LURE OF FUTURE

In Varanasi, the younger generation's preference for modernity is likely to guarantee Modi's hat-trick win

- PUJA AWASTHI

MEMORY IS A powerful thing. But so is identification. In Varanasi, the two are fused into a heady political brew.

An aching echo of the nostalgia of Banarsiyat—the lived, carefree essence of the city is battling a younger generation’s aspiration for modernity. In its clash is stretched a city, older than memory.

This friction of times is visible at the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, a project that has cleaned up the surroundings of the abode of Shiva that mythically rests on the middle prong of his trident. This abode was dotted by close-set old houses and small temples, yielding the devotee a glimpse of the Kashi Vishwanath temple only from proximity. Now it is visible from afar, thanks to the corridor. The devout count the loss of smaller but significant temples and the inexplicable permission to operate cafes on the corridor premises as the unforgivable cost of newness.

Divraj Mishra comes from a family of pandas (religious guides). In his 30s, he is squashed between the generation which clings to recollections and the one that seeks the new. He said it was strange that a party which claimed dedication to the cause of sanatan was turning around the tenets of what was an eternal religion. “Shiva does not reside alone. But when the corridor was built, his family members, including Ganesh (Shiva’s son), were disregarded,” he said. Mishra was particularly dismayed at the attempts to dislodge the tiny temple of Dundhiraj Ganesh, a deity who must be visited before paying obeisance to Shiva. A campaign to save the temple has protected it partially.