Auto driver by day, dancer by evening

The rail station at Khajuraho is relatively new, and it isn't still very well connected. I took a train from Varanasi and the scheduled arrival was 5.20 am. I knew nothing about the station, and was hardly prepared for the journey. As I have done in the past during some of my solo trips I thought I would spend the time at the station till the dawn and then step out to catch a rickshaw. But, it was winter and I had no idea if the station had a good waiting room. I went to sleep and not quietly, but cursing the person in the next seat for he was playing some you tube clip with the phone audio.

By CR Pushpa - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51825812

Next morning the train reached Khajuraho ahead of its scheduled time. As I was getting out of the compartment the guy who was in the next seat asked if I was going into the town, and my destination. He said there is an auto that has to come to pick him up and there is another more person with him, a local tourist guide, and that he can get me dropped. I knew it was a risky proposition, but somehow I decided to take up on that offer. There was hardly anything on the way, it was like going through a jungle, the route from the station to town. I went from being strong and confident, to doubting the foolishness of my decision to take a ride with total strangers in an unknown town. First the next seat guy got dropped off and I continued the journey. I got talking to the guide and he offered to take me around and the rickshaw guy would pick me up. We talked about the time and sorted out the fee (that was also a lean tourist year and he was willing to offer a discount for a lone traveller), and my destination arrived. I took their phone numbers down and I insisted we start the day early.

It was a total gamble right ... yes and no. I am by nature very trusting, and second, my travel experience in Madhya Pradesh have been very good and I have felt much more secure in the state, more than anywhere else I have been. Overall, my stay at Khajuraho was very good, and I heard later from friends how the town has a record of being almost zero crime rate. Why am I writing this now? Well, I was thinking of many who I have come across during my travels and how they would be coping up in these times of lock down with no work and wages. One of them who came to my mind was my sarathy at Khajuraho. Sorry, I can't recollect his name, may be Ganesh Awasthi my guide can help me.

 From the time we started our tour of Khajuraho he kept telling me about the folk dance programme that happens every evening at the MP tourism site, and was asking me if I would go to watch. Day 1 I declined as I wanted to rest after as I had already been travelling much in the past week. He kept at it the next day as well, and I told him I would go to the sound and light show at the Western Group of temples and then to the folk dance show. He came to pick me up in the evening at the appropriate time, and we went to buy tickets for light and sound show and since I had some time before the gates opened we sat down for an evening cup of chai at a shop next door. He told me where to wait for him after the show and then quietly added a little info that he takes part in the fold dance as well. I said, oh really and took his photograph. Later, on the way from the sound and light show I asked him if he was not playing a part that day, since we were going there exactly on time, and he was in his normal attire. He said, "no madam, aaj bhi naachega, maine is kapde ke andar hi dancewala kapda pehanke aaya hoom". I was amazed how he took to both his vocations and switched between them so effortlessly. We were just a handful in the audience that day, and I eagerly waited for the dance in which he would feature.

 There I spotted him, and his eyes were also searching for me in the audience. He was perhaps trying to make sure that I was indeed sitting there and watching the show. Unfortunately, it did not have a facility like a Prambanan Ramayana theatre, not sold or marketed like the Kandyan dance. There was no cafe, coffee shop or whatsoever, for not everyone who comes among the tourists have the same appetite for performing arts. I remembered how the hall I went to witness the dance at Kandy, the auditorium was filled with foreigners and, no it is not that I am advocating alcohol. But, just wanted to say how the tourists were having a nice time, sipping their cocktails. I do not even want that kind of crass commercialism. But, some balance between the decorum required for our performances and needs of the tourists when they travel from far.  Locals complain that the price charged for light and sound show and the folk dance is too high and that is not many tourists go there. I had no other option but to wait for the full show to get over, no regrets, as it was quiet nice and really a change after two days of non-stop serious temple exploration. He had quickly got back into his regular attire and drove me back to Hotel Harmony. My trust in humanity grows stronger every time I counter such people. I will wait, and pray that the world turns to normalcy once again, and I can travel again. May be a trip again to Khajuraho. 

p.s. At least for the sake of the good souls I want this story to be shared if you like it. The tourist season has been very bad this year 2019-20. I could see Khajuraho having very few foreign tourists this year. Ganesh Awasthi my guide there was telling me how the stories of rapes in India, advisories after Kashmir etc., was adversely affecting tourist arrivals.