One night I woke up to something itchy on my back. When I stood up I realized that it was sand and that I was surrounded by it. The skies were lit up by the full moon. Everything around me was dead still, not a sound. When I came to my senses I figured that I was in a dessert but then disregarded that thought since I went to sleep in my bend last night. My next thought was that I was having a lucid dream. Soon after that I started to see bright lights in the sky. There was pink, yellow, orange, blue, purple and even red. It was the most picturesque sunrise I had ever seen!
I started walking into nowhere. Once the sun was up, I saw in the distance what I thought was an oasis. I started running towards it. When I got closer I could see some palm trees, a little lake and some camels. When I arrived at the lake I noticed some people on the other side. After a drink of water, I walked over to the other side of the lake to meet the people that I saw.
I came up to one of them and said, “Hi.”
He answered, “Hello there, what are you doing in the middle of the desert?”
I answered saying, “I woke up in the desert and started walking.”
At first he did not believe me, but I convinced him.
Then the boy asked, “What is your name?”
I said, “My name is Sasha and what is yours?”
He answered, “Rajesh Sarasvati, but you can call me Raju.”
He smiled and then I asked, “So what are you doing in the desert?”
Raju answered, “My family are traveling from Jaisalmer to Pushkar to see my grandmother and for the camel fair.”
I said, “Hey! I am from Pushkar.”
“Great! Would you like to travel with us?” He asked.
“Yes! I would love to. My mother must be so worried since I am not at home.
Raju introduced me to his family. They are a family of five: two much older brothers, his mother and his father. They also had six camels. We all mounted our camels and embarked on our journey.
On the way I ask Raju, “How far is Pushkar from here?”
He replied saying, “It is about five days from here.”
“Wow!” I said, “That’s really far”
Later on that day, I asked, “So when do we eat?”
Raju answered, “Twice a day, brunch and lupper.”
“Lupper? What is lupper?” I said confused.
He laughed and said, “It’s my word for the meal we have that is not lunch and it’s not supper, its in-between, Lupper…get it?”
I understood and smiled at how clever Raju was.
“So when is brunch?” I asked
“At about…” Raju took out a small square box and opened it. Inside was a stick, standing up right on a circular piece of wood with numbers on it. He then continued his sentence, “about eleven o’clock.”
“What is that?” I asked
He replied, “It is my great grandfather’s time machine.”
Just then we stopped
“Why are we stopping?” I asked.
Raju’s father replied, “the winds are changing rapidly, I remember last time this happened. Come on let us get out of here!”
We all turned around and the camels started running really fast. We then turned right and came across a little town. Everyone inside the town was running around with baskets of food and barrels water.
We rushed inside one of the houses and met three people inside. Raju ran up to the little girl and gave her a big hug. Raju’s father started talking to an old man.
Raju’s father said, “Hello old friend. How are you? Long time no see.”
The old man replied, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine! No time for a reunion. We must prepare for the storm!”
Just then another lady came running in though the door with a bucket of food and shouted, “The storm is coming!”
She shut the door and ran up a flight of stairs on the far side of the room. As she did so a loud alarm went off in the town and just like that everyone was inside. The wind was raging; I could hear the sand banging against the door with every gust of wind. It was rather scary…
I looked outside the window but only saw a murky brown colour. Everyone sat down and I sat next to Raju.
I asked Raju, “Where are we?”
“We are in Parashak town and this is my friend’s house.” he answered.
“When will the storm be over?” I asked.
“Normally it lasts about one day.” Said a girl sitting next to Raju.
“Sasha this is Maneshia.” said Raju,
“But you can call me Manu.” she said.
“Hi, I’m Sasha.” I said, and then I asked,” So how do you two know each other?”
They replied at the same time,” Our parents are friends.”
“So how do you guys know each other?” asked Manu.
“Funny story you see, I woke up in the middle of the desert last night, and well… I started walking in a direction. I found Raju at an oasis.” I explained.
