Bhang Ka Rang

Being someone from IT BHU, it relates me to the rich culture of Varanasi (also known as Banaras). Be it the Ghats or the Lassi or the Sankatmochan or the Dhrupad or the chats at Godaulia or the Mahashivaratri or the Thandai with a tinge of Bhang, I can feel it. I close my eyes and I can taste it once again. I close my eyes and I can remember how people behaved or it would be better to say how people reacted when they had Bhang.

I was residing in Morvi Hostel in those days. It was late in the evening. The twilight was fading away. Suddenly, I heard somebody’s cries for help. I ran in direction of the sound and then I saw a crowd in front of a room. A M. Tech student used to live in that room. A closer look revealed that the resident of that room had taken bhang and now he was feeling as if he’s gonna fly. I went inside the room to have a closer look. The guy was holding the bed as tightly as possible. He was sending SOS signal directly to the god, “Mahadev…Bacha lo aj. Main uda ja raha hoon. Main marne wala hoon…Bacha lo Aj..(Oh Lord Shiva! Save me. I am flying. I am gonna die. Save me. Please save me.) ”. It went on and on until he finally slept.

One more incident I can remember when I saw somebody carrying his track pant in his hands, making cyclic rounds in his room and crooning his original song, ”Ab main ise pehnoonga…Ab mai ise pehnoonga….Ab main ise pehnonga…” He kept making rounds inside his room and we kept laughing madly at him. I didn’t have a handy cam otherwise I would have not missed the opportunity to direct a chartbuster.

The date was 4th august 2003. I was in the final year. I had an offer from Infosys. Almost all the boys in my gang had an offer by that fateful day. So, it was the time for celebrations. We went to Godauliya. It was 1’O clock in the night. All the shops were closed. One of the Thandai shops was about to close when we ran to the shop and asked for a couple of glasses of Thandai. When the shopkeeper asked if he should mix Bhang with the Thandai, everybody looked askance at each other and a loud acknowledgement came in unison. After drinking Thandai we went to Dashashwamegh Ghat. We found a suitable place for us on the stairs. After some time, Bhang’s affect was quite obvious on each and everyone who chose to mix the bhang. One of my friends was continuously climbing stairs up and down, down and up, up and down…He kept saying, “I am in control.” But, actually he had lost the control on himself. One of them felt as if he’s going to fall even when he was lying on a flat surface. He end up sitting in my lap while coming back to hostel. One of my friends was bitten by mosquito. He kept slapping that part of the body where the mosquito took a sip of his blood. It was fun.

I devote this poem to all the guys who were together at Dashashwamegh Ghat on 4th Aug 2003.

“Bhang ke rang main doob gaye sab,
Yaad nahi raha ki kaun hai ab,
Zameen pe tar kheeche laye,
Dekhte hi dekhte chand ki saer kar aye hum,
Panchi ki tarah udne lage sab,
Pankhon ki to jarorat nahi ab,
Chand alankar sab seekh gaye ab,
Shero shayri kehne lage sab,
Waah waah bhhi kuch aisi thi,
Na khatam hone wali goonj jaisi thi,
Kuch bas haste hi rahe,
Kuch ka man rone main laga,
Kuch ko laga ki who gir padenge,
Kuch ne unhe sambhal lia,
Bas kuch aisi hi wo raat thi
Bas kuch aisi hi wo raat thi”


I remember many more incidents but I am not writing a book. So, I stop here।

Cheers!!