Ache Din – A distant dream for people of Banaras

The holy city of Banaras is probably older than the history and this evidently reflects from the ethnicity and culture of the people living there. The tehzeeb and nazakat of Banaras makes it apple of every tourist’s eye, who wishes to visit India. However all this is put to shame when you look deeper into the current public administration system of the city. The reason I am making this statement is because of what I experienced while discussing the schedule of ‘Banega Swach India’, a Campaign of NDTV in association with Dettol and PVCHR, to be held at Assi Ghat in Banaras on 14^th of December, with Shirin Shabana Khan and Anup Shrivastava in the PVCHR’s office. Amidst the conversation, I heard a shaky voice requesting to enter the office. She was an old lady from a marginalized community from a remote village in the Varanasi district. Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi, co-founder PVCHR requested her to take a seat and called for a cup of hot tea for the old lady. After a couple of minutes of silence the lady broke into tears and narrated her story. She was being harassed by her neighbour for no fault of hers or her family. She said that she tried reaching the local police administration but her requests fell on to the deaf ears because the person who troubled her and her family, had strong influence in the local police station. Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi patiently listened to her grief and immediately tried reaching the Senior Superintendent Police office. The SSP office was quick to respond to Ms. Nagvanshi’s request and assured of fair justice and protection to the old lady and her family. The point that I am trying to highlight here is that, the basic needs of a citizens like security is jeopardized in our biased administrative system. People like Ms. Nagvanshi are making strong difference in the society but for how long will this tyranny of ill managed administration continue.

The weaver community is still struggling to meet their basic necessities, cleanliness and hygiene is gone for a toss from the banks of river Ganga, traffic and road transport system is adding to the woes of the residents and many big and small notorious activities take place in the district of Varanasi in broad daylight. This shows that not much has changed in past 6 months in the city since Prime Minister Narendra Modiji has been elected as Member of Parliament from the same constituency. At the end of the day it is left for the citizens of Banaras and organizations like PVCHR to stand tall for their rights and advocate for fair and transparent administrative and legal system. The entire country is living in hope of Ache Din, which to me appears to be a distant dream atleast for another 3-4 years for the citizens of Banaras.

Banaras – The Pluralism capital of India

Banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legends, and looks twice as old as them put together!! – Mark Twain

The holiest and the oldest city 
in India stands as an epitome of cultural heritage for centuries now.

Varanasi erstwhile Banaras – happens to be my native city and has been the apple of every tourist’s eye who desires to visit India. The city wakes with chants of Ganga Aarti at Dashashvamedh ghat and Azaan at Gyanvyapi Mosque, while the rest of our nation is still in slumber. This cultural and religious confluence of Banaras deepens with the presence of Sarnath, where Lord Gautam Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and the city is equally close to heart of Jains as 3 Jain Tirthankars were born in this Holy city. Banaras has been an archetype of pluralism across the globe.

Known for its various centres of religious and cultural importance like Kashi Vishwanath Mandir and Ghats at Ganges river basin, Banaras holds a distinguished place in the world for people of all the religions.

Banaras has also been a knowledge hub since centuries with various Kings and their princes attaining primary wisdom on the banks of Ganges, Banaras also hails Banaras Hindu University established by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya in 1916 A.D which is also the largest residential university (even bigger than any of the IIMs and IITs) in India. 


Apart from boasting the religious and educational excellence Banaras is also home to 4 Bharat Ratna recipients (highest civilian award in India), most by any city across the country.

No wonder during Indian General Elections of 2014, BJP’s then Prime Ministerial candidate and India’s current Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi chose Banaras as his constituency.

Banaras today is at the centre of Indian politics, but the fact is that safeguarding its religious sanctity along with the pluralism and sociocultural inclusiveness should be a matter of high priority to all the Indians. Inspite of living almost 1500 kilometers away from the city it is just not possible for me to get over the bond that connects me to this cultural hub of India. With over 50 lakh tourists visiting the city annually, Banaras today has become the face of Indian cultural diversity.

The thought of Banaras and its importance to our nation frequently lingers in my mind and I recently read about a few intellectuals who have identified the need to preserve the Banaras' Culture and come up with a solution through a summit called the Banaras Convention. This summit seems intriguing and the agenda put forth by the organizers is engaging and I wish them the very best in their noble initiative.

Words aren’t enough to describe how divine my Banaras is, it is for us as individuals to visit the city once and experience the euphoria and for the administration and civilians to maintain the pluralism and inclusiveness of Banaras for eternity.