When I told my brother I would be visiting Haridwar, he challenged me to get a picture of one of the sadhus throwing up a "shocker" sign. I was very intrigued by this challenge. So almost from the time I landed I started trying to get this picture. I knew that no one out here knew what that sign would mean, so that wasn't the concern. It was just that most of these people (to me) seemed to be genuinely religious. And I couldn't get myself to trick them into throwing up a rude sign. It would have been much easier if I saw what I felt was a "poser".
We saw a hardcore sadhu - ash-covered, almost naked - sitting near the Ganga at Haridwar. I must admit I couldn't gather the stones to go talk to him. But when I told my friend what I had in mind, he walked right up to the sadhu and asked him if we could take his picture. He said yes. Then he asked him if he wouldn't mind putting up his fingers "like this". He politely smiled and refused. Fail!
The other sadhus we saw were either rushing along somewhere or, like I said, sincerely praying. The closest I got was when we met this guy dressed up as Hanuman. He was "blessing" people for a small fee and I knew I could easily talk him into throwing up the sign. He did and I got my picture.
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