Out of sight

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” — Antonie de Saint-Exupery

Narrow streets and centuries-old houses, with their delightful wall engravings, made only with hand-tools. Tourists from all over the world come to Jaisalmer only to see such beautifully inscribed pictures and patterns, the local culture, the art and crafts of this place.

Walking down the streets I could see small artifact shops within every 10 meters selling wood artifacts, mugs made with a kind of fossil rock that, as said by the locals, are only found in the Jaisalmer region. These rocks are believed to cure blood pressure, diabetes, and many common problems like these. Even the floors of houses are made with these rocks.

A Book Shop at the end of the street hidden behind a large travel agency board. It was like in an adventure move where the hero finds an old man with a long beard sitting in a bookshop with glasses on his nose, studying a book under a lamp. The old man surrounded by old books and lots of rolled maps. which later tells the hero about the treasure map. The shop was also. I entered the small front gate, bending my neck as I am 6 ft tall. Inside the first room, yes there was a secret room (kind of!), there were shelves filled with books of all genres. I felt bad when I saw a shelf with the title ‘Books to read before you lose the ability to read’. In the past years since I started reading books, I have never read a quote like it. I felt bad because out of those 20 books I had 3 and every time I started one of the books, the words fell on me like silver bullets and without a miss. After 2 pages the book start to slip through my hands, it became heavy or my hand loses the ability to hold things --- I don’t know that. But after seeing that shelf filled with 20 most amazing books, I promised myself to read all of those in the coming years. (3 done!) Behind one of the shelves was one more door, even smaller than the front gate. This gate was covered in graffiti made with pencils only, inside was a whole different thing. Inside the room was tables filled with strange artifacts and jewelry. And for the first time in my life I saw an hour-glass, this small instrument impressed me the most because it made me think how weary the heroic philosopher must have felt when the king gave him a very small amount of time to solve a particular time and he saw the sand dropping grain by grain while desperate men were plotting against his life.

On the walls of that room were paintings of beautiful landscapes and pictures of people living in the desert. When touched, I came to know that these were original paintings.

One thing was common to every house in Jailsamer and that was a picture painted on the front wall of the houses. In that picture, two hands were joining for Namaste and a Kalash with a coconut on it. I saw this painting everywhere for the whole day when at last I asked about this to our host and he said that these are made when the newly married couple arrives at their home for the first time. And it will stay there until the next wedding in the house. Old folk singers, singing Rajasthani folk songs with their children dancing on the beats. These singers arrive in Jaislamer in the early morning form villages around Jaisalmer. They carry a Harmonium, Flute, and a Kartal with them. Their music creates a vibe in the air that will take you along with the vibrations.

In the evening I got very tired of walking for the whole day. ‘But I can’t stop now’, I said to myself, because it was New Year’s time and strolling through the streets at night at this time was recommended. But my feet ached and I remembered a few lines by Helen Keller “Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire.”

I got up and started the hunt for a quiet place to eat dinner at. But at New Year’s time, everyone was eating outside and it becomes so difficult to find a quiet place to eat. But my empty, growling stomach didn’t give up on the idea of finding a quiet place to eat.

From the outside, it didn’t look like a hotel to me. To get there I had to climb narrow stairs with only a single two-door gate on the entry and a small board saying Roof-top hotel. Maybe that was the reason why no one comes there because it didn’t look like one. But it was a quiet place and that was all I wanted.

I sat on a seat that was entirely carved out of rocks, cold breeze going through me, everyone on the streets hunting for booze and a place to party. And form the hotel I could see the New Year decorations on a nearby square and now I could warm up after all the wanderings I did during the day. Looking at all the things I bought from the local sellers. I was checking the magazines when he arrived, the cook himself, in his mid-twenties---I think, for the order followed by a kid with a glass of water. His voice wavered. He spoke, to the kid, in whispers avoiding eye contact and fixing his gaze on the ground. He was shy, why? I spoke to him. ‘I am new here and very few people choose to come here.”, said he with a long sigh.

After eating, I was out for a walk along the walls of Jaisalmer fort. The air was balmy, with a tang of desert sand in it. Thinking of the day ahead of me. The goal is to experience the place, absorb the memories rather than googling must-see places, and then going there only to find out a huge crowd filled with people obsessed with taking photos of themselves.
Yes! The majority of tourists go to must-see places only to take photos. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with these people. But don’t be one of them.