It’s late afternoon when we arrive in Jawai, in the Godwar region of south-western Rajasthan, and the area is a hive of activity. Wearing saffron-coloured turbans, white dhoti loincloths and with elaborately curled moustaches, local Rabari tribesmen whiz by on motorbikes.

Farmers encourage their buffalo along dirt tracks lined with euphorbia cactus and yellow-flowered Senna trees, while village women balancing towering bundles of grasses on their heads walk through the honey-coloured afternoon light.