“Well here are some survival tips for next time you are stuck in a desert. First of all, you never walk in any direction; the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. You should always know which direction you’re going in. Second, after every five hundred steps, move a little bit to your right, because your left foot is about 3 to 5 millimeters smaller than your right. And if you just walked straight, you would land up walking in a circle.” Manu explained with her hand on her hip and her eyes rolling.
Just then, there was a bang and everyone got a fright.
I asked Raju, “What was that?”
He answered, “It must have been one of the signs outside, hopefully.”
“Would you like a cup of chai?” asked Manus’ mother from up stairs.
“Yes please.” I said.
“Me too please.” said Raju
“Me three” said Manu’
“Luckily we got here when we did, or we would be stuck in the sand storm.” I said.
After a delicious but small chai, we all huddled up and remained so still that we all fell asleep on the floor.
The next morning when I woke up, there was a huge howling sound outside.
Raju’s father said, “Wow, this is a nasty sand storm!”
For brunch that day, we had chapatti with potato curry, rice and curd. As we were eating, it occurred to me that in Raju’s family there are only five people, however they had six camels.
So I asked Raju, “Why is your family traveling with six camels, when there are only five people in your family?”
“For the camel fair of course, we are going to sell one of them.” he replied
“Wait, where are the camels?” I asked.
“In a hut next to the house, they are made for the desert and everything that comes with it. They will be fine.” answered Raju.
“Good to hear. I would not want to be walking to Pushkar.” I said with a grin.
“So Manu, have you ever been to Pushkar?” I asked
“Yes a few times. My family goes there about twice a year.” she said.
I asked Manu, “So don’t you want to come with us the Pushkar? It will be lots of fun now with the camel fair going on.”
She answered, “It is one of my dreams to go to the Pushkar fair.”
“Well now is your chance!” shouted Raju.
“I will have to ask my mom and dad.” She answered.
We spent that day sitting around and waiting for the storm to end, the wind was just not slowing down and you could not see anything through the windows.
That night, we had dhal and rice with chapatti curd and achaar. Everyone sat around on a carpet on the floor, eating and laughing at jokes. (The jokes where in Hindi so I could not understand much) The next morning I woke up thinking it was sunrise. However it was pitch black outside. All of a sudden, out of the blue, there was a bang! Everyone woke up with a jump.
I asked Raju’s dad if he knew what was that bang, but he did not know. BANG! A louder one this time.
I ran over to Raju and asked, “What on earth was that big bang?”
But before he could reply there was a flash at the window and another big bang.
“It is a flair, someone is in danger!” shouted Raju’s father.
“We have to go save them!” shouted Raju’s father. “I will go outside alone, to ensure everyone inside is safe.”
“Good luck.” said Raju.
And Raju’s father quickly got ready to go out into the sand storm. Just before opening the door everyone put on some goggles, to protect their eyes from the sand. Raju’s father ran out into the sand storm and disappeared into the darkness. Just then I realized that this storm has been going on for three days.
I asked Raju, “This storm has been going on for three days, do you think it will ever stop?”
“I don’t know.” said Raju, “But hopefully by the end of the day.”
Later on that day, there was a knock at the door and everyone quickly put on their goggles and opened the door to find Raju’s father and another man lying on the door step. Raju’s father grew conscious and then the person next to him. By then it was about 1 pm and it was getting lighter outside as though there were less sand in the air
Raju then shouted, “THE STORM IS STOPPING!”
Soon all the sand had settled and everyone went outside and shouted out “HOORAY!”
Then everyone went back inside for a cup of chai. Raju’s father had a broken arm, so we stayed the rest of the day. At the little make-shift hospital there were about 5 or 6 people injured in the storm, including Raju’s father and the man who Raju’s father rescued. The day after the storm we continued our journey with Manu. Manu sat on the back of Raju’s camel. Raju’s father announced that we would have to pick up the pace if we are to make it to Pushkar before the fair ends. So from then onward our camels were trotting instead of walking.
“So how long will it take us to get to Pushkar with our camels going so fast?” I asked as we sat down for lupper.
He answered, “At this rate we should reach Pushkar in about three days.”
