Monthly Archives: January 2011

work with DePauw university

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My Work with DePauw University, Indiana (USA)

I had the opportunity to work with DePauw University from Indiana, USA, when Mr. Rajai Bimbo, the Assistant Director of the Department of Civic, Global, and Professional Opportunities, contacted me regarding his students’ one-week trip to Varanasi. He reached out because of my work with the LGBT community in India and also showed interest in learning about the NGOs active in Varanasi.

Although Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was officially their host institution, the team was not satisfied with the way BHU professors and a local contact, Mr. Ramuji, were handling communication. They often failed to respond on time, and at one point Mr. Bimbo even asked me what I could offer to the students for a week-long program. This clearly showed that they had considered trusting me with the entire program. However, since BHU and Ramuji were “big names,” I eventually didn’t receive the full responsibility.

Mr. Bimbo even told me that he had requested BHU professors and Ramuji to collaborate with me so that we could jointly deliver the program, but they declined. Their response was that my work was “good, but not good enough” to be part of their official arrangement. Despite this, Mr. Bimbo made sure I was involved in some capacity. He invited me to spend time with the students, especially to talk about LGBT rights in India and activism in Varanasi.

With only a few hours to prepare, I put together a meaningful program for them. I organized a visit to Lok Samiti in Mehdiganj, arranged an interview with Mr. Nandlal Master, and guided the students through a local Indian village. They also visited a Coca-Cola–affected site where they learned about the community’s struggle against the company. At the MNREGA site, where a canal was being dug, students interacted with farmers and laborers, which they found deeply engaging.

Working with students has always been my priority, and it remains my dream to organize university-level experiential programs in my city. Unfortunately, due to local politics and monopoly in this field, I wasn’t given the larger responsibility with DePauw. The activities I offered were far more enriching than what BHU and Ramuji provided, but because of institutional politics, the students missed out on experiencing the best of what Varanasi had to offer.

Still, I take pride in the fact that both Mr. Bimbo and the students were happy with my contribution. For me, that was the biggest achievement.

Hotel Haifa in Varanasi

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Hotel Haifa Incident

Hotel Haifa is located near Assi Ghat in Varanasi. They are recommended on several online travel forums and have a good reputation in the market, which is why they are usually full. I also used to recommend this hotel, but I was unaware of their strange business policy – they do not allow tourist guides inside. This came to light when an American university student group, staying at Hotel Haifa, invited me to meet them. We were sitting in the hotel’s restaurant, talking, when the owner, Mr. Ravi Mishra, suddenly appeared to introduce himself to the group.

After a brief conversation with them, he turned to me and asked how I had come there. I explained that the group had invited me because they wanted to talk with me. Hearing this, he became upset and told me clearly: “Listen, I want to make this clear to you – I do not allow guides and outsiders to enter my hotel.” I was shocked. He repeated that tourist guides are not allowed to meet clients inside his hotel and asked me not to come again. After speaking with me, he told the same thing to the group in front of me. They all looked at me with surprised faces and later apologized for what had happened.

This was the first time in my life that someone had insulted me so directly. I felt both shocked and guilty, and we ended the meeting immediately. Later, I spoke to a few people who had previously stayed at Hotel Haifa, and one of them told me: “The restaurant staff was eager to please, but I felt slightly intimidated by the management’s attitude. They promote their own guides, money-changing, and travel agent services, which explains their behavior with you. As an American traveling alone, I liked having one trusted person I could count on, but they seem to want to be the guest’s only resource, or push their own network of touts.”

Hearing this made things clearer. It seems the hotel does not want locals or independent guides to interact with their guests, possibly to keep control over all services and ensure the clients depend only on them. But to me, this feels unfair and deeply problematic. I could not help but compare it to the signs from British colonial times that read “Dogs and Indians not allowed.” That was the early 1900s, yet here in the 21st century, in an independent India with its own government, I experienced something that felt very similar.

Do you really think such a hotel deserves support? Personally, I will no longer recommend Hotel Haifa, and I have decided not to work with anyone who chooses to stay there

beggars in India

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I worked with an anthropology student named Sophia from University of Berlin. I had already worked with her before a few years ago and it was my second time of work with her. This time she was not working for her university but for a big private publication company in Germany. She just wanted to interview different kind of people and listen to their stories. We met several different kinds of people but most striking news came out of the beggar community living in Varanasi. I had a shop few years ago near to Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi and I knew that there was a group of beggars living near to Dashashwamedh Ghat so I took Sophia there.

