After 7 long months of
inhabiting a place, it’s hard to say goodbye. At first, I was displeased that
most of my “loose ends” had been left untied. My host family left Banaras the
week before and I was living at Dolly-ji’s house, my last day at NIRMAN had
been what I thought was going to be my 2nd to last day, I hadn’t
said goodbye to my kathak teacher, and I hadn’t gotten a chance to get pakora (my
favorite deep fried Indian snack) in over a week. That being said, my last day
in Banaras could not have been more perfect.
The day started with a long ghat
walk with Ben P. We explored a Tibetan temple that we had somehow missed before
and took a rickshaw through Godolia (the main shopping area) back to Assi
(where we lived). We ate breakfast with the group at the Program House before
cleaning it and preparing it for BYP 7.0 and then we biked back to NIRMAN for
our final goodbyes. I talked to students, took pictures, and even got to see my
graduated seniors (they came back to school that day to say goodbye). Then, I
got a text message from my host sister, Madhu, telling me that they had
returned to Banaras from the wedding. On the way home I saw my kathak (traditional
Indian dance) guru-ji on the street, said bye to him, and then got to eat one
final lunch with my host family. Madhu, Deep, and I played Go Fish and BS one
last time before I said goodbye to them to get my last food in Banaras – pakora.
Over the months in Banaras, I befriended the pakora-wallah (man who makes
pakora) who lives near my Hindi class. I would sit and chat with him before
class and much on his delicious fried treats. I wanted to pay him one last
visit before departing and he even gave me all my pakora free! After getting
pakora, I made my last stop at Dolly-ji’s house before heading to the train
station to travel to Delhi! In the end, I felt completely satisfied with my
time in Banaras, incredibly grateful for all the people there, and super
excited for our last month in India.
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