Son Lal

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Tan Dan's chelana 1948-2014

Tan Dan was a farmer in Rajasthan who lived from 1943 to 2021. He was a friend of the author. Persons, places and events have been described from Tan Dan’s angle in this book. His photos and narrations may have different interpretations by villagers with other attitudes and experience. Many names are fictive, as the book is an attempt to understand events and behaviour in a historical context without accusing individuals. Chelana (fictive name) was the village of Tan Dan and his brothers in Rajasthan, northwestern India. Their clan had been cattlebreeders with a nomadic origin. They managed to improve their living conditions due to a number of lucky coincidences. During those eventful years around 1950 India got independence, the feudal rule in Rajasthan was abolished, and the young brothers found water in the limestone cavities far below their feet. Their land had all of a sudden become a source of wealth and hope. They became the spearheads in the new democratic era, which offered new opportunities to dynamic villagers. To a new generation in the hot semidesert, which for generations had offered nothing but droughts and famines. Tan Dan’s region had got the name Marvar, which means the region of death. A dangerous place to pass for the transport caravans both due to water shortage and the risk of robbery. Dacoit gangs in the wilderness stopped being a harassment at about the same time as Marvari villagers got their first general election and the farmers at Chelana found out how to operate deep mechanized wells.