Idea of Varanasi

                          Varanasi means different things to different people. After the announcement of the candidature of Narendra Modi for "god's own constituency", philosophers, political scientists, sociologists, political commentators and media persons are trying to decipher the "idea of Varanasi". The rainbow city has hundreds of colors . Politically the city can be termed as " seat of Hindu orthodoxy", "birthplace of Hindu fundamentalism", " field of rebellion" and " garden of India's composite culture" etc. The city is rightly called "religious/spiritual capital of India". Now the Banarasis hope that they will elect a Member of Parliament who might become Prime Minister of world's largest democracy.

                                 

                              Here are some news stories centered around some foreign dignitaries who experienced, in some way, Varanasi. They shed some light on the different facets of the eternal city.

                      

                              Princess Margaret in Varanasi slum

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                              Varanasi, March 2, 1996. Dulari sits quietly at the door of of her hut while a lensman from Britain tries to capture on film the creases on her face left by a life of hardship.

                               The sudden interest of Fleet Street in the inhabitants of Kazzakhpura, one of the worst slums in the "world's oldest living city" was sparked off by the brief visit of the  Princess Margaret, an an executive director of UNICEF.

                              She wanted to acquaint herself with implementation of the basic urban services under the antipoverty programme funded by the international agency. The duchess, after her visit flew back home and declared to the press that she found a " sublime layer of spiritual living , contentment and family commitment" in Dulari and other inhabitants of the slum.

                              Her comparison of slum life in India with the " materially rich but spiritually improvised " life in London, predictably invited the wrath of the media. The Times and The Sunday Express published articles critical of Princess Margaret's observations, touching a raw nerve of the royal family- the marital discord in the younger generation. Columnist Nigella dealt the issue more on a theoretical plane in The Times while Peter Birkett of The Sunday Express air dashed all the way from London to Varanasi to spend a night in a weaver's hut in Kazzakhpura.

                                 Nigella sought to know that apart from appreciating slum life, if one is really offered a choice of living in St. James Palace or in a Varanasi slum, a second thought is needed. " It may be crude to point out that the Duchess, an admirer of the life that is lived in such poverty, has been staying in comfort in modern hotels during her visit".

                                 Princess Margrate's "realisation of Western decadence was the result of a sense of guilt about our own material comfort and a feeling of disappointment that these do not make us as happy as we would like to be", The Times said.

                                 The Duchess's statement that she envied the Hindu women for fostering a society which values its elders and respects the commitment towards the family was a "sort of new-age speak which the royal family has of late mastered", Nigella said.

                                 Meanwhile the city administration, on its part, is pleased that the Duchess had shown appreciation of their efforts to improve the living conditions in the slums.