Well, I love to be in small villages anywhere and see the local things of that place. What about you? Do you believe in sustainable tourism?

It is heartening to know about the new tourism policy of Rajasthan government introduced recently. The state will benefit highly from it as the untapped potential of many places remain unutilized by the tourism sector. Since long it has been observed that Rajasthan because of its unique topography and culture attracts a lot of tourists worldwide.

It is for the people and specially the youth to start thinking of careers in this sector as many jobs are being created in this area. Tourists coming to the state are looking for adventure, and romance in the desert plains and this is where our focus should lie. If Kerala can sell its scenic beauty and ayurvedic massages to the tourists during the monsoons so can we as we have equally good spots which are yet to be marked on the tourist map.

Village and Eco tourism also has great potential and every tourist is not looking for a five star stay in the state. Samode village has taken the lead in this and there is need for organised TOURIST services so that people enjoy the ambience of this quaint village of Rajasthan.

Viewed from a distance, an Indian village may appear deceptively simple. A cluster of mud-plastered walls shaded by a few trees, set among a stretch of green or dun-colored fields, with a few people slowly coming or going, oxcarts creaking, cattle grunts, and birds singing--all present an image of harmonious simplicity.In Punjab, the richest state in INDIA, the villages are made of brick houses and no mud plastered huts can be found there.

Indian city dwellers often refer nostalgically to "simple village life." City artists portray colorfully garbed village women gracefully carrying water pots on their heads, and writers describe isolated rural settlements unsullied by the complexities of modern urban civilization. Social scientists of the past wrote of Indian villages as virtually self-sufficient communities with few ties to the outside world.

In actuality, Indian village life is far from simple. Each village is connected through a variety of crucial horizontal linkages with other villages and with urban areas both near and far. Most villages are characterized by a multiplicity of economic, caste, kinship, occupational, and even religious groups linked vertically within each settlement. Factionalism is a typical feature of village politics. in one of the first of the modern anthropological studies of Indian village life, anthropologist Oscar Lewis called this complexity "rural cosmopolitanism."

We ,in the desert, with its limitations, have to offer the TOURISTS an experience which teaches them about our sustainable and energy saving lifestyle here. A lifestyle which is energy rich and materialistic to the core is slowly being discarded by many right thinking people and even world govts are now encouraging sustainable living in their tourist hotspots.

Have you stayed in a village anywhere in the world and what has been your experience there?

Above comments were sent by Ms. Shoma, Jaipur (shomad@rediffmail.com)