“YAY!” Shouted Manu, “I cannot wait to get onto one of the rides and to do little bit of shopping at the huge market.
“Would anyone like a ladu?” Asked Raju’s mother
“Yes please!” Shouted everyone
We got back onto our camels.
I decided to play a game, “Anyone wants to play eye-spy”
Raju replied, “I would.”
“Me too.” Said Manu.
“Ok let us play. I will start.” I announced, “Eye-spy with my little eye, something beginning with…” I gazed around for a bit and realized that there was only one thing around us, “S” I said out loud.
“Sand!” said Raju.
I said, “Yes, sand. Well done.”
“Yay, it is my turn. Eye-spy with my little eye something beginning with a… S!” Said Raju.
“Sand?” I asked.
“Nope. Wrong” replied Raju.
“Sasha!” said Manu.
“Yes! That is correct.” answered Raju
“My turn” said Manu in an excited voice.
That went on for a while. The next morning we came across another oasis and had brunch there. At the oasis there were some people that were coming from Pushkar; they told us that it was a day and a half journey to Pushkar from the oasis. So we embarked on our journey once more. That evening we had chapatti with dhal for lupper.
On the last day of our journey, we had some special aloo and mutter (potatoes and peas) curry with dhal chapatti. This meal was Raju’s favorite so he got seconds and we continued.
I decided to ask Raju some questions like, “What is your favorite colour?”
Raju replied, “Turquoise.”
“And what is your favorite animal?” I asked
“Camel, definitely camel.” He responded
Later on that evening, at about seven o’clock just before we would normally stop to sleep. On the horizon we could see some hills and mountains.
I pointed out to them and shouted, “Is that the Ratnagiri mountains I see?”
“Yes, we will be in Pushkar tomorrow before mid day.” replied Raju’s father
“Yay, I cannot wait to see my mother.” I said from the top of my voice.
The next morning we arrived in Pushkar at about 11 o’clock.
As soon as we arrived in Pushkar, Raju’s family, along with Manu (Raju’s Friend) and I went over to my house in Naala. We arrived there at eleven thirty and knocked on the door.
My mother answered the door and said, “Sasha! Where have you been? Are you hurt? I’ve been so worried!”
“I’m fine mummy, although I wouldn’t mind some custard and jelly.” I said with a giggle.
“Who are these people? Are they your friends?” asked my mum.
“Hello there, my name is Raju, this is my mother, father and my two brothers.” said Raju.
My mother said, “Please come inside.”
Once everyone was inside and was seated on the sofa, I started telling my mother what happened, “I woke up in the middle of the desert and I found Raju at an oasis, then there was a sand storm and Raju’s father broke his arm and we…”
“Sasha…Sasha… time to get up, you have to go to your Hindi classes.” said a voice in my head.
“Did anyone hear that?” I asked
“Hear what?” answered Raju.
I said “I must be hearing things. Anyway what was I saying?”
My mother answered, “You were telling me what happened to you.”
“Come on Sasha! You’re going to be late for classes.” said that voice again.
“Tell me you didn’t here that!” I shouted.
“What?” said Raju
“Sasha!” shouted that voice.
Just then I thought to myself, wait maybe I’m waking up from my lucid dream, if so, then why I am not awake yet?
I closed my eyes and concentrated really hard (just like when you have a hard pooh) and tried to wake up. When I opened them I was exactly where I was before, sitting on the sofa. I started to think that maybe I was trapped in this dream. Then I decided to try again so I closed my eyes once more and this time when I opened them I was in my bed in my room.
“Sasha! Wake up!” shouted that voice again as my mother came storming into my room with a rolling pin in her hand.
“Your food is almost ready and you are still in bed. Come on, get up!” pleaded my mother.
I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and I was as fresh as a marigold. I sat down on a chair made from logs, at our wooden table that had a tree stump going though the middle of it, all the way up to the roof. My mother made dhal paranthas (flattened bread made with left over dhal) with homemade sweet sour lime achaar (pickle) and curd. “Eat up it’s already nine o’clock. You are going to be late.” said my mom.
