The Painted Towns of Shekhawati: A Mapin Guide to India

My connection with Shekhawati dates back to an event in the summer of 1971. The night train thundered through hot darkness, heading for Ferozepore, then the frontier-crossing into Pakistan. It was crowded, with no hope of a berth. Unable to sleep, I started a conversation with the student in front of me. His name was Suresh Bansal, a member of the Agrawal subcaste of the Bania (business) caste, and he was returning home from Nagaland, across the whole width of north India. There, family had a business. His village, Narnaund, was in Haryana. There seemed nothing strange to him that business and home were so widely separated. He knew many other Agrawal families in just the same position. When preparing to get down at Jind, he invited me to join him and visit Narnaund, but this was the first stage in my overland journey back to England. Funds were low and I was in the mood for home. Later, we corresponded.