Rajasthan Differently

March 25 to April 08 2024

Day 01 Monday March 25, 2024 Nice - Doha Boeing 787 + Airbus A 330

Day 02 Tuesday March 26, 2024Doha - Delhi - Khandela 250 km 5/6h

Welcome at the airport by Abhishec, an assistant of Raj Sharma and Girver the driver who will prove to be much more than a driver. Flower necklaces and personalized pouch, bottles of water. Unheard of in this kind of trip: in the car a delicate attention available to passengers: a tray with dried fruits, sweets, biscuits, tissues, wipes, disinfectant gel. Only Incredible Rural India practices this kind of refinement.

The car is a spacious and comfortable Toyota Innova Crysta.

Being used to deciphering looks and facial expressions, we are reassured, the two people who welcome us are clear in their heads, their way of being and in their souls.

It has often happened to us to perceive from the first glance that the driver will not be suitable, but we have never dared to say "no we do not want this driver" from the first day. Unfortunately, this has always been detrimental to us. This time from the beginning we know that it will be good.

Exit from Delhi a little long as usual, traffic Jam.

1.   Lunch at Highway King in Neemrana: delicious vegetarian sandwich and paratha mix with curd (dahi). We start light so as not to rush the intestines.
   

Visit to the village of Abhishec and his family in Sangtera near Kotputli. We are 156 km from Delhi and are already diving into deep India and its reality far from globalization. Abhishec shares his childhood memories with the sacred pond in which people bathe during certain ceremonies to obtain healing, the village school more or less in ruins, pretty decrepit and abandoned havelis. Sapna offers to tattoo Nadia's arm with henna. A nice introduction. We see how poor the people of this village are. There is little or no income, little or no amenities. We are invited to have tea. Thanks to Santra, Sapna Saroj, Shivlal, Avika, for their welcome. We leave Abhishec at a bus stop so that he can return to Jaipur.

Continue to the Shakambhari Mata Mandir temple in Gurara. The Brahmins invite us to approach, just to ask for a donation. We are used to visiting temples and religious sites around the world. Hindu temples are the

only ones where we are always asked to give money.

A short climb to reach the Muni Ashram where the ashes of Sri Atma Muni Ji Maharaj lie. Unlike the Brahmins who are always begging for money, the local priest, Jagdish Dirvedi, offers us tea and cakes. We discuss his mission within the ashram.

Late arrival (7 p.m.) at the Khandela castle.

1. Dinner and overnight at Castel Khandela, well located in the city, with an incredible view from the roof over the region. See reviews in the hotels menu.
   

Day 03 Wednesday March 27, 2024 Khandela - Roopangarh 170 km 3/4 h

Early departure. It is too early to tour the village which seems very authentic. Village tours are more than curiosity: it is an opportunity to discover and understand an entire socio-economic system.

There are still in India a lot of small useful, even essential, trades that existed in Europe before the era of globalization. For example, the barber. All Indian villages have one or more barbers. While there are hand razors and electric razors, why are there still so many men who go to barbers? Tradition? Why has tradition disappeared so easily in our countries? What is behind tradition? What would happen if men stopped going to the barber? Thousands of families without income? The disposable razor against a disposable man?

Opportunists and Darwinists will say that he could find work in the razor factory. That's true. But who does that enrich? The factory still has to be set up in his own country!

Kandela is a stopover where it would be good to stay at least two nights. Girver offers to show us the unexpected.

Girver offers to show us the unexpected. Direction Lohargal. A village nestled between two mountains. This village was a large religious center with renowned gurus. The best known being Shiromani Chetan Das or Ji. Many pilgrims came to consult them and do a retreat in one of the ashrams.

Visit of the Chetan Das Ji Baori, an old stepwell built by a king of the region (there are forts everywhere) to encourage the guru in his actions.

1. Visit of a traditional government primary school. All expenses are paid by the government, tuition, uniforms, supplies and even lunch. 80 students from 2 to 13 years old are spread over 8 classes. They first learn Sanskrit, then Hindi and a little English. With Sanskrit they discover or reconnect with the roots of Indian culture. Not only grammar and texts, but the traditional values that made India what it was before selling its soul to globalization. All the students came to greet us by touching our feet to be blessed. Then they did mediation, recited a poem in Sanskrit and sang the Gayati Mantra. It was very moving. We had brought a supply of pens and sweets that we shared by asking Girver and the teachers to do so, so that tourists would not be associated with "one pen, one toffee".
   

As we leave them, we ask ourselves many questions: what is the future of these children who have been taught their roots, while the rest of India is gargling with technological modernity? Is this a way of maintaining caste differences and preparing future "servants" and "servants" of the elite? How many children in this school are actually gifted and could aspire to careers superior to those they would have if they were in a private school?

Girver buys pickles for his family and makes us taste an Amla pickle, Indian gooseberry. A delight.

1. Short visit to the small temple dedicated to Ganesh, run by Deepak Surami and his wife Manju. All along the main road, small private temples and their gurus, authentic or opportunistic ?
   

