It was my first visit to Varanasi. Sitting in a shop in busy Nichhi Bagh, I was drawn to a funeral procession. Headed by a band playing a religious tune, it had six persons with shaven heads and long, flowing chotis, bearing a corpse on their shoulders. Another 50-odd people followed, chanting, ‘Ram nam satya hai.’ Having lived in Chandigarh all my life, this was an unusual experience for me. …
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