Letters to My Daughters - Pushkar, Rajasthan

Dear Clem and Matilda, the world is suffering through a global pandemic. My heart breaks especially for those who are sick, scared, have lost loved ones and/or can’t get to where they need to be.

It is easy at times to feel like all is lost, but, there are good things and good people to focus on. Today I want to share with you one of my favourite photos your daddy has taken – it’s from October 2015. We were in the town of Pushkar, which borders the Thar Desert way up in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It’s a holy town – full of temples and there is a sacred lake with 52 ghats where Hindu pilgrims come to bathe.

It was a hot day and I was trying to adjust my camera to Pushkar’s bright midday sun. Your daddy and I had a ‘Photo of the Day’ competition going on between us, and the antics were really heating up. I saw this man, wearing a red turban on his head, walking down the dusty road, sucking back on his rollie. He came up to us and requested that his photo be taken. He wanted to blow smoke rings and pose in different positions.

Before I had the chance to sort my ISO, your sneaky daddy snapped away and caught our exchange on camera. I did take a good shot of our red turban man – with ghosts of smoke billowing from his mouth - but I think your dad won the crown. Don’t worry, I took back my title the very next day.

P.S. Girls - a few hours later I would tempt fate and drink a masala chai which would haunt me all the way to Mandalay and result in a rather unfortunate explosion in the back of a Burmese taxi. Best to avoid drinking (or eating) anything which has been in direct sunlight for far too long, and always carry good rehydration salts in your backpack for hot days and bouts of unexpected gastro. @ Pushkar, Rajasthan