Adventures in India #2 - Pushkar - 2007.01

After Jaipur and our strange strange hostel keeper Mr. Tickle, it was on to Pushkar, a pilgrimage site for Hindus ever since Vishnu appeared as a boar near the lake. Upon entering this little town, we were given flowers and invited to the lake to make a small offering of flowers and receive a blessing from the local Brahmin. It started out nicely with pleasant words, flowers, a smudge of tikka on the brow. Blessings for ancesters and family were invoked as the cool breeze floated off the lake. He tied a red string around my wrist and was happy that I had shown respect for this holy city. What a lovely town, I thought. How warm a welcome we received!

"How about a donation," the holy man asked. I offered to leave some money in the nearby donation box. No good. He suggested I give him $50. I offered 20 rupees, significantly less. "We are not beggars!" He scowled. "How about $30," he demanded, his partner coming closer to try to intimidate me. The glow of the blessing wore off as he took back his red string and sent me off. Indeed they were not beggars, they were con men.

To Lisa, Carl, and Heather's surprise I twice more accepted flowers. I thanked the person and told them I would put them in lake later. Each time they demanded a donation and when that failed, they asked for their flowers back. Also, some passing ladies grabbed my hand and began to apply henna. How nice until a moment later I realized that this, too, would come at a price. With Carl's help, I pulled away. A high five later, Carl shared my smudgy henna palm. We decided Pushy Pushkar was not so holy a place after all.


Our hostel was a lovely place with secret beers smuggled in for thirsty travellers and their own special lassis. We spent the morning hiking up to the old temple and found many kids wanting to be our guides. It was so strange coming from China to see packs of little kids everywhere.


In the afternoon, we wandered around the whole city and found this seller's beautiful piles of tikka powder. Heather bought a little set of stamps to put lovely designs on your skin, but I don't know how anyone could use this much powder in a lifetime.


A final taste of Pushkar--in this holy lake, we saw the stranges thing. A fish surged to the surface of the water and attacked a bird as big as a duck. The struggle continued for a minute as the fish finally subdued the bird. It was an omen--get out of Pushkar.