2. Arriving at the top of the street, we discover the Sun Temple - Surya Mandir, impressive by its decor and the crowd that rushes there. A huge red and white checkered basin where many pilgrims bathe. Men in shorts, women in sarees. People who bathe there are said to be purified, forgiven, exonerated from all their sins and bad deeds. The great spiritual wash! Tour of the temple. Girver offers to accept the blessing of a Brahmin who puts a small red and yellow bracelet on our arm for a donation. Right arm for men and left arm for women. Girver who must have reminded the Brahmin of the right arm for a woman. On the way back to the car we pass a procession of women, all dressed in red sarees who sing as they head towards the temple.
   

1. Road to Roopangarh; Lunch stop at the Riddhi Siddhi Resort restaurant, vegetable noodles.
   

Arrival at 4:30 p.m. at the Roopangarh fort. Welcome by a new manager who is a bit olé olé.

We go to meet the people of the village that we had met in 2016, to give them the photos that we had taken. If it touches people to see that we thought of them, it creates a lot of excitement in male adolescents who become clingy, arrogant, even disrespectful. We find the tea seller: Nand Kishor and the bracelet seller: Vimala and Komal her daughter, the biddies and betel seller who was very moved that we gave him a photo, the oil miller, the old drinking water waitress, always withdrawn into her small window.

Many shopkeepers we had known have retired, handing over their business to one of their sons. What a difference! They are all sitting, their noses glued to their mobile phones, not raising their heads to see what is happening in the street, nor to attract the customers with their eyes. The street has lost its soul. Their fathers invited us to sit down, to talk about his business, try to sell us something, and especially to drink a Massala chai that Nand Kishor hurried to bring.

Faced with the rude insistence of young assholes, we return to the hotel earlier than planned. This will be our last visit to Roopangarh

1. Dinner and overnight at Roopangarh fort.
   

Day 04 Thursday March 28, 2024 Roopangarh - Sursara - Tilonia - Chandelao 240 km 5/6h

1. Road to Candelao. On the way, visit the village of Sursura and the Tejaji mandir or Serpent temple. Tejaji was a warrior who lived in the 11th century. He fought many battles, often alone against hundreds of enemies, which seems to confirm that it is a legend. While trying to recover cows that had been stolen, he was bitten by a snake which led to his death. He was allegedly cremated at the place where the temple was erected. According to the legend that would become reality, when a person is bitten by a snake he would be cured by coming to do a poja in this temple.
   

Country road to Tilonia.

1. On the road Girver stops us at the village of Bhojiyawas to introduce us to farmers and welcoming families: Prabu from the Jat community, Ramashaver from the Gujar community, Augama from the Gujar community. We chat a little: the three are retired and say they are having a wonderful time. They have nothing left to do but rest, get together, chat, drink tea, smoke, play cards. Their children take care of everything. The other side of the coin: while before, siblings helped each other, cultivated larger plots of land together since they were family-owned, today the children leave the land because they no longer want such hard work, they sell the land by dividing it up to each have their share, those who remain only have small plots that sometimes barely support their family.
   

Prabu invites us to drink tea on his farm with his family. In the villages, only old men wear turbans, small white belted jackets and white dhotis (fabrics that drape the legs). While women still wear (for how long?) sarees, young farmers wear t-shirts, jogging pants or jeans. The image of turbaned men, like that of women at the well, will disappear forever from the Indian landscape. We are happy to have witnessed these traditions. In a few years, our photos will look like postcards from another era.

1. 11:15 Second attempt to visit Barefoot College in Tilonia.  Barefoot College is an Indian NGO created by Bunker Roy in 1972 to overcome the difficulties encountered by poor farmers in the region: access to clean water, electricity, healthcare. Coming from a family belonging to the Bengali elite, he became aware of the poverty that is rife in India at a very young age. He started by working as a volunteer in associations. A worker in the construction and maintenance of wells in Rajasthan, he wants to help the people in the villages he meets. The government gives him a sanatorium in Tilonia to house his workshops. Having understood like most of us that it is women who are the underground force of India, but also that they are more stable because they stay more in their region of origin, he decides to focus on grandmothers and mothers to carry out his project of access to clean water, in particular by creating tanks that collect rainwater, electrification of villages using solar panels that women learn to build and maintain. Which contributes to strengthening the power of women within the communities. This was not done without causing problems. Since then, unemployed young people and disabled people have come to join Barefoot. Having become famous and supported by very rich international sponsors, the NGO has developed branches in many countries such as Madagascar, Cameroon, Zanzibar, Belize, Guatemala, etc. In the workshops, quality local crafts are produced at prices often higher than those found on the market.
   

We had tried to visit Barefoot College in 2016. At the time you had to book online using a Google form, if you wanted to have lunch with them you had to pay a deposit in dollars. Which I did. When we arrived, there was no one there, everyone had left by bus to visit the Taj Mahal. No one warned us. As for my deposit, no one saw my registration, but the amount was deducted.

This time we met Brijesh Gopta, coordinator, and Ram Niwas, communications officer and head of the puppet theater. A meal was offered to us for $20 per person, for a vegetarian canteen meal. We refused. Ram Niwas gave a detailed introduction to the foundation and Bunker Roy. We discussed humanitarian work in India, he ended with a short two-minute puppet show. Visit to a few empty workshops, it was lunch break. Stop at the shop and make a few purchases. Brijesh asks us for visiting fees: 1000 rps per person, while we have seen nothing and the workshops were empty. I refused and left a small sum for the principle. My deposit stuck in my throat. When humanitarianism rhymes with business!!!

