November 24, 2005, Nimaj, Rajasthan, India

It was impossible to capture him. His face was topographic, lines etched deep, a storybook of years spent smiling and laughing, toiling and struggling, living under the blazing sun of central Rajasthan.

Wende and I were back in India, this time taking our mothers on (what was then) an off-the-beaten-track journey through the places we had honeymooned two years before. This was our two night splurge, staying on the grounds of Chhatra Sagar, a 1,400-acre, 19th century reservoir and estate once owned by Rajput nobleman Thakur Chhatra Singh, it had been converted into a seasonal, luxury tented camp.¹ While we all enjoyed a break from the chaos of bigger, busier Rajasthani towns and cities, the real draw to Chhatra Sagar was the surrounding countryside and a glimpse into traditional life on the eastern edge of the Thar Desert.