I gobbled up all my food as fast as possible. Our house was about two kilometers away from the center of town; it was a mud house, with three rooms, one bathroom, a lounge, a kitchen and a huge farmed garden. It was surrounded by many other flower farms. Our neighbor would often come over and do some farming in the garden. There were also two dogs. My mother gave me a list of shopping to do on my way back from Hindi classes and some money for my ma’am. I ran outside and got onto my bicycle. I started riding as fast as I could, even though I was riding on a sand road on the way to the main road. I road my bike all the way into Pushkar and arrived at my teacher’s home, parked and locked my bike outside and stepped up into her home.
As I opened her door I said, “Aap kaise ho? (How are you?)”
Ma’am replied, “Mai theek hu. Aap kaise ho? (I’m fine. How are you?)”
“Mai bhi theek hu (I’m also fine)” I said out of breathe.
Ma’am’s house was a small house on a little hill. It was surrounded by other houses just like it, in the centre of town. The house had three bedrooms, one bathroom, a dining room and a very small kitchen. There were 5 clocks positioned in strategic places around the house, so that you could always tell the time, no matter where in the house you were. I sat down on a plastic chair, and looked at the clock ahead of me; I had made it just in time for class. I took out my books along with my pencil, eraser, sharpener and pen.
Ma’am was a very sweet but stern seventy five yare old woman. She would always have a smile on her face and be able to reprimand you at any time.
Ma’am said, “Open your book, today we are going to do some revision and some writing.”
We started the lesson.
This is how it went, “Apple” ma’am would say,
I would reply, “Seb”
“Where are you from?” ma’am asked.
I replied, “Aap kaha se hai?” once we were done with revision I started writing new sentences.
“Who is there? Means Kon hai” ma’am said, and I would write it down.
At ten thirty I left ma’am and looked at the shopping list:
- ½ kg Sugar
- 1 ½ kg Attar (Chapatti Flour)
- ¼ kg Whole Red Chilies
- ½ kg Aloo (Potatoes)
- ½ kg Tomatar
- ½ kg Piyaaj (Onions)
- ½ kg Bindi (Lady Finger)
- 1 Small Bengan (Brinjal/Egg Plant)
- 1 Small Head of Patta Gobi (Cabbage)
- 1 Small Ananas (Pineapple)
- ½ kg Grapes
- ½ kg Bananas
I went down the hill to Subji Mundi (vegetable market). I went over to Banu Baya (he owns the corner shop in Subji Mundi). He is the only man in the market that does not cheat me. If I were to buy ½ kg of tomatoes in another shop they would charge me twenty five rupees instead of fifteen rupees. After buying all the veggies, I went back up the hill and went down the other side to where the spice shop was. There I bought the Sugar, the Attar (chapatti flour) and the whole red chilies. Next I went to Sonu Juice Shop where I bought all the fruit. Once all the shopping was complete I rode back home. After a little break at home I started my online mathematics course on Khan Academy. Two hours later I stood up and lunch was ready. On the plate there was a huge salad and some toasted bread. After lunch I went back to my laptop and played a little bit of Minecraft. At four I went into town to see my cousin Chhavi at my Daadi’s (grandmother’s) house to play a game. At half past five I went for some drumming at the Pushkar Lake. I went home just after sunset. It was a rather routine day for me; accept for the lucid dream that was at the back of my mind all day.
The next day when I was shopping, I rode past the Mela Ground (Open-air stadium that is on the outskirts of town and is bordering the dessert.) I took a peek inside to see how far they were with preparing the rides, the stage and all of the shops for the Camel Fair. They had already set up three huge Ferris wheels and they were busy putting up another one. The camel fair was going to be in three days. There were so many camels and horses around and many more still coming. I saw all the shop owners and camel owners setting up tents for over a kilometer behind the Mela Ground. Pushkar was packing up with people, foreigners and Indians. I was really excited since it would be my first time at the camel fair. I went home filled with impatience and excitement for the Camel Fair to begin. I could not wait to ride the Ferris wheel to the very top, where I hoped to have a bird’s eye view of Pushkar, the surrounding mountains, the lake and the full view of the newly erected tent city. Just two more sleeps…
The next day I woke up at eleven o’clock. My mum had already eaten breakfast so I had brunch.
