Villagers in Rajasthan are living in the future by living in the past.

In Rajasthan we stayed with Farhad Contractor for three days. He had planned a lot of things for us to see. Farhad has been working for the NGO Sambhaav in Rajasthan and Gujarat for 11 years, and knows what is going on in the water sector in these areas very well. When I asked him about what kind of projects Sambhaav is working on, he immediately cuts me off: they do not “work” with “projects” with a beginning and an end, he told me - “you have to live with the people and then create something together with them”. Sambhaav has done a lot of work on revival of traditional water structures such as beris and talaabs. We were brought around to see the results of the work done by Sambhaav in collaboration with the villagers in the region.

We are in Rajasthan, the driest state in India. In some regions there is only 80 mm rainfall a year, and conserving water is crucial for survival. The environment here is so harsh that it is a necessity for the people here to live in total balance with nature. As Farhad pointed out, the nature is never the problem, the environment is never a problem. It is when people interfere with nature’s cycle that problems are created. Bad management, attempts to control nature and human settlements that are blocking the normal flow create big problems in the desert.

“People have been surviving in deserts for hundreds of years “, Farhad says enthustically, and continues “they do not need any help. We just assist them in “drawing the picture” and see the links. They need to see the reason why their forefathers had water and the rivers flowing” As every other product, water structures also have life cycle… and everything goes down, Farhad explains. Sambhaav just supports them to get back in business again, and to improve their existing water structures.

A kuan near Ramgarh

Another view of the Kuan

While visiting the villages we could see how the people living there adjusted themselves to the nature and the environment around them, and they are not trying to make it the other way around. We got the honour to meet Farhad’s project coordinator - Chattar Singh, who has lived in the Thar desert all his life, and hear his stories. “In the desert, everything is interconnected, and everything adjusts to each other” Chattar Sing says with a strong, confident voice. Even though he is speaking in Hindi, I know that his words are meaningful, I can almost feel what he is telling. Farhad interprets in English what Chattar Singh says. “One example is the livestock that people have in the desert. They only need water once every second day”. He also tells about how the villagers here have had the opportunity to use machines to extract water from bore wells in a fast and effective way. This practice was refused, and they stick to traditional techniques by using manpower and camels instead. By doing this they are guaranteed that human greed will not overgo natures limit, and it will allow ground water level to recharge itself.

Beri reconstructed by Sambhaav

Animals drinking water from the Beri

Water inside a Beri

We visited Viprasar to see the beris revived by the villagers in collaboration with Sambhaav. Chattar Singh explained as we were moving around, and I will never forget the solidarity that people have for each other here. There is no “mine” or “yours” well, it is “our” well. Everybody owns the wells, and have equal interest in maintaining it. “If there is drought in some place and if nomads come migrating to this village to have water, they are welcomed by the local villagers as their own people”, Chattar Singh tells “and they can stay for as long as they want”. Nobody rejects anyone to access water, it is equally important for everyone no matter who you are or where you come from. He continues: “If there has been too long since last rainfall and a shepherd has lost his livestock because of lack of water, the rest of the villagers gives away one animal each to him so that he can start all over again”. Once again, the solidarity and compassion that people feel for each other is very strong. they clearly know the importance of water.

A community meeting near Viprasar

The way they deal with nature in Rajasthan is something that we, people from modern societies, need to learn. Introducing machines to extract groundwater (which has led to eventual over extraction) has outcomes that we are seeing in many parts of India. Groundwater level is constantly depleting because of non sustainable practices. This is something that the villagers in Rajasthan have realized long time ago - they don`t want to go there. Why? Because the fine balance of nature in the deserts has to be respected. Because if something goes wrong they know that they will not get a second chance. Can we afford unsustainable practices in urban India? Do we get another chance here? Doubtfully. It just takes more time before we realize it. And it may be too late.

We visited the places quoted in this post on 10th of May 2008. Below is the GPS track of the route
Day 15 at EveryTrail