"This is not just a river... it is the lifeline of Kashi."
Pandit Ramcharan sat quietly by the Ganga, turning the beads of his prayer mala. His eyes had seen eighty years of life, and in all those years, he had lived only one place—Banaras.
Kashi—also known as Varanasi or Banaras—is one of the oldest living cities in the world. Its name is found in the ancient Rigveda and in the travel writings of the Chinese monk Hiuen Tsang.
Pandit Ramcharan used to say,
> "Lord Shiva created Kashi, but it has lived on because of its saints and traditions."
The Lanes of Banaras:
According to him, the real soul of Banaras lives in its narrow lanes.
There's the lane of Kal Bhairav, the guardian of the city.
There's Madanpura, where craftsmen have been weaving silk sarees by hand for more than 500 years.
And there's Tulsi Ghat, where the poet Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas.
By the River Ganga:
If Banaras is a body, then Ganga is its breath.
At Assi Ghat, students discuss life and ideas.
At Dashashwamedh Ghat, people perform rituals for peace.
And at Manikarnika Ghat, the dead are cremated.
These three ghats represent the full circle of life: learning, living, and leaving.
Banaras in the 1970s:
Pandit Ramcharan remembered a different Banaras—a slower, peaceful one.
In those days, music could be heard from every street. People fixed marriages over a shared paan. And philosophers debated on rooftops while drinking chai.
He said,
> "In those days, time walked slowly in Banaras. Today, people are rushing. But Ganga... she watches everything, silently."
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As the evening aarti (ritual) began, bells rang across the river.
A small boy came to Pandit Ramcharan, holding a notebook.
"Pandit ji," the boy said, "I have to write an essay about Banaras for school. Can you tell me the real story? You've seen it all."
The old man smiled.
> "Son, Banaras cannot be written in words. You have to feel it. Come tomorrow morning, meet me here at the Ganga."
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