The Salt and Pepper Obsession

This comes from all the Mills and Boons i read while growing up :p

Dear Salt and Pepper haired gentleman

Because of your awesome hair we believe that you are a gentleman by default and irrespective of how smart you are, we will think you are one of the most interesting human beings we are ever going to come across. As we look at you adoringly, in our subconscious it is the images of George Clooney and Richard Gere which are constantly flashing and the thought itself makes us go weak in the knee.

We believe that your hair gene makes u want to hold chairs, pay bills and open doors for all women u care for. Also we are sure that this hair color will only come to you if you are seriously rich and simultaneously generous about giving out expensive gifts. Your definite Phd/professional qualifications are not as important to us as your ability to discuss all topics with equal amount of knowledge.

It is obvious to us that because of your smart hairdo, you would have an equally sharp dressing sense and no doubt Tom Ford or Armani are your favorite designers and you so prefer Hermes ties and Zegna cufflinks, but don't worry we will like u as much in your Diesel jeans and Ralph Lauren Polos (Prefer whites though as it brings out your lovely complexion).

Sometimes we feel that you are so perfect, you might be gay, but u r just the right amount of metrosexual. Some days when u dont like driving your Audi to work, we love checking you out on that Harley that you spend time personally maintaining. Would really appreciate being asked for a long drive though :)

We hope that someday soon we get to meet in person.

Yours lovingly
Drooler

PS: If anyone wants a free uber ride then use my referral code po5ym

'FILLING' AA JAAYEGI! with Aloo Baba

Few kilometers away from Pushkar, on a random road, resides Aloo Baba. The sadhu who eats only aloos and nothing else…he came highly recommended by our hotel manager Narendra Singh, who in his style said “sir ek baar Aloo Baba ko dekh ke aao…filling aa jaayegi”…I tried correcting him once…but then Narendra continued selling many other spots around Pushkar that have a lot of ‘fillings’. So I decided to shut up.

Anyways…after gazing at bored camels and hungry horses for more than 2 days Aloo Baba sounded tempting. So without thinking much, we hired a scooter (that won't pick up pace) and a motorcycle (that won't ride straight), and the four of us went ahead to meet to our god man.

Riding in the middle of Aravalis, half eaten by stone companies and half spared for later, we reached a white regular looking temple that had a strange and big Aloo Baba graffiti on top!...and I thought…oh god it’s a set up!...aloo baba is a gimmick to keep bored tourists interested in pushkar…he will be another fraud, who is doing this for money and not for finding the greater truth and shit like that…I feel like kicking narendra’s ‘fillings’...in fact i’m gonna… before my cynical thoughts could get any more violent, Richa interrupted with a shriek… “oh Aaloo baba!”…I looked at what she was looking at and found a frail, not-so-old man with long hair staring back at us.

He looked a little shocked. Obviously who wouldn't after hearing his name in such a shriek voice….but still “aao aao” he said welcomingly. He opened the gates and walked back inside the temple complex. Within seconds he laid out a mat for us to sit on and asked us to go in the kitchen and prepare tea if we felt like “apna hi kitchen hain…chai peene ka man hain toh bana lo”.

‘Kitchen!’ this word means a lot to Shivali, my wife, she just loves 'the kitchen', in whatever travels we have done so far, she has been in almost every kitchen that would not throw her out…it wouldn't matter if it is a hotel or a restaurant or a camp or a homestay and now a-feather-in-her-cap!...a temple too!....so straight she went into the kitchen to make tea…

But what happened after the tea came…was a wonderful experience that I cannot write about…because we just smoked {not marijuana (but you can if you carry it along)} and sipped and spoke with Aloo Baba, and so would you when you go….cause he is a chiller and in Narendar's words 'filling aa jaayegi'. 

Jai ho Aloo Baba!

The main entrance to the temple

Aloo Baba - Mr. Sweet love himself

Nowhere else would you see Kaali like this in a temple

This is the actual Hanuman mandir where devotees pray and do pooja

Richa & Shivali making the 'tea' that started it all

Rajat 'filling' it with Aloo Baba

Richa & Shivali 'filling' it on the top of the temple