Pandit Nehru slept here...and other things that happened today in India

It humors me at times to think about the random things that seem to happen when I travel so I thought I would share some highlights from today in Varanasi, India.

Saw a restaurant sign that read.....Hari Barf.....I kid you not. Guess you can enjoy the food going both ways....

There I was just minding my own business waiting by the car for my driver....and as a group of young students walked by one of them pulled out his cell phone and took my picture. I just started laughing....guess it's only fair.....

I got chased away from one of the Ghats(funeral pyres along the Ganges)for taking a picture.....oops!!!!

But the biggie was getting moved to a different room at my hotel. Well...room would be an understatement.
I returned to my hotel from a tour and was informed I was going to be given a better room so that my experience would be "pleasant". I was actually having a fine time and my room was very nice....but apparently someone didn't feel the way I did. I was asked to pack my bags...in a very nice way and be ready to move within the hour. Fine, I thought...not being one to ever turn down an upgrade.

They told me I was moving to room 701. I was already on the 5th floor which appeared to me to be the top of the hotel.....so the dude comes and gets my bag....and I had to laugh he stopped and looked at me and asked.."only one bag sir?"....like I was supposed have more I guess.....
Next I head to the front desk to turn my old key and get a new one....but wait....the manager comes over and shakes my hand and tells me how happy he is that I'm here and I would need to go out and get on a big golf cart to go to my new room...and it sounded like I was going to some other hotel......getting a little sketchy at this point....I'm thinking oh great they are actually moving me to some dump across town.....but oh my was I wrong.
We drive across the parking lot to a guarded gate that I had actually thought was some kind of service exit/entrance. The guard opens the gate and it was like I entered this tranquil tropical garden with a huge beautiful Mansion like structure off to the left.
We pull up to the front and there are these guys all decked out in traditional Indian clothing. Some guy in a pricey suit greets me and as we walk pass this entourage they start chanting/singing and throwing flowers on me. This does not happen to me all that often so I am naturally at a loss as to what to do or not do...so I just smile and keep walking.
At the door is a beautiful Indian woman in a stunning Sari. She greets me and places a dab of paint on my forehead and a lovely necklace around my neck that I am told is made of dried mud from the Ganges.
Now the dude in the pricey suit introduces me to his assistant(apparently I don't rate his time) who then also welcomes me and summons the three or four other underlings to bring me a cold towel a silver platter as well as a crystal glass of juice on yet another silver pallter. Mind you I have just returned from a tour that started at 6am and while I don't believe I was looking totally ghetto I was definitely not dressed for this.
Now the assistant ushers me to the left of the lobby to a set of beautiful hardwood double doors. But before he opens the door and hands over the keys he points out the large brass plaque that reads "Pandit Nehru Suite" and informs me it is named in Honor of the former prime minister of India because he STAYED here!!!!
Finally the doors are parted and I am ushered into a suite that is three times the size of my house. It took ten minutes for the assistant manager to walk me through all the amenities.......so here I am typing away at the very writing desk that Mr. Nehru may have used in 1952.........ah the random things that happen when travelling.