India, March 19 -- Historically, socially and culturally, riverbanks have been the beating heart of cities built along rivers in the Indian subcontinent.

The sacred steps at these ghats serve as the stage for life's most profound moments - prayers at dawn, farewells at dusk, and the mystical glow of the ceremonial flames flickering against the river's dark expanse. They are where faith meets the flow of time, where the living seek blessings and the departed find release.

Perhaps that is why, just hours after taking the oath as chief minister on February 20, Rekha Gupta and her council of ministers left the Delhi secretariat and headed straight to Vasudev Ghat near Kashmere Gate for a Yamuna aarti.

The red sandstone steps, built less th...