Varanasi: Former Australian captain Steve Waugh recently visited Varanasi to scatter a friend’s ashes in the Ganges.

“It was a lifetime opportunity for me and I really wanted to visit that city. It has a very spiritual feeling,” Waugh told reporters after immersing the ashes of Brian Rudd, a Sydney- based shoe-shiner.

Varanasi is the most sacred city of Hindus and the Ganges the sacred river.

The Australian cricketer keeps coming to India, especially after retiring from international cricket/ He has charity work in Kolkata, eastern India.

Referring to his act at Varanasi on March 7, Waugh said it was an honor and privilege to scatter the remains of his friend. “I feel great about it. He had a very tough life and didn’t have a family. His last wish was to have ashes scattered in the Ganges. I am very glad to have done something for him and it was a celebration of his life,” Waugh added.

Rudd didn’t have a family and always wanted his ashes to be scattered in the holy river.

(Source: DNA)