A Piece of Pushkar

What brings a budget tourist to India? The mystic charm of Benares and Mathura, the romance of the Taj, the Kumbh (think Catherine Zeta-Jones) and maybe the contraband stuff available in the hills. Pushkar has none of this. Yet they throng this little town adjacent to Ajmer, in Rajasthan.

STREET VIEW: Of course, there is the Brahma temple in Pushkar, purportedly the only one in the world. But it is not the primary attraction for the visitors from overseas. They love to walk its only street, which is lined with shops selling kurtas, filigree and trinkets.

A TOURIST IS NEVER TOO FAR: They frequent the many cafes here. Many of these cafes are on rooftops and offer what the Indian palate would find bland. No alcohol or meat can be served in this town. And yet they come.

OWNER'S PRIDE: Once a year, though, the tourists in Pushkar are outnumbered and overshadowed by cattle. A large patch of sandy land is designated as the fair ground.

GEARED UP: People come from the farthest corner of Rajasthan to sell camels and horses. They pitch their ragged tent, unpack their utensils, dig a hole in the ground to light a cooking fire, and the shop is up.

TIME TO BATHE: The buyers come from all over the country. The shiny large tents, with SUVs parked next to them, house stud farm owners from Maharashtra and the rich kids from Haryana listening to their adrenaline.

A BIT OF A TRIM: A camel, a good, healthy one, can cost you Rs 50,000. A thoroughbred horse can fetch as much as Rs 1 lakh. In the terrain of Rajasthan and Gujarat, the camels are more valued than, say a Nano. For, they go where even your regular SUV won't.

 

WATCHING THE SUN

ALL DRESSED UP BUT NOT YET SOLD: The owner of this camel pointed to another and said they were brothers; a fact, he said, that should be obvious because they looked alike. It did not occur to him that all camels looked alike to the city folk.

PACK-UP TIME

THE LAST RIDES: You can ride a camel, or a camel cart, into the recesses of the nearby deserts. The children, though, will come and ask for money, or bakhsheesh, as they call it.

THE PUSHKAR LAKE AT DUSK: This is where you come for a brush with the spiritual.