The desert town Barmer of Rajasthan bordering Pakistan reminds me of what Dubai used to be in the 1960s.
No, I had not seen Dubai of 60s – my first visit to the beautiful emirate was in 1998 by when it was already a world class-city, thriving, rocking and expanding skywards.
But I have seen glimpses of what Dubai used to be thanks to Gulf News’ archived pictures that I have seen in the newspaper and those beautiful diaries.
Barmer -- full of sand here, there and everywhere and you check in into your room with shoes full of sands thanks to unpaved roads – district is spread across 28,387 square km that makes it one of the biggest districts of India and one of the least populated with population density being mere 92 persons per sqkm.
I guess there is something in the deserts everywhere that combines sand with soul. Barmer has a rich heritage of art and culture -- famous for its folk music and dance -- besides those intriguing carved wooden furniture.
The temperature during summer, which has started setting in in its full vigour, varies between 46 and 51 degree Celsius, it goes down in winter to the zero degree and rain so scanty with the average rainfall being 277 mm!
Okay, there is no sea, no creek, no dhows and no skyscrapers, but Barmer has something besides the sands that puts it at par with Dubai and some other emirates – petroleum.
Huge oil basin discovered in Barmer has changed everything for the district and the state. Oil was discovered in Barmer deserts by the British company Cairns Energy which works in partnership with the government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC).
While Cairns holds 70 per cent stake, ONGC has 30 per cent stakes in the joint venture called Cairns India.
Oil was discovered in 2009 and production started in 2010. The oil basin is so huge that the estimates keep increasing by the year. The reserves may not be huge enough to insulate India from dependence on OPEC, but it already has started to reduce India’s import basket.
The discovery of oil has started transforming life here, especially of the locals. The district has many neo-rich millionaires who have got in to business like running hotels, guest houses, transportation, shops, etc to cater to the needs of Cairns employees and other visitors.
It’s just the bonus that people like us are also here, thanks to former foreign minister Jaswant Singh who has rebelled against his Bharatiya Janata Party and is contesting the parliamentary polls as an independent after the party denied him the nomination.
Now with more money, more visitors, it is just a matter of time before modernisation starts. Now whether Jaswant Singh wins or loses, Barmer is going to be a winner all the way.
