I have a lot of things on my bucket list that I would love to check off one-by-one, and I recently had the opportunity to cross out not one, but two things off my bucket list when I went on an adventure to India and smoked cannabis for the first time. Now, the latter part happened because of pure coincidence. Honestly speaking, I wasn’t even thinking about smoking weed when I travelled to India, but things just sort of happened that led to this situation. So, how exactly did a holiday getaway in India involve one of the world’s most controversial plants?
I will reiterate what I said earlier about how the thought of smoking weed never even crossed my mind while I was planning my trip. The only thing that I was focusing on was exploring the country’s tourist spots, eat their food, and maybe chat with a few locals. I have always had a fascination with travelling, and India has always been on top of my priority destinations.
It took several months of saving, researching on Google, and constantly watching out for promos on airline tickets so I could secure the cheapest tickets available. As for my lodging, I had one of my old online friends take care of that for me. Yeah, a friend (we’ll call him Rajan) that I met while playing Monster Hunter online on PS4 provided me with a place to stay in India.
I was lucky to have met this guy because not only did he turn out to be a good companion and player during hunts, but he was also a genuinely nice guy. My friends were telling me that I was taking a huge risk by trusting someone I had never even met before, and in a way they were right. But I just had a good feeling in my gut that I could trust Rajan during my trip.
He lives in Mumbai which happens to be one of India’s largest and most densely populated cities and is often referred to as the Heart of Bollywood.Anyway, I had already carefully planned out my trip and secured my finances as well. I have saved enough money to last me 3 days in Mumbai, and with Rajan offering me a place to stay I felt pretty good knowing that I was going to save hundreds of dollars on lodging alone.
The flight going to Mumbai took more than 16 hours, but luckily, I was able to get enough sleep on the airplane. When I landed at Shirav International Airport, Rajan was there to greet me. Even though our interactions were mostly online up until that point, seeing him made me feel like I had just reunited with a long-lost brother.
After exchanging some hugs and pleasantries, Rajan helped me with my luggage as we walked to his car. This dude had quite the ride (Jeep Commander) and was one of the humblest and friendliest people I had ever met. So yeah, I was right when I said that I could trust Rajan.
Even though I was still feeling a bit jetlagged from my trip, talking with Rajan made me forget that I had just travelled for 16 hours straight. The guy was just as fun to be around in real life as he was online. Before we went to his house, he drove me around the city for a bit to give me a taste of what I could expect from my trip.
When we got to his house, Rajan led me to the room where I would be staying, and I have to tell you, his house is beautiful. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was a true bachelor’s pad. It was fully airconditioned and his game room was enough to make me jealous. He gave me a quick tour of his home and then invited me to come over to his office.
He then showed me a bag of weed and asked if I wanted to smoke a joint with him. I was taken aback by his offer at first but then decided to take up his offer. He rolled up a fat joint, blazed it, and when we took turns puffing it. This was how I got to smoke my very first stick of cannabis, and it was an unforgettable experience. We both got high within minutes and found ourselves giggling nonstop for no reason at all.
As it turns out, Rajan’s uncle owns and operates a seed bank in Mumbai, and he sometimes asks his uncle for a couple of bags of cannabis for his own personal use. After the high slowly started to go away, we were both feeling hungry, and Rajan decided to take me to a place called The Bohri Kitchen.
He ordered a lot of food from there, and I got to try some native Indian dishes like mortabak, prata, and samosas. The rest of my stay there involved a lot of sightseeing, bar hopping, and smoking some cannabis. On the last day of my trip, Rajan gave me one of his pipes as a souvenir. It was shaped like a Rathalos blade from Monster Hunter.
I was truly touched by this because he really made me feel welcome and safe during my stay there. He accompanied me to the airport and before I left, I told him that if he ever plans on going to California, it will be my turn to make him feel at home.