My mother asked me, “Please go fetch the milk next door, and don’t forget the milk jug”. On my way to the gate the dogs came running after me, they were so excited to see someone since their owners were in France at the time, the dogs names were Sheepy and Chickoo. Later on that evening I went drumming and then went home to see one of my mother’s friends, Bharat. He brought with him some dhal bhati chourma (A special Rajasthani dish, my favorite Indian food) for supper. On the day before the camel fair, people were giving out the schedules for the events that were coming up, I took a look at one of them and saw: Prem Joshua Live At The Mela Ground 17 Of November 7pm To 10pm’. I road on my bicycle as fast as I could. When I got home I headed straight for my mummy. “Mummy, Mummy where are you? You would not believe who is playing at the fair tomorrow!” I shouted running into the lounge
“Just a second, I am in the shower” said my mum.
Once my mother was dressed, I told her the news, “Mummy, Prem Joshua is playing live tomorrow! Please can we go see him? Please?”
“Really Prem Joshua is playing live in Pushkar. Yes we will have to go see him perform.” said my mother excitedly.
The next morning I woke up with so much excitement. I quickly got done and road my bicycle to the Mela ground. The fair had started. When I got to the Mela ground I realized I had forgotten my money, sadly I couldn’t go on any rides for the first day. Later that afternoon when I went to my daadi’s house, Chhavi (My cousin) was talking about going to see Prem Joshua. I told her that my mum and I were also going. I went back home and started getting ready for the concert. At 6:30 my mum and I called a rickshaw, by 7 we were at the Mela ground sadly the concert was delayed by half an hour (Indian time). We danced until the concert was over and then stayed a little longer at the huge market. the next day my mum and I went to the Mela ground with the intention of getting on some rides, unfortunately my mother was too frightened to go on any of the rides, the first ride I went on was the rocking boat which was really scary so I decided to down grade a little bit, the next ride I went on was the normal cup and saucer. On the ride there has to be at least three people in a shell so it took a while for the ride to fill up. The two people sitting next to me seemed familiar.
Once the ride had ended I asked the boy that had been sitting next to me, “Where are you from?”
The boy answered, “I am from Jaisalmer. Where are you from?”
I replied, “I am originally from South Africa but I live in India now.”
I then asked him “would you like to go on the rocking boat with me?”
He answered, “Sure, why not. Can my friend come with as well?”
A girl came up to us and we went to the ticket counter to get three tickets for the ride. I asked the boy, “What is your name?”
The boy replied, “My name is Rajesh Sarasvati but you can call me Raju. What is your name?”
“My name is Sasha, what is your friend’s name?”I asked.
“Her name is…” He was interrupted by Raju’s friend
“Maneshia but everyone calls me Manu.” She said.
We climbed adored the ship and it started moving. We all started screaming, just then it struck me, my dream, Manu, Raju they are from my dream. I did not say anything at first for I was not certain this was all from my dream. As we were coming out of the ride I saw a man with a broken arm waiting at the exit of the ride.
I asked Raju, “Do you know that man, there at the exit”
Raju answered “Yes, he is my father” it all started making sense; Raju’s father broke his arm while recuing the man that was in the sandstorm, just like in my dream. We went on a few more rides before saying goodbye. We exchanged our numbers and went home.
I had breakfast early the next morning and then called Raju, he said, “We will be able to go to the Mela ground in one or two hours.”
My mum and I decided to wait for Raju’s family.
While we were waiting I started telling my mother about my dream, “In my dream I found Raju at an oasis in the middle of the desert and then there was a sandstorm and Raju’s father broke his arm rescuing a man from the storm.”
My mother replied “your subconscious is playing with your memories from yesterday.”
I said, “But I had this dream three days before meeting Raju and his family”
“Are you sure, because maybe they were different people.” said my mum.
“No, it is them; they are the ones from my dream.” I insisted.
