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Drive to PushkarNov 12, 2008
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SUMMARY
• Drive to Pushkar - interesting drive to say the least
• Take part in the fair and walk around for a couple of hours
DETAIL
Off to Pushkar a few days earlier than expected. The reason is that there is a festival going on until the 13th and I would like to play a part in the celebrations.
The road changes from bad to worse but it’s manageable. We stop, again at a railroad crossing for a couple of trains that whiz by. And of course we stop for tea and a bite to eat though this time the Alu Parantha is cooked differently, it’s baked in an oven – not fried.
The last 50 km’s is a nightmare as the road has two lanes but that means nothing. I see three large trucks totally destroyed, the drivers are obviously killed. And along with that dead: cows, horses and dogs squashed and left in the middle of the road.
For about 10km’s there are marble factories either side of the road - and this where the problem lies. Overloaded trucks carrying marble protrude over the sides and rear of the vehicles – it’s crazy.
We make it to Pushkar and the roads are blocked by police (now that’s an oxymoron) due to the 500,000 Hindu Pilgrims that have descended on the town, along with quite a few whities. We cannot proceed and so Jeetoo callsa the owner and he comes and picks me up on his motorcycle. On I get, backpack and all and we weave between the devout.
I decide to brave the crowds (if you can’t beat them – join them). So off I toddle walking against the masses. I can see why people become a mob but this lot is friendly as it’s a festive occasion.
It’s very noisy as there are loud speakers blaring away with erotic female dances dancing away on TV’s – nothing left to the imagination. Both men and women urinate just off the side of the main road, people sleeping in blankets, dogs and cattle roam and crap everywhere. Oh my, its difficult not to judge but my God, Hinduism is such a blind faith and I fail to come to grips with this reality – is this real.
The devotees walk around and around this holy town, past many Hindu Temples. I walk in the opposite direction for a while and then join them. I don’t understand them – I have a hard enough time understanding me.
But it’s different, very different and I am immersed in the culture. The highlight of the evening is a young boy, say 18, runs up to me with a cup of tea. “Which country are you” – all smiles. “Canada”, I say and he beams. “Here is some tea – it’s free”.
People tend to look at me blankly and when I smile, they smile back. Even a seven year old, pumping water whilst we drove along the road stops pumping, stands up and waves – total innocence.
I cannot ever see India digging its way out - poverty and corruption abound.
So it’s chill out for the next three days. Then I am on my little own and will make my way south first to Ahmedabad and then to Dandi, the beginning and end points of Gandhi’s Salt March
