Rajasthan 10 - Opening up my heart

“I just open up my heart ya!”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

We were sitting by a make-do fire, the four of us.

Me. My friend and fellow traveller. And two strangers. Photographers we had met on the train to Jaisalmer – Rohit Sabharwal and Santosh. Some co-incidence and a really good bargain offer had brought us together on this ‘desert trip to see the dunes’.

With a half a day long camel-ride, a few gorgeous sun-set pictures and an evening dinner behind us, we had resorted to the good old travel pastime – Conversation. And I had just asked Rohit some naïve question about how do you know who to trust and where do you draw the line.

To which he said, “I just open up my heart ya…”

What? Opens up his heart? That’s it?

What did he even mean, opens up his heart just like that!

How could one possibly afford to do that…? Open up their heart to the receptionist of a functional, budget hotel? To any fellow passenger on the local bus? To sweet-sellers across the street from your hotel?

How could one warm up to someone at the risk of becoming vulnerable? Or maybe just let go, at the risk of also letting go of precious cameras and saved money?

Though I smiled back at him, it was the half-curved smile of disbelief. Of course, he did not mean what he had just said. It was a good line, perfect for the moment and the ambience. That’s it.

I looked away. Questioning.

Then I saw.

The unending expanse of desert around me. No sign of any civilisation for miles. The five camels and the two camel-walahs sitting beside. In the stark darkness. The two strange men I was talking to. I didn’t know where I was, my parents didn’t know where I was. There was just one person there who I could trust. He was almost asleep.

And then all of a sudden, I saw what he had meant.

For I had opened up my heart too. Just like that.