I do not know what a Mosh Pit is Sir, but these Agitators are causing a fine stir

Yesterday there was a political agitation. The exact details escape me, and indeed, when you ask people why the agitation happened, they sometimes get sortof glassy eyed, as if they do not fully understand it themselves. I think one particular high Caste Hindu political party is upset about something that is happening somewhere, and wants the government to do something about it.

Or they just want to make a scene, which they succeeded in doing.

Around 9AM, just as rush hour was starting, a whole bunch of Sadhus (Hindu holy guys) moved into the middle of the GT road (one of the busiest in this part of the world), and sat down. Horns blared, people shouted, and traffic came to a standstill.

They said they would sit there until the District Magistrate came and listened to them.

And the traffic jam started. I got into it about a half hour after it started. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late: I couldn't move. For a few minutes foot traffic was able to get through, and then pedestrians came to a halt also. Every square inch of space within a quarter mile was full of someone or something. What space the cars didn't take up, Auto Rickshaws filled. What they didn't take, the cycle Rickshaws filled. What they didn't take, the Scooters and Motorcycles filled. What they didn't take, the bicycles filled up. What space they didn't take, pedestrians filled up. Until there was no space left. You couldn't even walk.

Nobody could move. Throw a few random cows into the mix and it was a fine situation.

I am constantly amazed that there are not more fights in a situation like that. But everyone remained calm and talkative as the two hours passed before the Agitators finally packed up and left.

At one point, several schoolboys were walking/being passed overhead, walking on roofs and stepping on the backs of other schoolboys, to try and get through. A couple of them wanted to practice their English, and stopped and chatted for a couple of minutes. I said their mode of transportation was like a Mosh Pit, and they replied with the delightful quote on the header.

Eventually the Agitators left, the traffic began to move, and life got back to "normal", as we know it in Varanasi.