145;Tell terrorists to leave my Benares alone146;

8216;8216;Is it safe to go to Benares? Are many people dead? Tell the terrorists not to touch Benares... It8217;s Mecca for me. I hope to...

8216;8216;Is it safe to go to Benares? Are many people dead? Tell the terrorists not to touch Benares8230; It8217;s Mecca for me. I hope to breathe my last there,8217;8217; says an anxious Aamana from Switzerland.

On the Swatantrata Senani Express, the first train to Varanasi from Delhi this morning, this 41-year-old is not the only foreign tourist worried about the holy city. For many of the 50-odd tourists, Benares has come to mean much more than a stop in their exploration of Exotic India.

This is Aamana8217;s fourth trip to Varanasi8212;she came for the first time in 1997 and 8216;8216;fell in love with the city8217;8217;.

Today she is taking Manzil, her 36-year-old friend from Mexico, along. Both have taken Indian names following their association with Osho. Manzil wants to pray in Varanasi for her friend who was abducted and murdered in Mexico last year. 8216;8216;I have been wanting to come for a year. Finally, Aamana brought me8230; and this terrible thing has happened,8217;8217; Manzil says. But the blasts didn8217;t change their minds about going. 8216;8216;I hope they don8217;t turn us back from the station,8217;8217; Aamana says.

A chance trip to India while she was holidaying in Bangkok brought Aamana to Aurobindo Ashram in Kolkata and then Varanasi. 8216;8216;It was like going to a different planet. Initially, I saw Benares8217;s narrow roads8230; I went to the Sankat Mochan Temple and a monkey jumped on me. And I decided I8217;d never come back. But then I saw the Ganga, the ghats8230; and I realised the spiritual energy8230; The place was as old as Christ. Gods had walked the same ground.8217;8217;

She stayed on, for full seven months. 8216;8216;I stayed at Asi Ghat, saw the Ganga all day and night, learnt yoga, meditation and playing the tabla. Benares changed my life. And it called me back again and again. Last time I came, I brought my mother G Jeanine as well. She loved it too.8217;8217;

As morning dawns and the train chugs into the Varanasi Cantonment Station, the site of the second blast yesterday, Aamana and Manzil found company in Americans Jason Michael and Laila. It8217;s their first trip to India. 8216;8216;We just hope our stay is safe. We really want to see Benares,8217;8217; says Laila.

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8216;8216;Please urge the terrorists in your paper to leave my peaceful and holy Benares alone8230;I love this place, they cannot stop me from coming here,8217;8217; Aamana repeats, before bidding goodbye.

World Speak

	nbsp;	8226; WASHINGTON: US has sent condolences and wishes for quick recoveries to victims of the blasts in Varanasi. 8216;8216;Our hearts go out to those who8217;ve lost their loved ones and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured,8221; State Dept spokesman Sean Mccormack said. 8226; LONDON: Condemning the bomb blasts in Varanasi, Britain has said it remained determined to work closely alongside India in its fight against the evil of terrorism. 8216;8216;On behalf of the British government, I totally condemn this indiscriminate violence. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, and with the government and people of India,8217;8217; British Foreign Minister Kim Howells said. 8226; New Delhi: Israel on Wednesday condemned the 8216;8216;heinous8217;8217; attacks 8216;8216;carried out 8216;8216;with the clear intention of offending religious sensibilities among pilgrims in one of the most sacred sites in India,8217;8217; the foreign ministry said. 8212; ENS 038; PTI	nbsp;