I have been in awe of Benaras. I have gone there once when I was a little girl. Mum and I sat on the ghats and ate kulfi. Mum also bought pan and said I wasn’t allowed to have it just yet. I waited to grow up to eat pan. I am yet to revisit as an adult. Here’s a short story.

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Ramesh hadn’t planned on going to Varanasi. It was one of those detours life throws at you—unplanned, uninvited, but oddly insistent. My father’s friend, Uncle Suresh, had passed away, and th...