It’s October 2016 and I am in Varanasi. I am doing what I spent most of my time doing in this city: wandering. Varanasi is a city made for wandering. The city is thousands of years old and filled with interesting stores, food shops, temples, and wonderful people watching. I have been here for five days now and I feel as if I could spend my life wandering these streets, talking to people, drinking chai and snacking.
In the old city where I have spent all of my time, the streets are extremely narrow. On the busier ones, two people holding hands could touch the buildings on either side of the street. These streets are shared by people walking, on bicycles, and motor scooters, dogs, cows, goats, and sometimes monkeys. It’s too small to fit even autorickshaws or cycle rickshaws so most folks just walk. On the smaller ones, you might only be able to fit a single person and if you meet someone else you’d have to turn sideways to let them pass.
Generally speaking I’m looking for lunch but I’m not in any rush. When I get to an intersection I turn whichever way looks more interesting and continue. I don’t even need to worry about getting lost. As long as I can find my way to the Ganga river, I know how to get back to where I started.
Eventually I pass some kids around 4-5 years old playing ball together in the street. I turn down a narrow street next to them and walk another few metres. And then I see it.
There is a big cow in the street. She is tall enough that she can almost look me directly in the eye. And she is standing in a shady spot just where the street narrows. There’s no room for me to pass by her. And so we stand there looking at each other. I stand there for a good two minutes waiting for the cow to make a decision but she’s happy. She’s going nowhere.
And then I hear a sound in the distance. A scooter is coming from the other direction. And soon it’s on the other side of the narrowing of the street. They’re not as patient as I am, though, and honk their horn and rev their engine. This upsets the cow and she starts running – right at me! I look quickly for somewhere to run and see there’s only one spot – an open doorway to someone’s house. I dash in and the cow follows me part way in until it gets too narrow for her to comfortably continue. She backs out and then heads back to her spot in the shady narrow part of the road. I am in the same position I was before.
Not wanting to be chased in to that stranger’s house again (thank goodness nobody was in the room!), I give up on this direction. After all, I’m just randomly strolling. I’ll just choose another direction. When I get to the children, though, the smallest one, no more than four and barely taller than my waist, stops me.
“Kya hua?” (What happened?)
I mumble something about “bari gaay yahan hai!” (There’s a big cow there!)
The boy walks back toward the cow. He sees me standing there and says “Aaiye” (Please come) and I follow him reluctantly. He ducks in to the house I hid in and comes out with a big stick as tall as he is and as thick as a baseball bat. I’m a little worried what he’s going to do but I needn’t have worried. He lifts the stick up and drops it on one of the paving stones, making a big thump. The cow begins to move and the child thumps his stick a few more times. Soon there is space for me.
“Chalo” (Go on) he says.
“Dhanyavaad” I reply – Thank you.
I continue on to other adventures.
Go Outside Today 
Your hindi is amazing and the cow tales is an interesting read.
बहुत धन्यवाद – लेकिन वह मेरी “2016 हिंदी” थी | I think I am improving – I have a good teacher now. I’m trying to practice lots more, particularly listening and vocabulary. It’s easy to remember words I use all the time (which is why my food vocabulary is pretty good) but words I have less opportunity to use are harder.
Inspiring
Haha. Funny anecdote. Cows are the cutest.
No need to beat them either, just a little “hat hat hurrr” would do the trick. 😀
I must say that little boy was quite smart for a four year old.
He was so competent and patient with this much older guy who clearly had no idea what to do.
We had cows next door to us when I grew up but they were in big fields and so when I’d walk I could completely avoid them. I know that they’re usually very gentle but they are so big!
Haha…interesting read!
Thank you , it was like being there with you. I was there long back in my childhood. Must go there soon. I believe walking is the best way to see a place. From November 8th to December 18 I was with my daughter’s family in a small town in Germany. My daughter was expecting her second child. Every afternoon I used to go for a walk for almost an hour exploring the town. It was great fun. Regards.
For me the bit question with travel is “Breadth or depth”. Do we want to see lots of different places or things, or do we want to dive in and immerse ourselves where we are. Driving and taking trains/planes is great for seeing lots of places but it’s like fast forwarding through a movie to only watch certain parts. You’re going to miss something.
I really like human-powered transportation when I can do it. Walking, or if I need to get somewhere a bit more quickly, bicycling. Traveling this way you are sure to meet more people, hear more stories, and learn more about a small area. You might not check as many sights off the list as others in tour buses but for me, just meeting new people can be as interesting as the most famous monument.
Thanks for stopping by!
We feel the same way too. When we go to other places in my country we prefer to travel in the local transport and eat the local food. It is so much more fun.
Oh yes, your story is so similar to mine… And as to being schooled by the child… I think it all depends on the environment we grow in. My cousins had no problems dealing with cows at all as they grew up seeing them on the farm… whereas I used to be nervous as hell even to step inside the cowshed.
Loved reading it 🙂
For sure. I saw a big animal that I was sure could squash me if it decided to trample me but your cousins, having grown up around them knew full well how unlikely that was.
This is what excites me most about travel – meeting people whose experience is so different from my own or having experiences I would never have otherwise – and find myself a little off-balance in them as a result. It’s good to be unsure sometimes, I think. It’s how we find surprises.
Reading this early in the morning, hoping the rest of the day feeds my spirit as much as this did.
Glad you enjoyed it. I also hope you have a wonderful day. I’m not sure about the weather where you are but at least here it is *finally* starting to warm up a little.
Hahaha so cute!!!
Hey Todd, we will be in Varanasi tomorrow. 🙂
Awww – I’m jealous. It’s one of my favourite places in the world. I hope to go back again someday. Enjoy!