InsideOut Travel—Cow Rules in Jaisalmer

by Rinoti Amin

A friend asked Brad Newsham of Backpack Nation, “What is the charm that India possesses that lures so many Westerners?”

“It’s the absurdity that one finds there,” he responded. “We lead such orderly lives here that the thrill of the absurd is lost. In India, you find that with every waking moment.”

A silent participant in this conversation, I pondered over my recent trip to India, and all the absurd situations that were realities there—for instance, my standoff in Jaisalmer with a normally docile cow thirsty for blood.

I arrived in Jaisalmer at the crack of dawn, accompanied by Frankie and Apple who I had met in Jaipur, and a busload of colorfully garbed Rajasthani locals. Frankie, a Belgian-German painter from Spain, had come on a spiritual quest to learn yoga and to understand a culture that prompted his father’s annual journeys to India. He was well over six feet tall, had long hair that he pulled back in a “Hare Krishna” ponytail, and had an unkempt beard that he claimed was easier to manage than shaving in the desert.

	DESTINATION: INDIA
	The Cow Rules in Jaisalmer
	by Rinoti Amin A friend asked Brad Newsham of Backpack Nation, “What is the charm that India possesses that lures so many Westerners?” “It’s the absurdity that one finds there,” he responded. “We lead such orderly lives here that the thrill of the absurd is lost. In India, you find that with every waking moment.” A silent participant in this conversation, I pondered over my recent trip to India, and all the absurd situations that were realities there—for instance, my standoff in Jaisalmer with a normally docile cow thirsty for blood. I arrived in Jaisalmer at the crack of dawn, accompanied by Frankie and Apple who I had met in Jaipur, and a busload of colorfully garbed Rajasthani locals. Frankie, a Belgian-German painter from Spain, had come on a spiritual quest to learn yoga and to understand a culture that prompted his father’s annual journeys to India. He was well over six feet tall, had long hair that he pulled back in a “Hare Krishna” ponytail, and had an unkempt beard that he claimed was easier to manage than shaving in the desert.				There was a certain gentleness and fluidity about him that belied his massive physicality. Apple was a Thai girl of Chinese descent, and was almost as tall as Frankie, with long, lean limbs. A wanderer, she picked up careers along the way. Her last job was as a music video editor in New York. Along with careers, Apple also picked up languages; aside from Thai and Mandarin, she also spoke English and a smattering of French, German and Spanish. She planned on spending the year exploring the world, finding herself and her dreams and of course, picking up more languages. Upon arriving in Jaisalmer, my companions and I were left completely breathless, watching dawn, the ultimate alchemist, transform the dark shadows into a sun-kissed city constructed from golden sandstone. “Since Indian women are very shy and modest, they want to complete everything before the rest of the world wakes up.” We rented a room in a quaint hotel that was once a merchant’s haveli (mansion). Characteristic to the place, the haveli contained a network of narrow, secret passageways and staircases that connected rooms and unexpectedly opened up into courtyards and balconies. We sat on one such balcony, observing the waking world around us. First up were the animals, the crowing roosters, the chirping birds, the cows and the dogs. Next were the womenfolk, who started the chula (oven) long before the men needed their revitalizing chai (tea). more >> << home << discuss article >>
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DESTINATION: INDIA

by Rinoti Amin