On the road there are many companies selling marble and granite.

Late arrival in Candelao: 6:15 p.m. Walk in the village, distribution of photos that we had taken 8 years ago. The little girl who practiced meditation before leaving for school has become a big teenager, very surprised that we found her. As in Roopabgarh this distribution of photos triggers a lot of excitement among the boys. Why only boys? We observe on each of our trips that males aged 10 to 30 always need to get involved in what does not concern them, to interfere in the relationship we have with people. It's quite painful. We end up telling ourselves that there are villages that are better visited during school hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The village well is no longer accessible. It is in the middle of a lake. Where does all this water come from? We will no longer see women oscillating between the earth and the sky with their brass pots balanced on their heads. We will no longer hear them laugh when they tell each other the news, we will no longer see these majestic gestures that resembled a dance when they pull up the ropes and pots from the well. We will no longer hear them take advantage of the well to discuss village gossip, family or marital problems.

The reservoirs and running water increasingly widespread in villages have assassinated the social function of the well, as supermarkets have assassinated the social function of small neighborhood shops (butcher, baker, shoemaker, newsagent and tobacconist) in Europe. Even worse since social networks, mobile phones and the uberization of services. We don't even go out to do our shopping anymore. Long live progress... The pumps still allow women to gather, chat and carry metal pots on their heads.

1. Dinner and overnight at Chandelao Garh
   

Day 05 Friday March 29, 2024 Chandelao - Pipar City - Jodhpur 90 km 2/3h

Last morning walk, in a dead village or different from what we had known.

1. 9:45 a.m. Road to Pipar city Visit to the block printing workshop (block Printer) on fabrics of Yasine Shahabuddin (Dhabu). It is his son Nasad Ali who gives the tour. We distribute the photos taken in 2016. The workshop has expanded, more people work there.
   

The youngest son Azrudeen Chhipa is in the apprenticeship workshop. He is learning the trade.

New: it is possible to do a one-day or several-day internship to learn block printing. Possibility of accommodation and meals.

1. Visit to Pipar Bazaar while distributing the photos taken in 2016. Girver seems to take great pleasure in playing the role of intermediary. He calls out to people, tries to find out who each photo belongs to. It becomes a game, an attraction. Fortunately the kids are at school.
   

New encounters, sellers of doughnuts, bananas, a tchai whala who offers us tea, Ravi Upadhyay's tobacco shop and its shilom, fabric stores, tinsmiths, tailors, sellers of magnificent leather slingshots. We find Gisharam the old traveling seller of doughnuts and lassi, who was very moved that we brought him a photo taken 8 years ago. He offered us a lassi and tea.

Road to Jodhpur.  Arrival at the hotel around

4 p.m. Departure for the descent of the Blue City Not having had time to have lunch, Girver offers us delicious samosas. He takes us to the parking lot of Mehrangarh fort for a descent on foot of the blue city. Big disappointment. Since 2009, almost all the houses have been transformed into restaurants, guesthouses, shops, travel agencies with Bishnoi Jeep Safari, rafting, zip line, etc. on the bill...

It is in this kind of thing that we see the side effects of mass tourism (foreign and Indian), because 10,000 individual tourists with backpacks or 10,000 Indian families are a mass. Stroll in the clock market, Sardar Market Girdicot. Still as eclectic, still as crowdy.

We take advantage of being at the hotel to try typical Rajasthani dishes. The daal bati churma which must be ordered 24 hours in advance, the disappointing Papad ki sabji, the horribly spicy ker sangri.

1. Dinner and overnight at Devi Bhawan
   

Day 06 Saturday March 30, 2024 Jodhpur

In 2009, we stayed at the Mandor Guesthouse, run by the Gehlot family whose father ran a small local agency: Poly Travel. The family had a small local NGO that looked after a few Bishnoi villages. When we stayed in this guesthouse, we could participate in the Bishnoi's visit during the village tour to bring mail, medicines, tools. If we had the skills, we could intervene in the village schools. It was authentic. The Bishnoi did not wait for us, there was no business. All we had to do was sit in a corner, observe village life, attend grievance meetings, sometimes nursing care. A family invited us to visit their mud hut, or to visit an old man who wove dhurries for the local market. This year, we wanted to do it again. Mandore Guesthouse being full, we opted for another accommodation. The agency called on a seller of "Bishnoi jeep safari". How awful!

Bishnoi Jeep Safari made in Jodhpur:

1. Lunch at Devi Bahwan  delicious veg sandwich
   

1. Dinner and overnight at Devi Bhawan
   

Day 07 Sunday March 31, 2024 Jodhpur - Ghanerao 150 km 3/4h

Road to Ghanerao. We meet Jain pilgrims on the road. Not very cool!

Girver tried to get information on authentic Bishnoi villages. It is no longer allowed to visit Bishnoi villages, apart from the three demonstration stands that everyone goes to see, in order to protect the Bishnoi from the damage of mass tourism. We understand, it is a good thing.

