Meet your tour guide in India

Namaste, mera nam Ramesh Karia hai. Hello! My name is Ramesh Karia (pronounced 'rahm-aysh KAR-ee-uh'). Ramesh is my first name and Karia is my last name. You can just call me Ramesh - everyone else does!

I am twelve years old and in the sixth grade. I live and go to school in Varanasi, which is the holiest city in India for Hindus like me. Varanasi is the proper name for the city, but in English many people call it Benares. One reason the city is so holy is that the River Ganges runs through it. The Ganges is very sacred to Hindus. We believe that its water is always pure. If you bathe in it or drink it, it will bring you good luck. But my parents say that you probably shouldn’t do it while you’re visiting because sometimes it can make foreigners sick.

Bazaar

My father runs a shop with my uncle in the bazaar, that’s what we call the market here. He mostly sells clothes. My mother doesn’t work. Instead she raises my younger brother, my two sisters, and me. I am the oldest. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

I have never been anywhere except India, but I can speak English because we learn it in school here. Also, everyone in my family except my grandparents can speak English, so I learned a lot at home. In fact, I can speak English almost as well as I can speak Hindi, my mother tongue. Not everyone in India can speak English of course, but many people can. Do people only speak English in America?

I have an uncle and aunt who live in America. They both work as doctors. I think I also have a cousin who goes to college there. Is Michigan State in America? That’s where she goes to school.

Are you ready to start our tour through India? I have so many places to show you! Just click on the name of the city and I’ll take you there. Why don’t we go see some sites in Varanasi first? We’ll start at my house and then I’ll take you to several temples. Let’s go!