Sneeking in kitchens
First stop today was with a rural tribe: the Bishnoi. Bish stands for 20, No(i) is 9… Bishnoi is the tribe which has 29 rules to regulate life and protect the environment, for about 400 years. They are so successful for instance with wild life protection, that deer and other animal living near villages, not expecting any harm from there. Bishnoi protect trees, migrating birds and honoring their crafts in pottery, weavery, handprinted fabrics and so on.
In Gudha, we were invited in a home for tea ceremony. First offering was opium tea (Really? Yes, really.) But then the traditional chay masala came up. We looked in the kitchen, helped with the mill and listened to tales about ancestors, beliefs, duties and limits. In the village, traditional houses are replaced by quite modern, quite luxurious houses. Not sure, that (always) fits the sustainability claim. But makes sense to provide a better life to the children in the villages. Hoop, big tourism won’t mess up the basics of this community.
In Salawas we looked for some additional information, but this village had already too much changed, fitted in de ‘normal rural life’, which – for sure – is very harsh: on the fields everything is done by hand, mostly by women. Men we usually saw as shepherds of goats and sheep, working in de wheel and other car shops.
Did I mention that we had to celebrate a birthday today? Thus we went for a cooking class at home of a friend from the familie where we are staying. His wife invited us and two American girls in her kitchen. Through the evening we made 9 different dishes, all well explained: which ingredients, whats important about them, the difference between spices, flavor and aromatics, right heating processes, everything fresh and handmade. Seems to be relatively easy to try it once at home. Basically, seeing how an Indian home kitchen works, what you need and how it is organised was already amazing. Also, how tasks are shared thus everything is ready to serve together.
Realizing that we still only scratches the surface, today in may ways we came closer to India than any travel agency is able to provide. Of course, we had a very good starting point with our homestay. And from there, you have to dare to give it a go and cut loose part of the restriction which come with your back-home-references.
In a few hours we’re leaving for Udaipur, our last stop in Rajasthan. is 20, No is 9… Bishnoi stands for the tribe which has 29 rules to regulate life and protect the environment. For several hundred years they are so successful for instance with wild life protection, that deer and other animal living near villages, not expecting any harm from there. Bishnoi protect trees, migrating birds and honoring their crafts in pottery, weavery, handprinted fabrics and so on.
In Gudha, we were invited in a home for tea ceremony. First offering was opium (Really? Yes, really.) But then the traditional chay masala came up. We looked in the kitchen, helped with the mill and listened to tales about ancestors, beliefs, duties and limits. In the village, traditional houses are replaced by quite modern, quite luxurious houses. Not sure, that (always) fits the sustainability claim. But makes sense to provide a better life to the children in the villages. Hoop, big tourism won’t mess up the basics of this community.
In Salawas we looked for some additional information, but this village had already too much changed, fitted in de ‘normal rural life’, which – for sure – is very harsh: on the fields everything is done by hand, mostly by women. Men we usually saw as shepherds of goats and sheep, working in de wheel and other car shops.
Did I mention that we had to celebrate a birthday today? Thus we went for a cooking class at home of a friend from the familie where we are staying. His wife invited us and two American girls in her kitchen. Through the evening we made 9 different dishes, all well explained: which ingredients, whats important about them, the difference between spices, flavor and aromatics, right heating processes, everything fresh and handmade. Seems to be relatively easy to try it once at home. Basically, seeing how an Indian home kitchen works, what you need and how it is organised was already amazing. Also, how tasks are shared thus everything is ready to serve together.
Realizing that we still only scratches the surface, today in may ways we came closer to India than any travel agency is able to provide. Of course, we had a very good starting point with our homestay. And from there, you have to dare to give it a go and cut loose part of the restriction which come with your back-home-references.
In a few hours we’re leaving for Udaipur, our last stop in Rajasthan.