1. On the way, meeting with shepherds. Two very old men and a woman are looking after a herd of sheep and goats. Many animals have just been born including a camel. Gigaram, the oldest of the shepherds, from the Gurjar community, leaves with his herd in search of some greenery. This can take the day, under a blazing sun. He is equipped with a plastic gourd wrapped in a damp rope case to keep it cool and a small bag containing two chapatis. As soon as we leave the enclosure, a truck stops and buys some animals from him.
   

2. 10:30 a.m. stop at Chotila, on the NH 65 which goes to Pali. The temple of OM Banna or Bullet Baba is dedicated to a biker and his motorcycle. In 1988, Om Singh Rathore, in a drunken state, collided with a tree. He was killed instantly and his passenger Narpat Singh was seriously injured. The motorcycle was seized by the police who took it to the police station.
   

The next morning, the motorcycle was found at the scene of the accident, apparently without human intervention. It was again taken to the police station, the day after the motorcycle was again at the scene of the accident.

Since this mystery, the motorcycle has been venerated as well as its driver. The Royal Enfield Bullet is displayed in a glass case. All the people who pass by stop to obtain protection for their journey. Some come from far away. The tree in front of the temple is that of the accident. It is venerated, and surrounded by scarves and colored threads to obtain protection but also the fulfillment of wishes. The power of the collective imagination.

1. Stop in the village of Sonai Manji, a typical little village with men playing cards under the banyan tree, the barber who always has a customer no matter what the time, the shop that sells chips and snacks that people love, sweets, laundry detergent, sauces and some vegetables. There are also old and young people who smoke opium. Opium, like Bhang, seems to be a common practice during festivals, ceremonies, weddings, or for fun. Only women don't smoke. Someone has to keep their feet on the ground!
   

2. We often stop for pleasure: a landscape, a street scene, a countryside scene, like when women in colorful sarees work in a golden wheat field. Bright sarees drying on a bush etc... We stop in Karda, attracted by a particularly colorful scene and meet Jamina and Lary who are preparing the land to grow organic cotton. As in many villages, they tell us about the exodus of young people and men, the division of properties, the loss of family heritage in the more or less long term. They are the only ones to cultivate a cotton field of several hectares which is shrinking as the heirs leave and claim their share.
   

3. Stop at the temple of Shree Ashapura Mataji of Nadole. Photos prohibited.
   

4. Arrival in Ghanerao around 4 p.m. At 5 p.m. Girver and the fort guard show us around the village. A very picturesque village with its Jain, Hindu and Muslim districts. Many old havelis are abandoned in poor condition, but also many modern houses whose owners have left to make their fortune elsewhere. Many houses are empty, closed, abandoned. There are many baoris (stepped wells) in poor condition, full of plastic waste and rubbish. Visit to the cenotaphs of the Maharaja's family. Street scenes, shops, small businesses. A peaceful village with a welcoming population with the exception of some arrogant, provocative 12/14 year old boys of the caste of assholes, the India of tomorrow...In the Muslim neighborhoods we are never bothered by badly educated kids!
   

1. Dinner and overnight at Ghanerao Royal Castel
   

Day 08 Monday April 1, 2024 Ghanerao - Dhariyawad 230 km 5/6 h

1. Stop at the Choraya Jain Mandir temple in Charbhuja, the villagers are celebrating the last day of Holy; there are groups of colorful men everywhere. We avoid getting out of the car, not wanting to be covered in powders whose composition we do not know.
   

Anita, a teenager from the village ventured into the street, she is multi-colored.

1. On the way stop to immortalize a small wheat field in its stone enclosure with two women Raku (red saree) and Manga (yellow saree) who are harvesting with a sickle. There are many moments like this where you want to stop because it is beautiful. The light is beautiful, the scene is bucolic. The atmosphere is special. The men watch, the women work.
   

2. Girver having inquired before, he stops us at the village of Mohan Ram Ji ka Guda to see a ceremony reserved for women (Desha Mata) 7 days after Holy. They are all from the Meenar community. We are invited to share the ritual and offerings.
   

In the village the pump has replaced the well but the women still gather around the pump and still carry the metal pots on their heads.

1. As it is on our route, Girver takes us to visit the temple of Eklingji that we had already seen and of which I had kept a bad memory. During our last visit, soldiers in combat gear were guarding the temple, weapons on their chests. I was subjected to a brutal search by a soldier who wanted to show me that he had power. At my age and with my skin color he knew that I was a tourist, but that did not prevent him from acting as if I was a potential terrorist. Poor asshol. I don't want to see this temple.
   

On the street leading to the temple, we discover a tchai wala who serves tea as in the past in earthenware cups. We notice that almost everywhere, even with street vendors, you can pay for tea or sugarcane juice with a smartphone application. Soon we will have tea and cane juice delivered by "Uber Eat".

In the stand next door, a vendor serves Bhang, a euphoric/relaxing drink made from cannabis, stems, leaves and flowers, from which a paste is made, a ball that will be infused or dissolved, mixed with milk and sugar, butter, spices. It is said to be legal and has been consumed for centuries during festivals such as Holy. Customers consume in front of us. The vendor lets us photograph the process.

