Parthajeet Das's blog: Jajabara Trips III (a moonrise and a moment of pause)

We met Ben again. He recovered faster from the Crash than his bike. A Royal Enfield Classic 500. We checked in into the same hotel as Ben at Jaisalmer with one more killing fort of Sonar Killa. The yellow sandstone dominates the landscape of this part of Rajasthan and gives the fort, the havelis and the houses their golden hue without any colour.

We were keen to recover from out disappointment by making a trip to Khuri village, which promised to, and as we would find out turned to be a real Rajasthani village. I pillioned on Ben on our ride to Khuri village. There were many windmills on the way, and before we realised Don Quixote took over and we charged towards one. We had a short conversation below the huge windmill. I was looking at it from the scientific and economic perspective, Ben's was literary.

We met Vikram Singh and his friends who took us across the sand dunes on three majestic camels to their village, which looked like an oasis of level land of greenery, animals and life in the middle of infinite desert of Thar. A short stay there for tea and we headed out for sunset, which again eluded a disappointed TBK.

TBK and Ben were busy with their beer, the village lads with camel talk but I walked a few paces and saw one of the most beautiful moonrises ever. The clouds parted ever so slowly, but it was as if moon was just over my head and I could see everything on moon. It was so clear and lovely. The clouds parted further to reveal a solitary star. There was sand all around us, all draped in ivory white of the moonlight and there was silence and calmness. The wind was just perfect and sky, mysterious but friendly.

I have had such moments were I really felt that time has stopped and the breath that I take in could take infinite time to get in. My heartbeat, breathing and body become absolutely calm and I feel content and happy. This was certainly one such moment, I felt thankful, for this life, for parents, for friends, for opportunity to make such travel and have such experiences.

'This is magical'. It was Ben. 'This is why I travel, this is why I come to India'
'This moment is worth anything and everything of this trip' I seconded.
'I could go back to England tomorrow, I could end this life' 'This is a moment that will flash before your eyes when you die' Ben was getting warmer.
He hugged me and we both hugged TBK and thanked him for this detour which was more THE TOUR now.
Ben writes about this moment in his blog Moment . This was moment where he found his true calling and his life changed. He wished the same for me as did I.
We headed back to the village for a wonderful Rajasthani dinner at the village in moonlight and then rode back to our hotel in Jaisalmer. Ben and TBK went up to have a smoke and I retired to bed. We all felt that we left some part of our selves in that moment and that moment will stay with us forever. Truly, time seems conquered in such moments.