The Last Wanderers: Nomads and Gypsies of India

This is the story of a chase - of a romantic, yet disappearing, way of life - nomadism. The author covers the tracks of itinerant communities in the forests of the Himalayas, the sands of the Rajasthan desert, to the vast stretches of the Great Rann of Kachchh near the Arabian Sea as well as in the urban jungle. Pastoral groups are covered along with other peripatetic groups, aptly called Khanabadosh, a Persian word meaning 'home-with-shoulder'. These are groups that exist on the fringes of Indian society, least understood and noted, subtly very much a part of it - from Madari snake charmers and Nat acrobats on city streets to the lonely Gaddi with his flock, in a misty clearing under the snow-laden Dhauladhar range.The photographs are evocative of their unique life-style. The text includes many a historical fact, myth and legend; descriptions about their religious beliefs, social organisation, clan festivities and their present existence.