These village safaris are very popular in the Jodhpur area. I assume all tours leave a nice tip when they leave, so the villagers don't mind the interruptions so much? We had a tipping kitty that we all contributed to & Dev decided how much to leave & when & to whom. He then gave it to one of us to offer to the villager or local. He made sure we all took turns.

THE BISHNOI: a rural tribal group, are a Hindu sect founded in the Punjab, who follow the teaching of Jambeshwar, a 15th-century sage & religious reformer who left a legacy of 29 (bis noi) tenets. The countryside around Jodhpur is home to many tidy Bishnoi villages & family compounds. These gentle communities of potters, weavers, leather embroiderers & camel herders have achieved world acclaim for their religious conservationist beliefs. They are vegetarians, follow the principles of non-violence, & above all, reverently protect all flora & fauna. They do not allow felling of trees or hunting on their lands. This area is home to the rare blackbuck antelope with remarkable spiral horns. (We saw quite a few of the graceful creatures.) They freely graze, fully aware, it seems, that no one here will harm them.

The history & customs of the Bishnoi are legendary. In fact, one infamous incident in 1730 involved the massacre of 363 Bishnois who sacrificed their lives to save their trees. They were felled indiscriminately by the raja’s troops along with the trees they were hugging to protect them. (I can't help but wonder if this is where the term "tree hugger" came from?)

Their 29 rules are listed here: http://www.bishnoi.org/rules.html

& here: http://www.bishnoi.org/rulesdetail.html

More info about the Bishnoi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishnoi

THE BISHNOI & OPIUM:

Although now illegal in India, & forbidden by the 29 tenets of the Bishnoi, the sect still uses it & have been given special consent from the Indian government to use opium for ‘religious’ purposes. Legally , they are only allowed to use empty poppy pods, after the opium has been extracted for medical manufacture. The pods are then ground, mixed with a sugar solution, then diluted further with water for the ceremony. So in truth, it seems there is hardly any opium in the mixture?

I vaguely remember being told that the Bishnoi were the original growers of the opium poppy, & maybe they still are? But I have not been able to verify this. But it would make sense since they have a long shared history with opium. There were, & perhaps there still are, certain traditional occasions where the sharing of opium tea is permitted & practiced by the Bishnoi. For example, opium tea was used as a welcome drink for guests who usually came from far away & had long, difficult journeys. The opium tea was meant to relax & refresh their bodies and minds to ensure their recovery from their arduous trip. Back then, the opium seed was ground, & mixed with water. Traditionally, it was/is slurped from the palm of the server.

Another traditional occasion for opium tea was/is when the younger members of the family served it to the elders of the family coming back from work in the fields. Then there’s also the opium sharing ceremony practiced whenever there is a gathering such as a marriage or a funeral, or a dispute to settle - somewhat akin to the American Red Indians smoking the peace pipe, except that the opium solution is slurped from the palm of the server.