It was a hot morning in winter when we made our way to the famous Dargah at Ajmer. It is famous for various reasons, but above all as a place where you can make a wish and find it coming true. There are a few such places associated with every religion and like the temples at Shirdi, Tirupati and Siddhi Vinayak (Mumbai), or the Haji Ali mosque and the church at Mount Mary, both again of Mumbai, the doors are open to people of all faiths. We were traveling through Rajasthan and the drive from Udaipur to Jaipur was broken at the holy town of Pushkar, a town which is truly unique. It’s a town of temples and pilgrims, where foreigners seem to outnumber Indians, restaurants sell couscous and falafel, keyboards are in Hebrew and you have cafes called Hard Rock Café and Pink Floyd Café. After a night in this magical town, where devotees sang bhajans all night, by the banks of the lake, we headed for the Dargah in the nearby town of Ajmer before leaving for Jaipur.

The approach to religious places are often scary and as hordes of hawkers descended on us with their wares, my seven year old daughter Trisha started crying. My husband, Ashwini, almost turned back, but I had to visit this place. I had heard so much about it and felt compelled to actually see. There was more trouble ahead as I found that cameras had to be deposited outside and also footwear – at separate places of course. The hawkers got crazier as Ashwini bought a white handkerchief to cover his head. Trisha and I had dupattas to use for the same purpose and after buying three red threads from a little boy, we pushed our way through the gates. A sense of history and of peace assails you almost at once. Suddenly the crowds don’t matter so much and you go with your own flow, deciding how to wander around. Of course there are people here too who ask for money but they cannot spoil the sanctity of the place. And then I reached the grill where thousands of red threads fluttered. So many wishes trembling in the wind…

Now is my moment. I will tie my red thread and make my wish. It is not so easy though, to decide on one thing that you want more than anything else. I am not a Miss India aspirant and no grooming expert has taught me to wish away poverty, or suffering of the masses. I have no delusion that a wish made by a mere mortal can eradicate all that is wrong with the world. I am prepared to accept that I am more selfish and will make a wish that will benefit me personally. Material gains are obvious objects of desire as are fame and success… or does one follow the other. A painless death is also a tempting wish. I would like to wish away my mother’s painful rheumatoid arthritis but I cannot be sure if that would be ‘the wish’. I also wish that my parents don’t suffer in their old age, that my husband’s dreams come true, and mine, and my little daughter’s…

The little hands were tying the piece of red thread very carefully, the eyes all concentration. Trisha had earlier asked me what I would wish for and I told her that wishes had to be secrets to come true. She was disappointed of course, as she was desperate to share secrets. I didn’t tell her that I was still trying to find a single wish, rather than make multiple ones and sound horribly greedy to the Almighty. She wore a secret smile on her lips, possibly at the thought of some awesome wish coming true. I was sure that it would be a rather simple wish though since children have fairly uncluttered minds and even their greed is very straightforward. An immediate object of desire – a doll, a frock, a book – rather than endless desires of adults. I suddenly knew that all my wishes had actually come true and while I would appreciate any bonuses, I couldn’t really look at my daughter and wish for more. And as I tied my thread, I said a little prayer. That her wishes always come true…