the Burning Ghat

‘ …when lived on a houseboat in Benares (Varanasi) on the Ganges. $3 a month. One day, I must have been bored or curious or both. I decided to wander along the river ghats, further than I had previously dared. After a while, I was going down an alley when I smelled what I thought was a puffed rice stand. Good buys cause you get em hot before the flies show. Rounding a corner and I was right in front of the main cremation ‘site’ since Benares is the holiest place to get burned, at least for Hindus. Large fire with large logs which were very rare. Most fires were made from dried cow shit. One baba shovelled the ashes into the river. No dolphins (they swim up thousands of kilometers for the sweets thrown into the river), no vultures, no fanfare just the bodies baba, fire baba, ashes baba and the river. I left quickly to look for a real puff rice stand…