Just then a rickshaw pulled up our driveway and we picked up Raju and his family on the way to the Mela ground.
Raju’s father asked the rickshaw driver, “Can you go to the camel section, to tent number one thousand two hundred and forty four.”
I asked Raju’s father, “Why do you want to go to that tent?”
He replied, “Because it is my tent, I want to sell one of my camels.”
“You have camels!” I said surprised and confused.
“Yes, I have six camels.” said Raju’s father.
“I suppose you would travel by camel coming from Jaisalmer.” I said.
I went over to Raju and asked, “How was your journey from Jaisalmer?”
He answered, “It was the worst journey I have ever been on. We were caught in a sandstorm. We had to wait the sandstorm out in Manu’s house.”
“You were stuck in Parashak town, right? That is where Manu’s home is, correct?”I asked.
“Yes, correct. How did you know that?”Raju said in astonishment.
“I had a dream about you and your family, it started at an oasis and I was with you when the sandstorm started, your father broke his arm rescuing someone from the storm, right?”I asked.
“Yes, that is exactly what happened.” said Raju shocked.
“I don’t know how and why but for some resin I was there with you.”I said.
We looked at each other confused.
“I knew it…” said Raju.
“Knew what?” I asked.
Raju answered “I knew someone was watching me. Ever since we left the first oasis it was like something was riding the sixth camel the one we are selling now, and when the sandstorm approached, we went to Parashak and I remember all of these questions being asked in my head, questions that I knew the answers to and then when we arrived in Pushkar the one camel wanted to go to the other side of Pushkar, to the place I believe locals call Naala.”
“Yes that is exactly what happened, we went to Naala and that was when I woke up from my dream, but now I realize it was more than a dream, it was like I was really there with you” I said, putting two and two together.
“But how is it possible, I mean like how were you in two places at once?” said Manu. “Astral projection!” I shouted out “Astral projection, the ability for your body and your soul to separate and then come back together again, I can astral project!”
We got onto the next ride at the Camel Fair. I couldn’t concentrate though, for my mind was on me being able to astral project. I had never done it before nor ever actually thought about it. Raju and I were still a little confused as to how it was possible. I had heard many stories about people who can astral project. Raju and I hadn’t told anyone accept for Manu. Once the ride was over Manu, Raju and I went over to Raju’s father’s tent. When we got to the tent, I looked around for my mum. She was standing talking to a man.
I approached my mum and asked, “Mum, I want to tell you something.”
My mum answered, “Just a second, we are about to sell the camel.”
Just then Raju nudged me and said whispering in my ear, “Do you really think they will believe you? I think it is better we keep this a secret.”
I nodded in agreement.
Manu ran up to Raju and said, “Raju, the camel, it has been sold!”
“Wow, that was fast. I thought it would take forever to sell that camel.” Said Raju surprised.
Raju’s father then shouted out to Raju and said, “Okay, let’s move all our stuff out of here so someone else can use this tent.”
We packed up the tent and went to Raju’s hotel where he was staying. I asked Raju’s father if he would like to climb the Savitri Mountain.
He answered saying, “Yes.”
I asked Raju, “Hey…” I said pointing to the Savitri Mountain, “want to climb that big mountain.
“You will be able to see all of Pushkar and an amazing view of the Camel Fair.” said my mum.
So we called a rickshaw and went to the foot of the mountain. My mother decided to take the cable cart up to the top. After an hour of hiking we finally got to the top. Raju, Manu, Raju’s mother and father and Raju’s two brothers including me were all out of breath. My mother however was sitting at the top with a cup of chai in her hand. We all went to make a little puja inside the Savitri temple, and then we went to the restaurant and had a cup of chai with my mum. After a delicious cup of chai we went to look at the view from behind the temple. It was amazing! We went to highest tip and sat down to take it all in.
my mother said, “Let’s meditate here for a minute.”
