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Gita and Sita pose impulsively, fingers swirling, feet tapping, eyes smiling. No lens could resist the frame. As the shutter closes, the sisters cease to be exotic gypsy dancers. "Das-panch dena," the models ask for their remuneration. A picture costs at least Rs 5 in the desert.

Dance of the desert

Don Sebastian
2007-03-08 19:37:20

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Overlooking the lake and the town are two hillocks, where Brahma's two consorts are idolised. Savitri, in a way, gave Pushkar its fame. When Brahma chose Gayatri over her to stand by him during an ancient ritual, Savtri cursed him that he would not be worshipped anywhere in the world he created. Then Savitri relented: Pushkar would be Brahma's sole solace while his counterparts in the divine trinity - Vishnu, the god of preservation, and Shiva, the god of destruction - are worshipped in temples dotting the length and breadth of India.

The narrow alley leading to the temple and the fairground is bursting with people. Photographers hunt frames amid a riot of colourful turbans and dresses. Now and then, a public address system calls for the parents of a child lost in the crowd: "Aap ki bacha bohot der se ro raha hai..." Rejoined families scold and beat the bewildered children for losing their way: "Kithne baar kaha ki..."

Wayside shops lure children with coloured candies. Cooks are busy drawing patterns with sweet flour in the boiling ghee. Children admire, adults bargain. Women gather round wayside jewellery vendors. Merchants beckon tourists on a souvenir hunt in handicraft shops with silver jewellery, marble boxes and a variety of antiques. Rajashtani attire, turbans, footware...everything finds takers.

Like beauty, even bizarre is exotic. Handicapped beggars and malformed bulls are on display as if they were miracles. Alms or offerings, everything strange has to be compensated. Girls scream and run as snake charmers suddenly open their caskets, where cobras coil. The sacred cobra, they say. A rupee donation will guard you from the reptile's wrath, they say. Pushkar comes only once a year!

Snake charmer's tune echoes throughout the desert. Boys selling ravanatha, an endemic string instrument, play the enchanting tune as well as Hindi film numbers. Folk and pop have a symbiotic relation here. ...