We were looking for a charas-dealing sadhu, and Kamal insisted he’d introduce me to one, but only after he fired some up on the banks of the Ganga.
“I first smoked ganja when I was 10. Junagarh is the kind of place where it's all out in the open. The first time I smoked I laughed a lot. Now I smoke, but only charas.”
The hut was built mostly with donations from foreign nationals, who flock to Rishikesh in search of inner peace, but end up chilling at the Giri house and getting high.
Shankar Giri (right), is 58-years-old, and has been trying to build this hut for five years, but the Ganga keeps washing it away. Like Kamal, he was made a sanyasi at age six, but he doesn't know why.
After smoking, we were given us a glass of gangajal. Then a sip of tea.
Moral of the story: Never trust a sadhu when he’s high.