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 Two
days ago I went on a
day trip to Pushkar,
a Hindu pilgrimage
site, from Jaipur.
It has what is said
to be the only
temple to Lord
Brahma in the world.
Bathing ghats
encircle Pushkar
Lake, which, like
the umpteen other
polluted lakes and
rivers in India, is
believed to have
miraculous healing
and purifying power.
Though alcohol and
meat are banned in
this holy town, soft
drugs are tolerated
(Lord Shiva partakes
of it himself!) and
are a major draw for
Westerners. Pushkar's history
goes back a long way
but all its temples
date from modern
times; the earlier
buildings were
summarily razed by
the bad guy
Aurangzeb.
This was my second
visit, occasioned by
the annual, weeklong
Pushkar camel fair
that attracts over
250,000 visitors
from India and
abroad. Villagers
turn up for both
business and
pleasure. In the
animal market, amid
women gathering
camel dung for fire
and children
frolicking in tanks
that hold drinking
water for the
camels, I felt
transported back by
decades, save for
the large telecom
company ads and the
camcorder-toting
tourists.
 Besides
the trade in camels,
horses, livestock,
and farm items, the
fair-held on the
outskirts of town at
the edge of the
desert-also offers
lots of
entertainment and a
street market. The
former includes
tightrope walkers,
performing monkeys,
snake charmers,
acrobats, dare-devil
bikers, spherical
mirror illusions,
circus acts, and
shows promising
'melting girls' and
'women who turn into
serpents as they
wish'. Competitions
focus on
moustaches and
bridal wear, as well
as events like camel
and horse races,
matka phod,
and a cattle beauty
contest.
Brightly dressed
women shop for
fashion jewelry,
pots and pans, and
clothes. Food stalls
abound, as do
merry-go-rounds and
similar rides. All
in all, it seems
like the biggest fun
event of the season
for the hinterland
population.
 It
struck me afresh
that these
Rajasthani villagers
are a proud and
handsome lot,
weathered by the sun
and the desert,
though they don't
exactly shine on the
UN Human Development
Index. They have
high rates of
illiteracy, underage
marriages, and
selective abortions.
Westerners visit
aplenty; perhaps
Rajasthan, old world
and loudly
demonstrative,
represents a fairly
safe and exotic foil
to their own
modernity. And since
a picture says
a thousand words,
check out
some I took that
afternoon.
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