Hot

05 October 2007:

Hello -

All is well in India. I've completed a northern route through Rajasthan - Jhunjhunu, Mandawa, Bikaner, and now Jaisalmer. I'm in the Great Thar Dessert and man is it hot.

The only way I can demonstrate how hot is through science... On the drive to Jaisalmer, power transmission lines were sagging lower than I'd ever seen before.

For those of you who are not engineers, that means the electricity pumping through the cables made the wires hot and expand. More people pumping the AC - more sag.

Turns out Bikaner was the first place in Rajasthan state to employ electricity in the early 1800s. Now windmills turn on the horizon in Bada Bagh outside Jaisalmer.

This morning my priority errand in Jaisalmer fort was: breakfast. 25% of people in Jaislamer around found in this "living fort". They must eat.

I found a wonderful, small kitchen run by a darling grandmother. I enjoyed the best masala chai I've had in India so far, while munching on breads, jam, and curd on her balcony. After returning to the narrow market streets the men said I had power because my belly was full.

The first question market workers always ask is: what country? I tell them India. I also try to convince them my name is Radhika Singh Lutyens. They guess I'm from Delhi. They also ask where's Krishna, Radhika's lover, I point to my driver.

More news to come. I hope all is well with each of you.

Best,

Jackie