Holy cows

Grazing for souvenirs is second nature to me. But hoarding pretty things that are absolutely useless (or squirrelling away hotel toiletries, in a moment of great souvenir crisis) has only led to domestic strife and dust mites so far. And yet, when two blue cows make cow eyes at you—simultaneously—you’d have to be pretty hard-hearted not to give in. So I did. Somewhere in the dusty lanes outside the temple at Nathdwara — 50km northeast of Udaipur, past battle-scarred Haldighati and the Eklingji temple—in a row of shops that sell toys and key chains and Pichwai paintings of the local deity Sreenathji, I picked up my minakari cows for Rs 400.