TRAVELLIVE MAGAZINE Travellive 03-2016

VÌi t´i, bÈ ∂nh chÙp mÈt Æoπn s´ng Hªng ch∂y qua Varanasi nµy lµ bÈ ∂nh Æ∑ ti™u 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 thi™u x∏c) b™n 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 l™n, 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 thi™u 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 ki™n 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 b™n bÍ s´ng Æ” ngæm dng ng≠Íi qua lπi. LÛc †y, mÈt ng≠Íi Æµn ´ng ƒn Æ’n tı New Delhi tÌi bæt chuy÷n. Sau cuÈc Æµm thoπi dµi, t´i mÌi hi”u Æ≠Óc nh˜ng tr®n trÎ cÒa ´ng: ßπo PhÀt chÿ c„ 1 Siddhartha Gautama, Thi™n ChÛa Gi∏o cÚng chÿ c„ 1 Jesus, HÂi gi∏o th◊ c„ Alla lµ Æ†ng 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 n™n giÍ chÿ bi’t c„ Th≠Óng Æ’ th´i”, ng≠Íi Æµn ´ng n„i. ß©y c„ lœ lµ mÈt trong nh˜ng l˝ do tπo n™n 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. F or 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

TRAVELLIVE MAGAZINE Travellive 03-2016 | Page 103