Am I ecstatic!! Yes! Was I at a reunion, a get together to remember!! Yes. The setting was a Rajputana style Fort Aranya Resort, Jaisalmer, near the sand dunes of Sam..!! The AQI was unbelievable at a perfect zero, with warm days and chilly crystal clear nights.
‘On the way to the resort, a folklore which was narrated by our taxi wallah gripped my mind. It was about Village Kuldhara, a ghost village now! It is also a heritage site of Archaeological Survey of India at present.
It was a tale which described how the entire village decided to abandon their homes overnight and flee into the unknown. It was to protect the honour of one of their village girls, who had caught the fancy of a local ruler of another faith. This was the stuff straight out of Bollywood – a tale of lust and honour.
‘ This is the time of the year when Jaisalmer comes alive. Rajasthani thaali, Rajasthani desert folklores (like the one about village Kuldhara above), traditional song and dance on dhol beats, with the picturesque back drop of Sam sand dunes, are all mesmerising.
‘ With direct flights operating to Jaisalmer these days, arrive plane loads of urbanites and simple rural folks from across India and also groups of foreign tourists. Tourists vie for a selfie, solo and group pictures at this famous fort city. There’s merriment in the air, camels adorned with royal saddles, tinkling bells and colourful ribbons round their heads welcome the tourists with a ready trot.
‘At sunset, our ‘glamping’ resort night sky enthralled us every time we looked up. Twinkling and glittering, thousands of stars beckoned us. To our luck we ran into a passionate astronomy buff, who had set up his professional telescope to star gaze. He knew the night sky like the back of his hand. The short methodical tutorial of star pointing with laser pointer followed by a peek through the telescope to see clearly the Jupiter moons and Saturn rings was phenomenal. Our NCERT Science lesson about Saptarshi mandal, stars moons and fascinating diagrams of solar system came alive that night.
‘ Though Lady Macbeth’s quotation is out of context here, still I am thinking of her quote as I end this piece – “…this little hand of mine…”, just goes on and on scribbling feverishly.