I had already heard some crazy stories about beggars living there but had no idea how serious the condition was. They told us so many things but the worse story was about their sexual harassment by local people. We interviewed an old woman who told us that she was raped several times by a local bully who comes to them every night and rapes whoever he wants. There were several girls and all aged women living there and many of them said that this person rapes really young girls who are just 14-15 years old.

They went to the police several times but the police never entertains their complaint only because they are poor and they don’t have any connection in politics. A chai shop keeper who had a shop near to the place where this community lives also said confirmed it. When I asked him why locals don’t take any action against this person, he said that he is a big criminal and nobody can do anything, not even police. He also said that he comes almost every night, chooses any girl or woman he wants and take them away with himself. He doesn’t even take the girls at his home but he rapes just somewhere on the road.

I was shocked to hear all these things happening openly in my society. I just did not know what to do with poor beggars. They also talked about corruption in government policies for them. They said that Government of Uttar Pradesh also has a program for rehabilitation of beggars in Uttar Pradesh but there is so much corruption involved in it and beggars are not benefited by it at all. They talked about a housing program where government is providing free housing to the beggars but government officers ask for bribe in order to provide them a house which is built for them and which is supposed to be free of cost.

They said that government is asking for a lot of documents including local residential proof which sounds hilarious to me. How come a beggar can have a residential proof? They live on the road! This idea of asking for residential proof and other documents seemed really stupid to me. I was thinking about these corrupt government officers who don’t forgive even the beggars. They are begging from the beggars which means that they are bigger beggars. There is a saying in Hindi चोर के घर चोरी Chor ke ghar chori (stealing in thieves home) and now we need to start another saying- भिखमंगा से भिखमंगई Bhikhmanga se Bhikhmangai (begging from beggars).

Disco in Varanasi

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New Year’s Eve at Agni Disco, Varanasi

Usually, I go out with my friends to celebrate New Year, but this year I couldn’t because my friends were not organized. I thought, why not explore something new in Varanasi? That’s when I remembered a disco called Agni, which had opened the previous year. I had only heard about it but didn’t know its exact location. I asked my friends, but they didn’t know either. Finally, I took my bike and went searching for it on the evening of the 31st. I reached a bar, asked about the disco, and fortunately, they knew the address.

When I first went there, they told me the timings – open from 12 to 4 in the afternoon and again from 8 to 11 in the evening. They asked me to return at 8 o’clock. Later, I went back with a friend around 9, only to find out that they were allowing couples only. I was really disappointed. I asked if there was any chance later in the night, and they told me to come back after an hour. So, my friend and I went to a nearby alcohol shop, had a beer, and then returned. Luckily, this time they allowed me in.

The entry fee was Rs. 1000 for couples and Rs. 700 for single men like me, while entry was free for girls. The ticket included two beers, but inside they gave only two small glasses instead of a bottle or a can. I had been to several discos and nightclubs in bigger Indian cities before, but this was my first disco experience in Varanasi – and it turned out to be really interesting.

I noticed a few differences compared to discos in big cities. Usually, discos in metros serve good-quality alcohol and have plenty of stock, but here the options were very limited. Most of the alcohol was either cheap, very common, or just lower middle-quality brands – nothing like what I’d seen elsewhere. Another big difference was the music. In Varanasi’s disco, they played only Bollywood songs. Honestly, I enjoyed it because I understand and like Bollywood more than Western music, but it surprised me since in big cities I rarely see discos playing Indian pop or Bollywood.

The crowd was also different. Discos in big cities usually have at least 100 people even on normal days, but here on New Year’s Eve there were hardly 50 people. Most were young boys, though a few girls were also there. Varanasi is a very male-dominated city, and you rarely see girls in short skirts or sleeveless clothes. But at Agni, for the first time in my life, I saw girls in short skirts, drinking, and smoking – something very rare to see in Varanasi. Boys and girls were dancing together, away from their families.

Perhaps many of them were not locals. Varanasi attracts students from all over India, many of whom live in hostels, so I think they were hostel students enjoying their freedom. It’s hard for me to imagine local parents in Varanasi allowing their daughters to go to a disco with male friends. Still, I liked seeing them together. I was also curious about women’s safety at the disco, and after spending nearly three hours there, it seemed to be safe for women as well.

Surprisingly, I even saw a few families with kids. Normally the disco closes at 11 pm, but because it was New Year’s Eve, they stayed open until 1 am. Overall, it was a very nice and memorable experience. I enjoyed it a lot and would definitely like to visit again on regular days with my friends or even family.

Happy New Year 2011!