Some say that it promotes meditation. I never believed that any product whatsoever promotes meditation. The chemical alteration of consciousness being contrary to the control of consciousness sought in meditation.

1. Visit of the Sas Bahu temple, already seen another time. Some erotic bas-reliefs in less good condition than those of Khajuraho. Fellatio, sodomy, masturbation, bestiality, are among the best preserved bas-reliefs. Many newlyweds insist on having their picture taken in this setting by teams of photographers and their assistants. Is it for the kama sutra atmosphere or for the magic of the old stones? Young brides put on makeup in the nauseating public toilets while waiting their turn.
   

1. 1:45 p.m. stop at Cheerwa Mohanpura at the Jammu Himachal Dhaba restaurant: delicious veg pakhora, plate of tomatoes, cucumber onions, garlic naan.
   

1. 

   Stop at a farm in the village of Kedariya, meeting with Vainii (orange saree) who prepares tea, Mangilai (without turban), Daru (burgundy and green turban), Diroba (red turban), Gori (multicolored saree). They offer us tea.
   

In the farm there are only old women and men, "retired" and some children who go to school. The young men are in the city.

We hear again the complaint of the separation of plots, of the ventilation of the heritage, because young people are no longer interested in living in the countryside and working 7 days a week from morning to night. In a few years who will grow the vegetables for the market? Who will cultivate the wheat for the chapatis ? The agri-food industry lobbies like ours???

Monsnato/Bayer/Syngenta have taken over the seed market, especially genetically modified cotton, which has caused the ruin and suicide of many Indian farmers. They are trying to have a monopoly on Neem cultivation. They are invading the market with carcinogenic pesticides, which are causing the proliferation of cancers in Europe and around the world, with the blessing of our governments. In India, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is wreaking havoc under the guise of humanitarianism, peddling their ideology and their health and phytosanitary products. Vandana Shiva would not contradict me. Long live her and her seed bank. If India prides itself on being in full expansion, it is also prey to those who profit from this expansion.

1. Stop at the village of Neemdi. Discovery of our first field of opium poppies, "controlled" by the government. From that moment on, we will see them every day until Tordi. According to rumors, the opium is intended for pharmaceutical laboratories and medicine...
   

When the poppies are in bloom, a government agent counts the number of heads that will give the precious latex. Knowing that there are always some that escape control and that will be sold elsewhere for other purposes. The field is dry, the harvest has taken place. Using heads that have not been harvested, the owner explains to us the process for obtaining opium, which consists of scratching the capsules, after flowering, to make the white latex flow that is left to oxidize in the air. It is this oxidized latex that has turned black that will give opium.

Long road through a dry forest partially on fire, the Seta Mata forest reserve.

We are stopped by a police roadblock that checks the vehicle, takes photos of the license plates and the trunk. The identity and contact details of the driver are recorded. Due to upcoming national elections (June), road traffic is highly controlled to avoid the transportation of money intended to corrupt voters. A paradoxical scenario in a country where corruption is a national sport at all levels. It is all the more amusing since we have the heads of local politicians!!! But it is so tempting when you are a police officer in Asia to show that you have a little power.

Arrival in Dhariyawad around 6:35 p.m.

1. Dinner and overnight at Dhariyawad Heritage
   

Day 09 Tuesday April 2, 2024 Dhariyawad tribal village tour.

1. Departure for a tour of ethnic villages by jeep with Pawan and Hava Cinda. On the road, meeting with blacksmiths from the Meenar community in Bhandla. They make the tools and weapons that the farmers need.
   

2. Visit to a primary school Gouv Upper prima Gadwas.(DHA) in the village of Chatpur. 40 children per class sit on the floor, bent forward to write in their notebooks placed on the floor. We observe that the teachers who are supposed to teach English barely know how to speak English... Do they really have the necessary background to give these children every chance? This brings us back to equal opportunities in a country that seems to cultivate inequalities, while denying it.
   

3. Visit to Chari, a village of mud houses, unwelcoming. People seem to be afraid. Children run away, hide under beds, women turn their heads away, men are almost absent. Our guide explains to us that it is not a question of inhospitality or aggression. These people are so poor and live in such conditions that they are ashamed. May God protect them. Tilonia is good, but before going to Colombia or Africa, there is perhaps still a lot of work to be done in India... A young girl poses: Sonia, then another Reka.
   

Visit to a dam, Nangalia Dam. Without interest.

1. A teacher chases us on a motorbike to ask us to come and visit his school, Nagaliya Kalan Primary Sup Gvt School. Same uniform, same traditional teaching, same poverty as elsewhere. We meet well-behaved, respectful children, unlike those who harass us in the villages. Nadia gives a French lesson on the board, hello, good evening, thank you, how are you... We are surprised by the ability of these children to adapt to another language. 

   

   Many seem very quick-witted.
   

One of the children catches our attention, he looks sad, unhappy, prostrate compared to the others who look so lively, so alert, so smiling. What is behind this look full of distress? A suffering linked to material or nutritional poverty, a psychological shock, sexual abuse, a cry for help? We ask what happened to him. No one seems to have noticed that he is unwell... Given the context we do not insist. I would be surprised if he is acting. The last time I saw this kind of look was at Mother Teresa's orphanage in Calcutta

Stop at the edge of a river under a banyan tree to have tea with cakes. In this context it is embarrassing. We visit extremely poor villages and we are there having tea and little cakes on a table covered with a gingham tableclothcmose to a river. Tough! I wouldn't say it's very British, because other invaders were doing it long before the English...

