The eclipse was magnificent but short. Only 45 seconds! By the time I finished assuring a local that it was safe to look at the eclipse, it was over. That day the rest of the tour group left and we stayed on at the Roop Niwas.

We took a walk away from town, through the countryside. At a very small settlement, a man in shorts was drawing water from a well. He accosted us in good English. He was Mahavir, a Yoga teacher from Bombay. This village was his home, where he vacationed for a month every year. We sat with him at his home, drinking chai made by his wife, who fresh-ground the spices for it. (Throughout Rajasthan, all the chai we drank was freshly made and vastly better than anything we've had in the U.S.)

We took a walk through town with Rajesh, a boy who had appointed himself as our guide. (Yes, we did pay a fee later, but it was well worth it. When we went into town on our own, we were swarmed by begging children, but we were left unmolested.) Later Rajesh took us to his home, where his father, mother, sister, and grandmother lived in one windowless room in the foundations of a ruined mansion. His family lavished tea and sweets on us, and were enormously pleased when we left a small cash offering at their family shrine.