The one with Henna !

"Hi. So do you like the design on your hands?", I asked the foreign tourist who was sitting two couches away in the hostel common room. I could not help but notice that he had henna stamps on his palms. "Yes. I like it very much. But the story is a bit funny", he said and started laughing. He then continued to tell me that he paid 800 Rs to get those designs and later he came to know that it shouldn't have cost more than 50 Rs. And that just when he had come to terms that he was practically robbed, he came to know that only women apply Henna on their hands. And we both ended up laughing for some time. I remember freaking him out by telling that henna does not fade with time rather stays permanently! I ended up exploring Pushkar for next 2 days with him and yeah I saved him from getting fooled by locals too. I will always remember the time when we bought Ice-Cream Cones in market but wanted to eat it while looking at the serene Pushkar Lake. Hence he sat on back seat of our rented bike, holding two cones in two hands, and I rode the bike as fast as I could to reach the lake before the Ice-Cream melted! 

He was a medical student from France and had come to India on a solo trip to experience culture. Though not good at English, he had managed to pull off  his trip quite well. Before coming to Pushkar, he had spent 2 weeks on outskirts of Udaipur, helping a farm owner with his farming tasks as well as with his dhaba. That was the first time I had heard anything like this. He then told me about platforms like WWOOF, iVolunteer where you could book a volunteering experience just like you book a hotel, and you can help the hosts in their tasks (farming, gardening, teaching etc) in return of free stay and food. Though I am an Indian, though there are hundreds of hosts across India, I was completely unaware of such tourist volunteering. 

He was one of the best people I have met while travelling. He taught me how to 'immerse oneself in the culture' while travelling, he taught me how to 'Henna' oneself while travelling.