My recent wedding shoot in Jodhpur gave me 2 hours to spare on the last day. Decided to visit the clock tower in old Jodhpur, which was quite close to where I was staying. Auto’s as usual wouldn’t go by the meter to the market. 1 big camera and shades immediately put me in the tourist category.

The roads were hot, dry and smelling of a nicely fermented mix of urine and dung, with traces of garbage. Very typical stereotype of India with poor peddlers on the road, lots of handicrafts, textiles, spices and roadside food stalls.

But quite a few modern stores were choking the older craft stores. Can’t help. Demand for modern clothing and technology requires people to adapt. And if that’s what sells, that’s what’s going to be sold.

Paid a quick visit to the clock tower. Managed to spot an old fort off a cliff side a little far away. Maybe someone reading this can prompt me with its name or history. The tower was surrounded by small time peddlers and stores selling all kinds of traditional goods.

On my walk back is when the shopping began. Some spices, a pair of shoes and a traditional Rajasthani knife. Stuffed them all in a nice red ladies bag I bought.

Stopped for a lassi. Wasn’t the best I’ve had, but was so thick I had to eat it with a spoon. 2 points for that. Did some more walking around to spot a young looking elephant, having a drink from a bucket of water. A close look into its eyes told me a story of exhaustion due to the heat. Poor thing.

A last round of walk and a look into the time told me it was time to head to the airport. After missing a chance to meet Parineeti Chopra on the flight, a stopover at Mumbai, I’m back in the bean town.