Tassels attached to trucks on the highway

 THE ROAD FROM Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is called a highway and tolls are levied along the way. In fact, most of the way it is a two-lane road without a central divider. The country through which we travelled from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is for the most part as flat as a pancake The sandy landscape contains many trees and succulent plant bushes.  As one gets further and further away from Jodhpur,  villages and settlements become few and far between. Apart from agriculture,  there is no other industry.  However, as you get closer to Jaisalmer,  the countryside becomes filled with wind turbines and electricity pylons.

 

Although we did not encounter much traffic, we did meet a variety of animals using the roads: cattle, goats, sheep, horses, peacocks, and camels. Drivers are careful to avoid hitting them, often crossing over to the wrong side of the road to bypass them.

 

We stopped for a light lunch (vegetarian) at an isolated, small, unpretentious wayside eatery (a ‘dhaba’). The menu was in Hindi script only, and the waiter asked my wife to write down (in Hindi) the items we wanted. In addition to us, there was a family from Assam eating in the dhaba. The stuffed parathas we ate were well made and the buttermilk was refreshing.

 

Most of the trucks we saw on our way had tassels attached. Often, they are black, as we have seen all over India during past travels. However  some of the trucks we saw in Rajasthan sported coloured tassels, hanging from the rear. Those readers unfamiliar with India might be curious about the purpose of these usually unattractive tassels. In my book “CORACLES AND CROCODILES: 101 TALES OF INDIA”, I have written about these tassels, which flutter in the wind as the truck speeds along the highway.

 

Even if the scenery is not spectacular,  I  enjoy travelling by road in India. All along the way, there are scenes of rural life to be seen. For example, today we passed through a village in which piles of red chillies were out drying alongside the roadway. And often the country folk can be seen going about their daily routines dressed in traditional garb, whose design is centuries old. These fleeting glimpses of rural life enhance my enjoyment of India.

[The book mentioned above is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/CORACLES-CROCODILES-101-TALES-INDIA/dp/B0DJZ6DMYB ]