Three years ago, Ranjana watched as her husband drowned in the Ganges coming to the rescue of some visitors struggling in the sacred and yet uncertain waters. As a widow with two young sons, Ranjana was not welcome to return to her mother’s village home. With little choice she stayed in Varanasi in the home of her parents-in-law. Not long after, her mother-in-law has also become a widow.

All the more entwined by love and loss, Ranjana and Janki navigate their way together through life in the gullies.

By day the small room where they live and sleep acts as a corner store for families in the neighbourhood. As evening falls, the two women set up a food corner on the nearby ghat, selling chai, samosa, and maggi to passersby. After such late nights, mornings are always a flurry ensuring the boys are ready for school - Ranjana is determined they have this opportunity that she did not.