TRAVELLIVE 3-2016

VÌi t´i, bÈ ∂nh chÙp mÈt Æoπn s´ng Hªng ch∂y qua Varanasi nµy lµ bÈ
∂nh Æ∑ tiu hao nhi“u n®ng l≠Óng nh†t mµ t´i tıng th˘c hi÷n. Kh´ng
hi”u v◊ sao, nh˜ng l«n Æi ngang Burning Ghat (l“u thiu x∏c) bn bÍ
s´ng Hªng, t´i nh≠ b rÛt h’t s¯c l˘c, nh¯c Æ«u vµ buÂn n´n. Chæn
chæn kh´ng ph∂i sÓ s÷t v◊ h◊nh ∂nh hay mÔi khät bËc ln, th’ nh≠ng l˝
do th˘c s˘ t´i lπi chºng gi∂i th›ch Æ≠Óc.
NhÍ mÈt anh chµng ƒn ßÈ kho∂ng chıng 23 tuÊi, t´i Æ≠Óc gi∂i th›ch
˝ ngh‹a vµ d…n Æi xem c∏c c´ng Æoπn, nghi th¯c khi thiu x∏c mÈt
ng≠Íi. VÌi “c´ng su†t” cÒa mÁi Ghat kho∂ng 300 x∏c mÈt ngµy, ra
kh·i Æ„, toµn th©n t´i c∂m th†y r∑ rÍi, giËng nh≠ b hÛt m∏u vÀy.
S´ng Hªng ÆÛng nh≠ nh˜ng g◊ t´i tıng h◊nh dung trong Æ«u, nh≠ng
thÀt ra khi Æ’n Æ©y mÌi bi’t Æ„ chÿ lµ b“ nÊi cÒa t∂ng b®ng tr´i. ¬n
sau nh˜ng b¯c h◊nh nµy lµ hµnh tr◊nh theo b≠Ìc nh˜ng bÀc ch©n s≠ mµ
n’u kh´ng ÆÒ kin nh…n sœ kh„ c„ th” g∆p Æ≠Óc. ß” hi”u Æ≠Óc s´ng
Hªng vµ nh˜ng con ng≠Íi n¨i Æ©y, thÍi gian vµi tu«n l≠u trÛ chæc chæn
ch≠a ÆÒ mµ c„ lœ ph∂i Î lπi ›t nh†t 4 th∏ng nh≠ Julia Robert!
MÈt chi“u, sau c∂ buÊi chÙp m÷t r∑ rÍi, t´i ngÂi lπi bn bÍ s´ng Æ”
ngæm dng ng≠Íi qua lπi. LÛc †y, mÈt ng≠Íi Ƶn ´ng ƒn Æ’n tı New
Delhi tÌi bæt chuy÷n. Sau cuÈc Ƶm thoπi dµi, t´i mÌi hi”u Æ≠Óc
nh˜ng tr®n trÎ cÒa ´ng: ßπo PhÀt chÿ c„ 1 Siddhartha Gautama, Thin
ChÛa Gi∏o cÚng chÿ c„ 1 Jesus, HÂi gi∏o th◊ c„ Alla lµ Ɔng tËi cao
nh≠ng ƒn ßÈ gi∏o (Hinduism) cÒa qu h≠¨ng
´ng th◊ c„ tÌi 200.000 v th«n. “V◊ kh´ng
nhÌ h’t c∏c v th«n nn giÍ chÿ bi’t c„
Th≠Óng Æ’ th´i”, ng≠Íi Ƶn ´ng n„i. ß©y
c„ lœ lµ mÈt trong nh˜ng l˝ do tπo nn s˘
ph¯c tπp cÒa x∑ hÈi ƒn khi mµ d©n sË vıa
Æ´ng, t´n gi∏o lπi ph¯c tπp. Ng≠Íi d©n loay
hoay chÿ th†y Æi thÍ cÛng ´ng nµy bµ n‰,
rÂi lπi xung ÆÈt t›n ng≠Ïng.
For me, taking photos along The
Ganges through Varanasi is the most
energy consuming thing I’ve ever
done. Not for any obvious reason,
whenever passing a burning ghat
on the bank of Ganges, I feel exhausted, I get
headache and want to vomit. I’m sure that I’m
not afraid of the images or the smell of burning
bodies, but I can’t explain why I get those
feelings.
An Indian boy who is about 23 years old
explained the meaning of this ceremony and led
me to witness all stages of cremating a body.
Each ghat’s capacity is about 300 bodies per
day. After spending time here, I felt like there
was no blood left inside me.
The Ganges River is exactly what I had imagined
it to be; however, what we can see is like the
tip of a floating iceberg. Beneath the surface
of these images is a journey in the footsteps
of true monks whom you can’t meet without
considerable patience. To understand the river
and people here, some weeks isn’t enough. You
have to spend at least 4 months here like Julia
Roberts!
One afternoon, after growing tired of taking
photos, I sat on the riverbank watching passersby.
At that time, an Indian man from New
Delhi came and started chatting with me. He
seemed uneasy and after a long conversation
I understood what he was concerned about.
While Buddhists venerate Siddhartha Gautama,
there is only one Jesus in Christianity, and Alla
is the Islamic name for the Supreme Being,
but there are 200,000 Hindu gods in his
hometown. “Now I just know Brama
since I can’t remember all of the
Gods”, he said.
TRAVELLIVE 103