Shani Shingnapur

Shani Shingnapur, Saw an advertisement on TV. Some motorcycle. Bajaj something. A young couple go on a bike ride. The woman’s very stringent about locking up her house before they depart and careful about not leaving the helmet on the bike when parked.

Then they reach a town called Shani Shingnapur 100 kms from Aurangabad. And then she leaves the helmet on the bike when they go in the temple. Wikipedia tells me that this town has houses only with door frames, but no doors. No one locks their houses and/or valuables.

I have a couple of locks on the main door to my house. The windows have shutters. And I keep them diligently locked every morning when I leave for work. I lock my car too, even though very clearly it has nothing in it to be stolen now. Not even the car itself. I remember my last call to the insurance agent when it was time to renew the insurance. He told me he cannot renew it. I asked him why? He said we insure cars, not bullock carts.

Gah!

Irrelevant!

Is the town for real? Can it really exist? An entire town in India, where people don’t lock their houses? I mean who does that? Seriously. I cannot even go to buy milk and veggies without locking the door and checking the lock.

I want to go visit this place. And see it for myself. Does not seem real to me.

Shani Shingnapur even has it’s own blog. What I would want to make sure if that they do have doors in the showers and the washrooms. Now, that would be an essential door, a must have, correct?

Hard to believe eh? And by the way, in the advert they clearly say that this town is 100 kms from Aurangabad, and that their bike can cross that distance in just one liter of petrol. Amazing, eh?

Maybe I should scrap my Ambassador and buy that bike.

Anyone want a 1967 Ambi with three doors? And er, one headlight? And er, half the rear seat?