There is something about Banaras that puts your mind at rest. This is, apart from the fact that it is home.

Now the thing is why should this be the case? It is so because of the atmosphere. Just as a fast paced office grows on you, so does a laid-back city. People have time to get around and get their work done. There is usually little to hurry about, and you have time to not just talk, but just let your mind wander on its flights of fantasy while sitting on the riverbank.

There are certain things unique about this city, the most prominent one being the availability of grass. It is so easily available that you are surprised to hear that it's a banned substance. You needn't get it surreptitiously like in Bangalore or Delhi. You can get it free, and openly on the ghats.

Another feature is the wide availability of moving cattle. They own the streets, and they park themselves wherever they want. If you wonder how the people handle such encroachments on public roads, you needn't worry. The people are as used to seeing them on the roads as people.

The other day there was this donkey which ran amok while I was driving to the serene BHU campus, where I spent five years getting educated. Or pretended to. The donkey made straight for a sweet shop. People sitting there first gaped at it, thought it would stop, and then ran the hell out of there and stopped a short distance away to see what the crazy donkey was upto. The donkey just stopped as if its batteries ran out, and stood that way. The people gradually came around, someone poked it with a stick, but hell it would just not budge. Feeling secure, the people sat down, and started chatting over warm milk as before. The donkey started braying all of a sudden, which again sent people outta the shop, chairs flying and all.

Such entertainment is not confined to poor donkeys. Monkeys are often funnier, and are usually to be found sitting on rooftops and scratching themselves. Quite a few of them regularly invade homes and try to rob the fridge. In my locality they try to spoil the garden, and have previously made off with flower pots, after yanking the poor plant out. The pot is then dumped on some other house. In one case the owner ducked just in time as a small flower pot went flying over his head.

Usually incidents are far less dangerous though. The other day a monkey ran off with an entire clothesline of a guy who then gave chase with an airgun. Several shots were fired and some clothes recovered, which were spread across atleast a dozen houses by the retreating, but vindictive monkey. I remember before the advent of DTH and stuff, the TV antenna would usually be turned upside down by the monkeys. They come on groups of 10-20, and can be chased most effectively by an airgun or slingshots. U can stand and wave a stick at them and all they would do is scratch their back, looking supremely bored.

Dogs are cooler, and far less dangerous than their cousins in Bangalore, who are known to kill little kids. In fact all over North India, the dogs, who grow up being kicked around, are far friendlier. Not that I support this - I am just stating a fact. Earlier they used to chase monkeys in their spare time, but now they just have learnt to accept them. Quite like the tigers at Bannerghatta National Park near Bangalore, who are quite bored at seeing humans come and gape at them. They don't even feel like celebs even after being clicked so many times.

And so my holiday, which has just begun, after a week of working at the Delhi office of ET, continues. More later. Have fun and be good. And ya, for some grass n booze, do drop in.

Cheers