Ruchika’s Art Gallery
For my first week in Banaras, I stayed with a host family in the neighborhood of Lanka. They were a family of four who welcomed me kindly into their home. Ruchika and Sandeep were my host parents and Pari and Khushi, my host sisters. It was my first time having a host family so I did not know what to expect. I was not nervous, but not knowing what I was going into made me a bit uneasy. I only knew that my host mom was a Banaras upcoming artists. I arrived at my host family’s apartment complex around 9:30 p.m., where my host mom was waiting for me outside. When I walked inside the home, I walked into in my host’s mom’s gallery. She had turned the common room into a display room with about 100 pieces of her work, if not more. She later explained that it was much easier for her to work at home so that she can take care of her daughters and be able to cook meals for the family.
I asked my host mom when did she know she wanted to pursue art as a career and she responded by saying that was not her initial plan. She started studying Medicine at Banaras Hindu University but then realized that was not the path she wanted to take. Therefore, she began to study art. Art was always her hobby but it was not until she decided to make get a degree in it that she began creating art for business purposes.
My host dad, Sandeep, is a Saree shop owner in North of Banaras. He studied business and now designs and owns his own Saree shop. During my stay, he would arrive home around 10:30 p.m because of how busy he would be. Diwali was approaching which meant that many customers were coming in to get gifts or attire to wear for the day.
I was excited that I was going to be spending Diwali with my host family, but then later found out that they were not going to be celebrating the holiday. When a family loses a family member during the year, the family does not participate in gift exchanging or burning firecrackers. They only participate in doing Puja to there home, and in this case, Sandeepji’s shop. Two weeks after my homestay, I saw my host family again and went out to a Sangeet with them. I was able to dance with my host mom and sisters at a ladies Sangeet. As live drumming was going, women and men both danced and clapped in enjoyment. It was definitely one of the highlights from my stay in Banaras that I will look back to and cherish.
Overall, my host family experience was one to remember. They welcomed me very kindly into their home and I was able to have good conversations with my host sisters as well as host parents. I learned so much about them and what it means to be a middle class Indian family in Banaras. I got to emerge myself in their daily lives for a week and was treated like a family member as opposed to a guest.