Sunday, November 08, 2009

Bold Benares #2

This intersection is the site of a crucial moment in my novel Sister India. Jill is riding a rickshaw that is trapped in a traffic jam beside a political demonstration that seems on the verge of erupting into violence.

I did have that experience myself at this spot. I briefly considering walking across the bars and bench backs of rickshaws to get out of there. There was no space between the wheels to walk on the pavement. But the rickshaw traffic jam broke. Violence in Varanasi, also called Benares, didn't break out until a few days later.







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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

accidently hit the india pix which blew-up to fill the screen--it felt entirely too much like India---close , chaotic, exotic & overwhealming !
I'm glad ! i'm not there just now, & that u returned undamaged ( i think ).
aiki

Peggy Payne said...

I did come back with a frozen shoulder from carrying a too-heavy bag around all the time.

But India was good to me.

Also good to get home.