Pushkar is famous for camels and horses, but there is a bigger crowd-puller at the annual mela or fair held in this town bordering the Thar desert in Rajasthan. Hundreds of adventure rides and shopping stalls beckon visitors, local and outsiders, but it’s the maut ka kuan or ‘well of death’ that commands undying attention year after year.
The ‘well’ is essentially a near-vertical pit with walls lined by wooden planks. The bikes and cars speed around on the walls for about five minutes, propped up by centrifugal force. A common spectacle at several fairs around the country, the performances are, however, not high on safety standards.
At Pushkar late last year, the stunt show came with a unique twist. As we approached the arena, there was an announcement: Ladki bike chalayegi — a girl was to ride the motorbike. There was a caveat, too: “If you don’t see a girl riding the bike, we’ll pay ₹1,000 to every ticket buyer.” We paid ₹30 to walk up to an elevated circular platform. There were about a hundred people watching, holding firmly on to the platform’s railing as the bikes thundered below us, and the whole arena juddered wildly.
The female performer was a young woman in her 20s, who rode the bike like a pro as the crowd cheered on.
This live daredevilry still gets adrenaline pumping even in an age of reality TV adventure shows and all the ‘action’ in X-boxes and video games.
Sreedeep is a Delhi-based freelance photographer