A desert story

9:30 pm, Bajju, Rajasthan.

I was feeling trapped in the Delhi clouds. The clouds were of pollution, of confusion and of pressure I was not liking. I had started doing theatre, but somehow I wanted to do something deeper. I had always admired nature, but never experienced it as close as I wanted to.

I had always been somewhat a free soul, a free bird, but I guess I was not getting space to fly.
It was very sudden, very random, and I packed my bags to Rishikesh. I somehow liked it. I had started enjoying the concept of self-exploration. I
was enjoying the process. I came back home to Gurgaon and on the internet I met an old friend online, who was working in the Thar desert. I asked her about the job. She asked me for a weekend's visit. Keeping my fingers crossed, I left to see the work-place.
The desert was not a new place for me, but had never been there for a job. I had been called there for a film-maker's post. Adding to this, I would also do a teacher's, a theatre person's and a development person's work.

It sounded interesting to me as it had every element of work I wanted to do. Very soon, I escaped from the urban life. I reached this village called 'Bajju' in Rajasthan. This was pretty close to the Indo-Pak border.
The first thing which I loved about this place was the pure air, despite the sand around. At night, there were no lights around and I looked up just by chance. I saw the beautiful night sky, I had seen in the planetarium once in the sky. I was amazed at the raw beauty. That night, my feet were in the cold sand, with the amazing sight of the stars. At that point in my life, I knew that this is the place I was looking for!

Today I am loving the place with my new quarter (a hut, I share with a co-employee, Moti), a lovely chai every morning at 6 am. I am loving the surprising journeys to new villages, to teach the women SHG's (Self Help Groups).

In every sense of the word, peace.