View From a Camel

Yesterday we departed from Jaisalmer and drove for an hour across the desert in a jeep. We stopped at a village next to a watering hole where we jumped on camels, and trekked across the desert for a couple of hours before we stopped for a night under the stars, before returning this morning, by same means of transportation. Although the trip was tiring, our guides were good, and overall it was a very enjoyable experience.

Since Jaisalmer is one of the more rural areas of India, I was looking out for anything that might be useful towards my project. Although I didn’t get any firsthand information, I did get to witness a little bit of village life for myself.

Rural India is quite different, even from rural Canada. There are multiple small villages, with populations ranging from maybe 15 people to 1000 or sometimes even more.  These villages will either have a watering hole in them, or a well nearby. Most people who work in towns like Jaisalmer usually come from these villages. The only women I saw in villages were the ones who were retrieving water from the wells. Although I didn’t get to talk with any of them, based on my conversations with the tour guide, there is still a lot of sexism occurring in the rural areas.

The impression I got was that men work outside the home, and women stay home and do all of the cooking and housework. That’s fine if that’s their choice, but I’m getting the impression more and more that they’re being suppressed and they have few options open to them. Tonight, we’re leaving to go to Jodhpur, where I’m planning on meeting with the Sambhali Trust, a charity that helps oppressed women. Hopefully there I can get some firsthand experience about this issue in the more rural areas.