The Dope Trail - Pt 1


<Kasol, 12th June 2012, 2130 hours>
So, after resignation, I had 7 odd days of casual leaves remaining and despite the shitload of pending work, on the evening of 8th June, I take off from Ludhiana, reaching Chandigarh at 0005 hours 9th June. A friend from my engineering college is to reach Chandigarh from Delhi at 2am. I wait around jobless, having a swig from my bottle of Bacardi, white rum. I go off to a random tea-shop dweller looking for some ciggs. He is smoking up and my trip to Kasol and elsewhere starts early. I chat up with him to find out that he got his hash from a local farmland in town (and I don't testify to his authenticity). He explains a ring side view of the trade that gets shaped later on in the trip.

From local villages of Kasol, namely Tosh, Malana etc., around sept-oct each year, the dealers come to pick up a quintal or two from the then very recent harvest. The most tender leaves go on to become the most sought after - super cream (or simply cream) and based on the tenderness or delay in harvest, you get the other categories of medium, fine etc. This gets transported all-over, with police, presumably hand-in-glove (but, to their credit, as per the locals, they are getting stricter). the stuff available at the local restaurants of Kasol and other areas by around Apr-Aug is all leftover from the original harvest and, thereby, of lower quality or in some cases mixed with impurities (e.g. dung) or inferior quality (from Nepal, e.g.).

Some 10 years ago, all the mountains were covered with marijuana fields and barely an Indian traveller was visible in kasol - with the area being a haven for people from, mostly, Israel and some European back-packers. The local villagers were such that they used to give away Malana cream (among the best in the country - definately the best that is homegrown from India) for 200 odd bucks which is now available here at a price not less than Rs.2000 (for a tola, or 10 gms) if you are lucky. This, of course, reaches below to Chandigarh - the place I was at present, Delhi - the place I hail from, Mumbai - the place I'd be going to soon, among others, at rates that are 3-4 times the price from villagers.

But, I jump my story. I am at Chandigarh and this guy tells me how they have to keep rubbing the marijuana leaves to get the hashish, or charas, often leaving their hand muscles quite degenerate. He tells me how he has hopes of getting involved in the supply chain bigtime by getting in touch with somebody having a large consolidated demand. This all is obviously working capital intensive business for that guy.

After a while, I catch my bus and reach Bhunter at 1030 am in a very rickety and uncomfortable local road highway bus after the overnight journey.

<Pause. 2152 hours and I get ready for my Joint. I shall get back to this sometime later.>

Comments

  1. AnonymousMonday, 9 July 2012 at 23:14:00 GMT+5:30

    Finish it and publish dude!!!
    ~Sabir

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ramana KrishnanWednesday, 11 July 2012 at 13:33:00 GMT+5:30

      Pt 2 is up already. Pt 3 should be up soon too, probably. Guess, I can make it a soap opera? :P

      Delete

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