As almost every time we stop somewhere, some assholes on motorbikes stop, either to get involved in what doesn't concern them, or to take pictures of us with their cell phones, unlike us without asking our permission. This time when they approached, the jeep driver curtly sent them away.

1. Visit of the private school sponsored by the royal family, Rawat Veer Vikram Singh Vidhalaya Private school. High-class uniforms, made-up teachers who speak fluent English. 10 students per class instead of 40. Benches to sit and write, dry-erase boards, markers instead of chalk. What a contrast with government public schools. It's time to leave, here, meals are not offered. On the other hand, there are school bus minibuses to take the children home. While the children of the people learn Sanskrit and traditions, the children of the rich prepare to enter the business world.
   

1. Lunch at Dhariyawad Heritage veg Sandwich
   

2. City tour with Girver who helps us understand everything we discover.
   

We always enjoy finding these lively streets where people from the city but also from very distant villages wander to buy basic necessities. We find the usual shops of the India of yesteryear: fabric and saree merchants where families who are going to marry their daughters off rush, tailors who make shirts and trousers much cheaper than those of the industry, shoemakers who not only repair shoes but make them, much cheaper than those of the industry, jewellers who make gold or silver jewellery on demand, merchants of coquetries that women love: bracelets, necklaces, nose ornaments and earrings, confectioners who make delicious coconut and cardamom burfis on the spot, grocers who sell everything edible even what seems inedible, vegetable and fruit merchants, milk and curd sellers, tinsmiths who still make saucepans although many are imported, barbers and hairdressers who are always busy, household electrical goods shops where you can find small generators, fans, televisions, smartphone shops. We are starting to see computer repair shops. This is the first time we have met so many women tailors, usually they are mostly men.

We met Manjou and Maya. Meeting with a homeopathic doctor who has his office in one of the pillars of the entrance gate of Fort Dhariyawad, Doctor Vimal Joothawat. In his pharmacy, he has all the basic mother tinctures. He prepares the dilutions and granules himself. We discuss our practices with my little knowledge of homeopathy and naturopathy. He tells me which product he successfully used to fight COVID. We would really need a homeopathic doctor who is as well trained and attentive. If he knew that in our country, thanks to Macron, homeopathy has entered the so-called ineffective or even illegal practices. Doctors no longer have the right to train in homeopathy. I left him some products that I had with me.

Meeting with the daughters of the Maharadja who participate in the management of the fort: Chandrika Ranawat and Diyya Ranawat. Charming people with strong characters. No wonder the fort is so well kept, they have strong personality.

1. Dinner and overnight at Dhariyawad Heritage
   

Day 10 Wednesday April 3, 2024 Dhariyawad - Bijaipur 160 km 3/4h

1. Departure 09:10 to Bijaipur On the way, stop to meet a farmer, Dana Ram who is turning over his field with oxen and a plow in the village of Dabi Khera, as was done in our country when I was a child. The family offers to have tea. In front of the house, cannabis plants. According to Girver, it would be birds that would have dropped seeds. Dying of laughter.
   

2. On the road, in the village of Mundla, we come across a school that is demonstrating by chanting instructions to encourage people to go and vote. In India as in France, abstentionism seems to be a scourge. We can understand...
   

A desert landscape, everything looks dried up. The farmers seem to live in great poverty, in huts made of woven rushes, with walls made of earth and cow dung. At the hotel in Jodhpur, we met two representatives of the United Nations, responsible for identifying development aid needs. During the conversation, they stated that there was practically no more great poverty in India. Maybe they should stop traveling by plane!

In the villages of Dabela, Bhagwanee redoes the ground in front of her house like many others on the occasion of the Desa Mata festival. She mixes earth and cow dung and spreads it like cement.

1. On the way, visit to the Talawana public school with friendly students. The teacher is alone and overwhelmed. Women work in the wheat fields. This could be the only income for the house and the season.
   

2. In the area of Mahuda, other women are busy renovating the ground in front of their house, always with earth and cow dung.
   

Stop at the exit of the village for a delicious sugar cane juice.

1. Stop in the village of Mangalwar we are attracted by the deafening sound of a sound system and the vision of women dancing and twirling. One of them dances with great grace. This is the "ring" ceremony: between three months and a year, the spouses are promised. A form of engagement. The families have checked the compatibility of the couple and have validated the marriage. As they are promised, no one will be able to interfere in the project. The promise cannot be broken.
   

I have never seen so many poppy fields since my trip in Afghanistan (1970) !

1. Lunch stop at the Radhe Krishna hotel in Bagund ; veg pakhora and mix parotha
   

Stop at Deori to visit a workshop that makes jaggery from sugarcane juice: without work because of the price of sugarcane. As it is very sweet because of the exceptional heat, it is bought by juice sellers, which makes the price rise. We discover that fresh jaggery is more or less malleable (soft), which tends to demonstrate that the one found in solid state on the markets has been modified (product added) in order to modify its weight to the advantage of the seller.

