Who knew they had these kinds of things in India? Four of us squeezed ourselves into one of those tiny green and yellow auto rickshaws that are built for two but I’ve seen hold as many as seven—plus the driver. We took a fantastic tour around first one lake and then another with floating water castles gleaming whitely under a perfect blue sky on our way to the unpromisingly named town of Shilpgram Utsav. Say that three times fast. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but my first Indian drag queen! Yes, indeedy, I did a double take to determine if it could really be true. Not only was there one drag queen, there were two! And a handsome fellow with the ubiquitous Rajasthani mustache being strapped into a horse outfit. These three twirled their little hearts out. Ok, not quite grandma’s county fair.
The place was filled with vendors selling typical arts and crafts of the region, and occasionally plastic goods from China, which seemed to be quite popular. Once I saw a wandering Genghis Khan I knew I was in the right place. The day’s festivities culminated in traditional performances from every province in India. My personal favorite was the ecstatic trance dancers from Manipur. I don’t think I need to say more on that topic…
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