Gudda Bishnoi village home

Our friendly driver took us to Gudda Bishnoi, where we visited a typical village home. The 22 year old woman greeted us warmly and introduced us to her four children. She then returned to her work, adding brilliant thread to a head ornamentation that looked like a miniature top. Her large gold semi-circular nose ring concealed over half of her shy smile and was supported by a chain that went back to her ear. Like many Rajasthani women we had met, her hands and feet were decorated with mehendi. On a shelf was device comprised of two cloth funnels symmetrically balanced on an iron pole with two carved wooden bowls below. Our driver explained that this was used for opium - rather common in this area but illegal. No Rajasthani visit would be complete without chai. Gingerly tiptoeing over the sunny portion of the cow-dung surface floor, we once again sat down in a shaded area. As we waited for the preparation of the chai, a relative of the family expertly applied henna to my friend’s hand.


The driver pointed out a large grove of trees close to the home, a memorial commemorating each of the 363 Bishnois people who gave up their lives in 1449 trying to protect trees from being cut down for the purposes of making cement. Passionate environmentalists, they continued to hug the trees until the blows of the tree axe beheaded them. Near the village large numbers of normally timid blackbuck deer roamed freely and without fear in the arid land which receives only about seven days of rain per year. The Bishnois believe that they will be reborn as deer.

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