So we all closed our eyes and took a deep breath in and out. The second time I inhaled, it felt like I was sitting on a mat. It felt weird so I opened my eyes and when I did so music started playing, I was back at the Prem Joshua concert. I was sitting next to my mum, I remembered all of this, and it was like going back in time. All of a sudden, within a blink of an eye, I was on top of the mountain meditating with everyone, we all opened our eyes and took some photos of the view. On the way down the mountain Raju and I stayed back a little so I could tell him about what just happened.
I started off with, “You won’t believe what just happened. While we were meditating, it happened again I astral projected again.”
He answered, “How? What do you think triggered it? Where did you go?”
I answered all the questions, “I think I know what triggered it, I think it is being on top of Savitri Mountain or being in nature. I went to the night before I met you, the night of the Prem Joshua concert.”
Raju said, “So let me get this straight, when you go and sit on top of this mountain, you can astral project?”
I answered, “Well, I still don’t know how to control it yet but yes, when I am on top of the Savitri Mountain I can astral project.”
We got to the bottom of the mountain; my mum was sitting in the rickshaw waiting for us. We went to my house where we had played with the dogs and had some more chai.
Raju’s father said to Raju, “We will be going day after tomorrow, we will have to leave early in order to make it to Hi the next day.”
I woke up at early hour of the morning the next day; I got showered and ate my breakfast.
Then I called Raju and said, “Good morning, ready to go to the fair?”
He replied in a sleepy soft voice, “I am still half asleep, call me in two hours.”
I sat down and thought about this astral projection thing. I closed my eyes and when I opened them nothing happened, so I tried again, still nothing. I tried again and again but nothing ever happened. I thought “well how I was able to astral project from my room that night but can’t do it now.” I went onto my laptop and searched for anything that would relate to the night I that I had astral projected. The results made sense, that night was one of the nights when the moon is thirty percent closer to the earth than normal that only happens every thirty two years.
By then two hours had passed and so I called Raju again, this time however Manu answered, “Hello, so can we meet you at the circus in half an hour. I really want to see it.”
And so another half an hour went by and my mum called a rickshaw, we went to the fair and met Raju and his family outside the big circus tent. The circus was delayed (as expected) by 20 minutes and so Raju, Manu and I went on some rides while our parents got snacks. The circus started at 9:50am. We got front row tickets and went inside. Manu told Raju and me that when she is big she wants to be a clown and join the circus. The circus started with loud bangs and clangs coming from massive drums and symbols. Next, an enormous elephant came out decorated with makeup and a Rajasthani man wearing a bright pink turban sat on its back. The elephant started dancing to the drums with its huge ears flapping about. Then came out so,e camels who joined the elephant in the dance. After a bit the elephant and the camels went off stage and it was time for the “Best Dressed Camel” competition. About twenty camels, each one dressed in bright mirrored handmade cloths and red velvet entered the tent. The five judges sat at a table right in front of the stage. The proud owners of each camel tried to make their camels stand on a tiny little block and then sit down on that tiny block, which looked almost impossible. After all the judging was done the winner received a certificate and a medal. The winner was a very tall muscular black camel with the most beautiful multi-coloured floral cloth and roses hanging off it. He walked off stage and we all left the tent. Outside the tent were huge floats of Gods and Goddesses followed by a parade. They paraded around Pushkar and then went down to the lake carrying with them the biggest float and placing it in the water so it could actually float. We all made a pooja, we went to a restaurant and had some lunch then went back to the fair, my mother wanted to go to the market to do some shopping. That evening we went down to the lake and the float was still there. At 9:00pm fireworks started shooting out of the float. It was amazing! It was like fireworks exploding in water. After the firework display we had dinner and then it was time to say goodbye to Raju.
“When are you coming to Pushkar again?” I asked Raju.
He answered, “Well maybe next year for Dipawali.”
“Oh, well if you ever need me just call. I am a hike away.” I said with a giggle.
“Yes, you are a hike away; all you have to do is meditate on top of Savitri Mountain.” Raju said softly.
I said goodbye to Raju’s parents and his brothers. As I gave my hand out to Manu to greet her, she grabbed me in a quick hug and dashed away. Saying goodbye to Raju was harder than a thought, we had a special connection. Somehow I knew we would see each other again.