Arrival in Bijaipur around 4 p.m.

1. At 5 p.m. we start a tour of the village with Griver. The people are not very welcoming, not very smiling. The only exception is the ironer Bardijen Dobi, who still works with a very heavy charcoal iron. We were first verbally attacked and then with objects thrown at us by 12/13 year old children. I tried to catch one and we yelled at the others. When we reacted, adults intervened and said that they were just children playing. It's no wonder that the welcome in this village is so horrible if the adults think that kids can throw shoes at foreigners to play. This village won the cup for the best asshole club. Thanks to this new provocative and poorly educated generation, visiting India could become painful in a few years. They watch too many games and movies on their mobiles. We advise against this stage. We return to the fort no longer wanting to visit this inhospitable village.
   

2. Dinner and overnight at Castel Bijaipur
   

Day 11 Thursday April 4, 2024 Bijaipur - Tordi Garh 250 km 5/6h

Departure at 09:07, it is gray and 28°. It is the day of Desa Mata.

1. On the way, stop at a potter's in the village of Kharon Ka Khera. His name is Maden and his wife Kanku. They make beautiful red clay pots striped with white that the women carry on their hips. They make large round pots by shaping a piece of clay using a mallet. They also work on an electric lathe to make different objects.
   

1. Stop at the village of Akola to attend the Desa Mata ceremony which brings together the women of the village. They have put on their most beautiful red sarees embroidered with gold. They all bring a tray of offerings. In the absence of a temple, they use a tree that symbolizes the divinity and projects their prayers to the heavens. Here again, they unwind a thread around the tree to make a wish. Among women in the countryside, the caste barrier is less significant. These ceremonies are often multi-caste.
   

2. Stop at the village of Kadera to see the market on the main street, meet young women returning from the Desa Mata. They invite us to drink tea and introduce us to their parents who are oil millers. Kalli, Ladhuramji,Chelna, Soniya, Jyati, Anita, Sardha...
   

Arrival in Tordi around 4 p.m. We are slightly destabilized by the somewhat quick welcome from Om Ji who seems under pressure. The presence of two groups of Geeks that we see leaving in a jeep for the Tribal village Tour, in mini shorts, low-cut mini-dresses, and Bermuda shorts, because it is hot in the tropics, seems to create some excitement!

We are surprised by the neglected state of the hotel: dust, paint stains  everywhere, everything seems to lack care. The new generation of travelers in recent years has been exporting their way of life rather than discovering or adapting to other ways of life. It is thanks to them that we find red bull, burgers, pizzas, wifi almost everywhere. This could partly explain why many young males become disrespectful in the villages, if this is the image we give them? When getting into the jeeps, the very excited groups are accompanied by a guide who yells and acts like a camp counselor. At first we took him for a member of the hotel staff, it scared us to the point of suggesting changing hotels.

Village tour with Girver. A dark and deserted village without much interest. A few shops like in most villages. Girver shows us a sweet shop called Peda.

Back from their "safari" and during the diner, the Geeks decided to party: their guide pushed them to drink a lot, the excitement went up, accompanied by hysterical screams. The music is deafening until 10:30 p.m. Why do people need to yell and get excited so much ?

In a quiet village in India, the contrast is painful.

1. Dinner and overnight at Tordi Garh.
   

Day 12 Friday April 5, 2024 Tordi Garh tribal tour

Disappointed by our bad experience with the Bishnois and frightened by the behavior of the groups the day before, we do not want to do the Tribal Village jeep safari offered by the fort. As with the Bishnoi, the jeep is only used to create an illusion of adventure, just to pretend to be Livingstone or Alexandra David Neel for a few moments. We are as we are without needing to play Indiana Jones.

We go to meet the ethnic villages by car with Girver and the local guide Om Ji.

1. The first village, Balapura Sargarh, is extraordinary: the people are friendly and welcoming. We have the privilege of discovering women who go to fetch water from the well by carrying the pots balanced on their heads. These pots weigh between 20 and 25 kg when full. They generally carry two plus the small one that is used to bring up the water from the well. The more mature ones seem more discreet or timid and cover their faces as soon as we arrive. The young Wasa less fearful poses for eternity. In a few years this image will have disappeared from the Indian landscapes.
   

The villagers welcome us into their house and offer us tea. In one house, a matriarch began to sing and dance. The family offered us a traditional breakfast: corn porridge with curd.

1. The second village Bagria Ki Dhani is inhabited by the Bagriya or Bagaria community, was impressive. It is one of the poorest communities in India of the untouchable caste (harijans), related to the gypsies because formerly nomadic, with a sulphurous reputation of violent, dishonest, outlaw, unhygienic alcoholics. They survive thanks to small seasonal jobs and settle down thanks to state aid which finances part of the construction of houses. The welcome was warm. Children there are more respectful than in many "normal" villages.
   

We felt less insecure there than in some villages of civil servants whose arrogant and clingy children and young adults harassed us. The girls and young women are particularly beautiful in this village.

1. Lunch at Tordi Garh
   

2. The third village Jareli is a bit of a routine stroll. You can feel the side effects of the jeep safaris. It is the village of breeders and milk merchants.
   

