Sometimes a city does not allow you to rest before it introduces itself.
In October 2022, I went to Banaras with my friends Rutajeet and Mohil. Like most of our trips, the journey began with the peak Indian Railways experience. We had not slept properly the entire night.
We reached Banaras at around 6 in the morning, tired enough to question why we had planned a trip in the first place. But that is the thing about Banaras. You cannot remain inside your room for too long. The city somehow keeps calling you outside.
We walked through the galis. And Banaras is best understood through its galis. Narrow lanes, old buildings, cows standing wherever they feel like standing, shops selling things you had not planned to buy, the smell of food arriving from some corner.
Our first stop was Kashi Vishwanath Mandir. Phones were not allowed inside. For a while, there was nothing to click, nothing to post, and nothing to check. Only the temple, the crowd, the sound of bells, and the strange calmness that stays with you even after you step outside.
After that, we started eating. Chaat in Banaras is not something you casually have between meals. It becomes the meal. Then another meal. Tamatar chaat, aloo tikki, kachori, kulfi, paan. Every few metres, there was another shop.
We also went towards Assi Ghat and found a small pizzeria nearby which was unexpectedly good. In the same day, you could sit near the Ganga, eat street-side chaat, find good pizza near a ghat, and end the evening with paan and kulfi at Godowlia Chauraha. Everything somehow fits.
Banaras is not a city that asks you to follow a plan. You walk, you get lost, you eat something, you find a ghat, and suddenly you are standing somewhere completely different.
Gali gali Banaras. And in every gali, something worth stopping for.