuman temple we visited next day at Prayagraj. So this is an excuse to visit both the temples again and savor the prasad in a more mindful way. While phones were not allowed at Sankat Mochan – the site of deadly bombings in 2006 which killed almost 30 people, they were allowed at the Durga temple. It was already around 9 PM by the time were were done.

We decided to take some rest at the hotel room, change into more comfortable clothes, have dinner and then visit the ghats before calling it a day. We dined at Keshari – one of the few air-conditioned restaurants in the city, and while I loved the special vegetarian thali, my friend was only mildly impressed. Has 8 years of stay in USA dulled my palette? I think of myself an avid foodie so it becomes interesting when someone challenges me in taste – a subjective thing anyways. I still think there is a lot to learn in Indian food, faith and spirituality and my friend is perhaps more learned there so never stop listening and taking notes. Someone said a while ago, it’s stupid if you are the smartest person in the room.

We hit the ghats next. We started from Dashashwamedh ghat and covered quite a few ghats going towards Assi till Sarveshwar ghat. We then turned back and joined a gentleman at Ahilyabai ghat to feed fishes in the Ganga. We walked till Manmandir aka Manmahal ghat and then returned to our hotel room to sleep but not before having a taste of Banarsi paan. We had to get up early for a bath in the Ganga before I could leave for Prayagraj. Kashi has undergone a lot of development the past few years and the Indian PM Narendra Modi represent the city in Lok Sabha. There is visible change and the cleanliness and hygiene is apparent. We were wandering way past midnight and with the think crowd, the city looked very different. Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world – the oldest in India and one of the holiest places for Hindus. It’s such a divine city. I will plan to visit again and this time stay longer and explore more.

The next day, even when I barely had a few hours of sleep, I very much wanted to bathe at one of the ghats in Kashi. The river here was a lot cleaner and there were ropes tied to boats to help non-swimmers. The river wasn’t very wide in peak summer but Ganga is still a big and deep river and one can easily drown if one is not careful. We abandoned the plan of taking a boat to the other side of the river which had sandy beaches and prefered to bathe at one of the ghats and we chose Ahilyabai ghat again.

While returning to our room for breakfast and departure to Prayagraj, we met Shri Surajit Dasgupta at a tea-stall near the old gate of Kashi Vishwanath temple. We had some chai pe charcha and then explored a few roadside stalls – mostly selling fresh rudraksha and shaligram, had a South Indian breakfast at our hotel – Ganges Grand, and then time to bid adieu to my friend and onward to some more explorations.