The June story

The first monsoon rain on the Varanasi ghats is a communal event. People emerge from their heat-retreat homes, children run to the river, and the ghats — which were too hot to walk barefoot on yesterday — become gathering places again. The Ganges starts rising and reclaiming the muddy banks that looked so unappealing in May. Ganga Dussehra (if in June) celebrates the river's descent to earth — worship at the ghats intensifies and the evening aarti gains particular significance as the waters rise. The silk markets come alive again as weavers resume full production after the heat-enforced slowdown. Street food vendors return to evening shifts. The transition from unbearable to bearable happens fast but unpredictably — you might get a week of rain followed by a heat relapse. Late June is the gamble month: catch the monsoon's arrival and it's dramatic. Miss it and you're in May with humidity.