A Rajasthani morn

 Day started , or rather night ended, with the call to prayer. The  mullahs in the two mosques competing for attention . As this is  not a totally Muslim country , speakers were not permitted. Judging from the audible level, not needed either . Dozing again , I was woken by an express train with hooter at full volume ; in  India rail lines are often thoroughfares for pedestrians , and the trains don’t slow for them.

So at least I was conscious to take in the sights and sounds of a Rajasthani village . This had grown up adjacent to the walls of the fort  which housed our hotel; so I had a birds eye view of all below.    The sun lit up painted buildings, which stood out in sharp relief against their neighbours. Modern development had not yet arrived here, the view not changed for decades; with the exception of four mobile phone towers ; the world over phone companies don’t seem able to cooperate. 

Just about all the buildings had flat roofs , which in themselves provided another living space. Water tanks jostled for space with drying : clothes, straw ( animal food ) , and cowpats ( fuel when dried ) . …all those cows do have their uses. ; charpoys ( string beds ideal for hot summer night ) and bathroom facilities ( buckets ).

Outside bathrooms on the roof  provide privacy as long as your neighbour decides not to compete on building height. Our fort had been neglected for years , but now housed our hotel room which rose well above the battlements. A lady in full sari was demurely scrubbing one limb at a time; so I looked away to avoid embarrassment ( mine ) . In another ‘bathroom ‘ , a  man dressed in just a loin cloth proceeded to pour a bucket of water over him; in these bathrooms plumbing is basic indeed. 

The lanes threaded though tightly packed houses. These were now filling with village life. The refuse disposal cart was an open trailer, with a tractor which played Punjabi music at each stop “ empty your rubbish now”? The ladies , of course,  were the ones depositing the family rubbish, also kept the earthen lanes immaculately clean ; despite it  being used by pigs , goats and those ubiquitous cows . A passing scooter stopped, to enable both to stare  up at my room at one of those (in)famous wedding guests …Ah me , so I hid.

A passing flock of ducks drew my attention to another window , and a view of an adjacent ‘tank’…or open reservoir. Another flock emerged, this time from under the water! . These were cormorants ( or Indian equivalent) . India is a continent of large numbers, which also applied to these birds. This tank served as an adjunct to the adjacent temple complex…and a place IN  which the local cars were washed, as well as clothes. Quite how the fish survived is a mystery.

Rising above all, fort included,  was a small hill, atop was another  temple:Chauth Bhawani . This was enhanced to commemorate the incumbent goddess saving the life of the fort’s Raja. He had ignored his wife’s premonition and gone hunting . Getting lost he was saved by following a vision of this goddess. Substantial reconstruction followed. It is heavily visited and the footpath to the top is covered the whole way. We however could not visit , for us our fort was a gilded cage .A tiger reserve was nearby  but it was the paparazzi who were rightly considered the voracious beasts.