The greatest privilege of being a writer/historian is the wide & far reaching travel that I get to do & meet an amazing cross-section of people. As my new book "Waiting for Shiva: Unearthing the Truth of Kashi's Gyan Vapi" inches towards its final stages, it was a blessing to visit ground zero of my muse for the last several months --- the iconic & historic Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in Varanasi. It felt like chapters from my book were coming alive in front of me as i walked though Gate 4, crossing the mosque of Aurangzeb that sits across the new temple built by Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar in 1780. . . .Remember going through utter squalor there in the past, but the expansive and beautiful corridor has made the pilgrim experience so much better now. Was equally astonishing to see the amazingly cleaner Ganga Ghats that used to be maintained so terribly before. . . Over two hectic days, battling the heavy fog, mist & sporadic rains, went around the nook and cranny of this sacred town, capturin...