Pictures from Afghanistan that have flooded our newspapers and television sets over recent months have been, for many of us, our first view of that corner of the world. This story also comes from the deserts of South Asia, some 500 miles from Kabul, in the Rajesthan province of India.

Contributor Bernice Notenboom, perhaps, oddly, dreamed of visiting the harsh deserts of northwest India, and the famed camel fair in Pushkar.