I don't know why, maybe because I am not in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops, or because Girver wanted to make a joke, the children took me for a doctor who gives injections. They started to be afraid of me. To defuse the phenomenon, I offered to treat one of them with essential oils. I started to smear his arm with a few drops of Marjoram, which is an oil with a pleasant smell and is harmless.

All the children of the village then wanted me to "treat" them.

1. The fourth village is called Kera Malooka Nagar, the worst of the villages with Bijaipur, to be avoided. You can feel the side effects of the jeep safaris. A village apparently more affluent than the others. Probably from a higher caste... While we had cordial relations with the women at the well and the old men taking nice pictures, we were bothered by a group of young males aged 12 to 20, aggressive, arrogant, disrespectful, poorly educated, so annoying that we ended up turning back. They are second in the asshole competition. The new generation of smartphones, tick tock and other crap.
   

A small compensation, OM Ji invites us to visit his very functional modern house to have tea. To end the day storm and rain.

1. Dinner and overnight at Tordi Garh
   

Day 13 Saturday April 6, 2024 Tordi Garh - Karauli 210 km 4/5h

Tour of the village with Om Ji. Just as deserted and sad as the day before. Visit to the potter where you can try the traditional wheel. Tordi is really uninteresting apart from a few villages in the surrounding area. Two nights is too much.

Road to Karauli. Stop alittle before Mandawari for a delicious cane juice.

1. Stop at Mandawari to observe a shoemaker who makes leather shoes with a reputation for being solid. 500 Rps per pair. There are traditional shoes, ceremonial shoes, wedding shoes, women's shoes with embroidery, slippers.
   

If we were impressed by the number of poppy fields, we were even more impressed by the number of wheat fields. This part of Rajasthan is in full harvest. While a few privileged people use combine harvesters, most still harvest by hand with a sickle, even over several hectares. It is the women who do it, sometimes several dozen per field. They prepare the meal for the family, before leaving. They will work 8 hours under a blazing sun, with a bottle of water and a few chapatis. From the beginning to the end of our trip we were captivated by the courage of Indian women, who take care of children, husbands, in-laws while earning a few rupees to support the family.

1. All along the road we come across thousands of pilgrims (2 million five hundred thousand, according to the organization). A human tide that goes on foot from the Agra region to the Kaila Devi temple, in the Karauli district, or 200 to 400km depending on the starting point.
   

Women, children, elderly, disabled people, men of all ages, under a blazing sun, 28°/30° in the morning, 40° in the afternoon. All along their journey, sponsors (local merchants and local celebrities) set up tents to allow them to rest, offering meals, drinks and sometimes ice cream. We saw many pilgrims whose feet were damaged by this long walk. We did not see a health center. We stopped several times to meet them, to talk to them. They left on April 2 and plan to arrive on April 8 in Kaila Devi, 7 days to cover this route.

During one of the stops, a refreshment stand owner was rude to Nadia, Girver put him back in his place so virulently in front of everyone that I saw the asshole crush himself like a mussel.

It is impressive to see the courage of these people who make this sacrifice to obtain better karma, or the realization of a wish. Many times I have found myself thinking that if people capable of such courage and selflessness did the same thing to improve the world, even just the one around them, we might not be here.

Arrival in Karauli around 4:30 p.m. Around 5 p.m.

We go for a city tour with Girver. The young woman at the hotel reception is worried and warns us against the insecurity that reigns in Karauli. Girver reassures her...

We cross the Muslim quarter and its wood, rattan and bamboo sellers. We visit the Madan Mohan Temple during the puja. Religious manifestations sometimes take a hysterical turn which can be frightening.

At the beginning of the evening we meet the Maharanee who receives her guests, in a somewhat worldly way. Woman with strong personality. 

1. Dinner and overnight at Bhanwar Palace
   

Day 14 Sunday April 7, 2024 Karauli - Delhi 270 km 5/6h

Road to the airport.

1. We stop to meet farmers who thresh wheat with an old efficient machine. They work as a family, men, women, children.
   

Our route always passes by these courageous pilgrims who go to Kaila Devi.

Close to Ghonsla, We saw a huge wheat field with dozens of women and some men harvesting with sickles, supervised by men who scream when they talk a little too much or raise their heads. We go to meet them, which worries the owner and makes the women laugh... When the old owner dies, maybe his sons will want to sell the huge property to each get their share of the family wealth. Let's imagine that it is an agri-food lobby that buys the land, as is the case in France with the Chinese. We will see big combine harvesters appear, which will replace the women and men who worked in the fields. What will become of all these people, even if they were only paid 300/400 rupees per day ?

We hope that India does not change too quickly, and that it changes in the right places, so as not to be like us. If progress is attractive, it seems important to evaluate its benefits and drawbacks before it is too late.

1. At lunch time, when we arrive at the restaurant, a man calls to us in French: it is Raj who has come to meet us. Great moment of emotion, of exchange, of sharing. We express to him our joy at having chosen his agency to make this trip which is one of the most beautiful we have made. Girver knew about it but said nothing. Hard moment of separation at the airport. The return to our reality is not easy.
   

Day 15 Monday April 8, 2024 Delhi - Doha - Nice