Pushkar! The Hippie's Paradise

My first story on my blog would start from my most recent adventure. I am always on the look out for creating new experiences by visiting places/festivals/events that very few people in my circle have visited. I had heard a lot about Pushkar, which is a small town situated in the state of Rajasthan, which is famous for its Pushkar Mela in late Novemeber and the festival of Holi which is celebrated in the month of March. It was about late January time that I saw a Facebook post by my friend, Vinayakan Gopalan, another free spirited individual just like me, showing interest in celebrating Holi this year in Pushkar. Without a thought in my mind, I immediately replied asking him whether he would be interested in doing the trip together and he replied in the affirmative. We planned out the trip within a couple of days, booked our tickets and waited anxiously for a month praying that our corporate jobs would not interfere.

And finally it was time to shed off some of our anxiety and live the excitement that was built up over the last one month. We arrived in Pushkar through an overnite bus journey from New Delhi and stayed at Sajjan Bagh resort. As the name suggests, it was surrounded by greenery all around and it seemed like a perfect weekend getaway, located 10 mins away from the main city. It comprised majorly of foreign tourists and made for a lovely viewing with both mountain ranges and desert visible. We were going to live in a beautiful oasis for the next couple of days.

We then took off for a local Pushkar tour while trying to tick off some of the places we wanted to go to. Firstly, we went to the Brahma Temple, significant for being the only temple of Lord Brahma in the world. We though it to be an appropriate way to start our trip taking blessings for all the hippie sins we were about to commit. Contrary to the image of being a pilgrim place, Pushkar is a Paradise for people seeking solitude from their daily monotonous lives and wanting to get stoned on Bhaang/Lassi/Hash/Weed.The sheer vibe of this town was electrifying, even though there wasn't much to see really, it is a perfect blend of Indian and Hippie cultures. We found this cafe next to the Pushkar lake, called "Doctor Alone" Cafe which had very funny pictures and taglines associated with it. Don't be scared, go inside, choose a place away from the crowd and the person will come there to assist you with what you need (Hash/ Weed). I must tell you smoking up with the beautiful Pushkar lake in the background was a heavenly experience which no pictures in this world would be able to explain. We then decided to try out the local cuisines and the "special" lassi. Remember, if the word "special" is written on the menu it would mean a little magic ingredient - bhaang or Weed, Marijuana, Pot, Cannabis. Did I tell you that Pushkar is a dry and vegetarian place? Haha, don't be disappointed as every local cafe whether big or small has a lot of international cuisines to offer as well, from Lasagne to Pizzas, from Falafel to Pancakes, you name it and surprisingly enough Pushkar will have it. And well, as per being dry, why would one be needing alcohol when it has all the amenities to take you high into the sky and moon and beyond.

If you thought this was everything that Pushkar had to offer, hang on. After enjoying the Holika Dehen at Varah ghat from Baba Om Cafe, we head off the to the craziest desi pre-Holi party in town near the Brahma Ghat. Tripping on trance music was one crazy experience, with a few locals, and with some desi Pushkar music to add to the flavour. The same vibe continued next morning when the Holi day arrived. Pushkar is famous for Kapda Faad Holi, which basically means for entering the main arena, you need to get your clothes torn from people out there. The crowd was frenetic with a huge chunk of them being foreigners and smoking up at every possible corner be it rooftops, roads, local joints etc and tripping on the music at the same time. It was nearly impossible to distinguish them from the locals with their faces totally poured in the Holi colors. Remember, just be careful of not getting over friendly with these locals, especially if you are a girl as they might start touching you at inappropriate places. Apart from this, just let loose and let go of all your fears and insecurities for it to be a Holi for the ages to remember.

All in all, do nothing. Just relax, you don't need any planning once you go there as things will be much more than what you expected. Just enjoy the beauty that Pushkar has to offer.

My first story on my blog would start from my most recent adventure. I am always on the look out for creating new experiences by visiting places/festivals/events that very few people in my circle have visited. I had heard a lot about Pushkar, which is a small town situated in the state of Rajasthan, which is famous for its Pushkar Mela in late Novemeber and the festival of Holi which is celebrated in the month of March. It was about late January time that I saw a Facebook post by my friend, Vinayakan Gopalan, another free spirited individual just like me, showing interest in celebrating Holi this year in Pushkar. Without a thought in my mind, I immediately replied asking him whether he would be interested in doing the trip together and he replied in the affirmative. We planned out the trip within a couple of days, booked our tickets and waited anxiously for a month praying that our corporate jobs would not interfere.

Love Pushkar! Live Pushkar!