9/18/14
3:40 PM
I am sitting in Jal Bhagirathi Foundation’s (JBF) office at
Bijolai Palace of Jodhpur (India). JBF is an innovative and philanthropic initiative
led by the king of Jodhpur, His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh Ji. He has been the
king for last 50 years after an untimely death of his father Maharaja Hanumant
Singh in a mysterious plane crash near Sumerpur (Rajasthan). This is my first
day in JBF as a Program Specialist for a EU funded project on water security and
climate change. This project is in Thar deserts of Rajasthan, which is the
world’s most populated desert. The region has a history of devastating famines
releasing untold miseries for the common people. Life is full of hardships, and
spotting women walking 10 to 12 kilometers for drinking water is a common
sight. His Highness Gaj Singh Ji’s vision is to revive the traditional water
conservation and harvesting systems, which have been more or less lost because
of the official apathy and retrograde red-tapism. The ground-breaking work
which JBF is doing reflects a Maharaja who at his heart so much connected with
the people and still revered by the local population with more or less a Godly
status. He is known to have a mild, humble and quiet disposition. Besides, he is also famous for his class, elegance and charisma. He is
equally comfortable with the nobility from Europe on one hand and poor sudra
peasant from a small place like Bayatu.
I am here after spending two years in the world of NYC and
Washington DC. Ithaca, where I was studying public policy at Cornell, had
minimum temperatures of -25 degree Celsius in winters and about 15 to 22 degree
Celsius in summers. Jodhpur temperatures in summer soar as high as about 49
degree Celsius. It is a journey from the
Frigidaire to frying pan. Bijolai palace
is located about 10 kms outside the main city of Jodhpur. On my way, I saw
houses of red Jodhpur stone, which is a sign of royalty here. Cows can be seen
partying on the roads in different moods. I see a big group of elderly cows
discussing some strategic matter concerning either their owner or their
herd !!!!. There is a local raika(local
herdsman) with almost a meter long mustache and a turban weighing at least two
and half kgs grazing a herd of about 500 sheep. He is herding them with a complete poise and
state of absolute detachment, occupying the entire width of the road. The
trucks, cars are honking or rather trumpeting like a mad elephant but he does
not seem to bother. Alongside the trucks I also see a group of five elephant
brothers with five sadhu mahauts riding them. I find a strange understanding or
a symbiotic arrangement between the mankind and the animal kingdom over sharing
of the state owned road infrastructure. These animals are using the roads with
an elegance and understanding of a very high order.
At Bijolai palace, my office is surrounded by water,
water-borne diseases and scorching sun and an assortment of various species of
animals which include merchant like monkeys, venomous, shiny and black
water-loving cobras, chameleons, wild boars, and the most beautiful and colorful grasshoppers.
My project director asked to be mindful of my steps as there are a good number
of cobras here. I am told that the monkeys are the biggest threat to internet
connectivity here. A few days back the management had installed machines to
scare away monkeys which produce strange sounds to scare them. But, the
merchant-like monkeys finally understood the trick and smashed the machines. Today,
the accounts officer was summoned to answer the monkey-machine fiasco.
I hope there is a lot more to explore in this new world and
I believe I will surely have some sort of enlightenment staying in this
wilderness with the cobras, chameleons, monkeys and most importantly the
‘WATER’.
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