Even though Rajasthan evoked images of desert, it also has beautiful lakes and dense jungles. Its diaspora is dispersed into a number of villages and hamlets. But it isn’t easy to spot a typical village until one is actually upon it. Hamlets are the most basic form of civilisation and people living in hamlets enjoy a simple lifestyle that has remained unchanged for centuries. Women, especially married women, cover their head and faces behind a veil or ‘Purdah’ in company of elders and unknown men. A hamlet usually consists of a collection of circular huts with thatched roofs, walls of which are covered with a plaster of clay, hay and cow dung; thus forming a termite-free facade that easily blends in with the sand of countryside around it. Dry branches of a nettle-like shrub are used to make the boundaries for houses and land holdings. These boundaries are known as ‘Baras’.
Villages that are larger in size have larger living units, also termed as pucca houses, that usually belong to the family of the village ‘zamindar’ or landlord. A mixture of limestone pebbles, pounded lime and water is usually used to make up the floors of these houses.