“This is my photo with Amitabh Bachchan when he had come to shoot his tourism campaign here. He stayed in one of the luxury tents. The campaign has done wonders for Kutch. He was very happy to be here,” Husen said, flipping through one of the albums.
“Modi also visited us as the chief minister. A British High Commissioner also paid a visit after hearing of the success story of our village. Someone from the UK even gifted us a radio for the school children here,” he said.
Husen says it was his father's “visionary thinking” and “broad-mindedness”, founded on the principle of “universal acceptance”, that worked its magic in the desert.
“He would welcome everyone to his house, irrespective of caste, class, region, religion... He never discriminated against anyone. For him, the guest was supreme. He would never allow any guest to leave without taking food in the house,” Husen reminisced about his father.
“Now, we have a primary and a high school and solar-powered ATMs, one of which even has a biometric facility for the unlettered.
“Also, more and more girls are going to school here... As the festival progresses, so will our lives,” he said.
“Rann Utsav has made our village internationally famous and prosperous... Our bhungas can be seen in foreign publications and, when you search “Dhordo” on the web, you will see its popularity, he said, pride writ large on his face.
In its last edition, the two-month-long fair attracted eight lakh visitors. That number is likely to swell this year, an official said.
