Lathi wielding police men.

Pushkar, 10-03-1995. An important hindu swami or guru is in the village to read some holy hindu scriptures aloud at the main Shiva temple. His presence in Pushkar is drawing lots of devotees and cool babas to the village, locals and foreigners alike. The drawback of this "festival" is that it also draws lots of cops to Pushkar as well. I usually give them a wary look before they can give me one and keep my charas hidden in my underwear, a place where an indian police man will never look for drugs out of pure principle.....Lots of the sadhus that have come to Pushkar for the fetival are obviously on a real religious quest, others have just donned the orange robes to make the Rp. come in a bit faster. A colorful sadhu has got his greedy eyes on my change when I pay for my chai. I try to ignore him but India is not a country where the locals are easily ignored and when he keeps hassling me for a free bangh lassie I call for the assistance of two passing cops. Both of them carry a lathi, a one meter long piece of sugar cane and when I explain my problem assisted by the owner of the chai shop, their joy knows no bounds and, wielding their lathis in anticipation they tell the sadhu to move on giving him a few well aimed knocks over the head for good measure. My colorfull sadhu gets the message real fast and disappears in the crowd.