The Resonance of Faith

For what is referred to as a desert, Rajasthan is amazingly populated : its landscape scattered with a number of villages and hamlets, telltale signs of tree groves and population of cattle being the only indication that there is such a settlement in close proximity, The typical village has always been difficult to spot tell one is actually upon it, Its simplest hamlets, the most basic from of civilisation with a way of life that has probably remained unchanged since centuries, consists of a collection of huts that are circular, and have thatched roofs. the walls are covered with a plaster of clay, cow dung, and hay, making a termite free facade that blends in with the sand of the countryside around it, Boundaries for houses and land holdings, called barras, are make of the dry branches of a fettle like shrub the long sharp thorns a deterrent for straying cattle.

A village that is even a little larger may have pucca houses, or larger living units usually belonging to the village zamindar family. Each village is a multicommunity settlement, the various castes creating a structure of dependence based on the nature of the work. The Village settlement are usually the Rajputs, the warrior race whose kings ruled, till recently, over these lands. The rajputs served their kings, joing their armies and raising their cavalries, but and attendant pursuit was as agriculturists.

AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

Though there are vast tracts of the desert in western rajasthan the ecological environment is semiarid in eastern Rajasthan, where rivers and a lasher green cover are present there is more rain, and the seasonal crops are plentiful. In these harsh climatic conditions, women tend to the cattle and their milking, while the elderly or the young take them out to pastures for grazing.

Rajasthan's settlements don't have oasis that are typical of their counterparts around the world. Water is trapped into man made ponds, but this is intended for daily use and cannot be used for farming it would not be enough to begin with, Three important crops grown here are wheat corn and millets, with the last being used for baking breads in the villages, while those in larger towns show a preference for wheat flour.

On a Camel Safari

There can be no better way of experiencing life in the desert that through a journey into its hinterland on camel back , Special tours can be arranged so that you can camp close to a village , participating in aspects of village life without disturbing it in turn. A camel is not the easiest animal on which to ride, but then the option of waling in the sand is an even tougher one. The rocking motion of the camel takes getting used to and at first the time seems to pass very slowly. This is not surprising for the only constants seem to be the discomfort caused by the camel's movement and the unchanging panorama of sheets and waves of sand with a little scrub.