BootsnAll Travel Community

RE: http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/07-08/pushy-pushkar-india-asia.html

Moral of the story: When handed a flower/petals, run for your life.

It reminds me of an incident at a famous temple enroute to mysore. I and two American friends left our slippers outside with the caretaker responsible for overseeing the footwear. He thrust a few petals in our hands and told us to offer them to the deity inside. Well, it seemed rude not to accept this offering. After doing the rounds of the temple when we returned, he asked each of us a hefty price for the petals. It was also almost impossible to get our footwear back. Only when we began to walk away barefooted pretending not to care, did we get it back. We only had to then pay for the care of our footwear. sigh - hate this commercialisation of religion.

commercialisation of religion- well put!