I met these lovely ladies in a park in Jaidur. They were chit-chatting, baby sitting their grandchildren and…smoking the chillum*.

They noticed me from the distance and when I came closer to ask them if I could take their photograph, they didn’t answer but offered me a smoke instead, showing the small conical pipe with a very nonchalant attitude. I pulled back and they started giggling like schoolgirls over my astonished look and my ignorant Gora’s face.

I took a couple of photos and handed them a 50 rupees banknote as a special thank you for their time. And they giggled again for no reason. Don’t ask me what substance was in the chillum, but I bet it wasn’t just tabacco.

*A chillum is a pipe traditionally made of a cow’s horn which is used by sadhus (wandering Hindu monks), Rastafarians and by many recreational drug users to smoke cannabis, opium and so on…