India, March 25 -- Those shawls that caught your attention at a Page 3 party, that multicoloured 'throw' your heart leapt at in the crafts bazaar, the throaty love song YouTube sprang at you when you'd searched "holidays in Kutch", the tall glass of "calcium-enriched" milk, the pricey discs of dried dung sold online. What do all these have in common? They are all connected to pastoral communities. Pastoralists inhabit our lives wholesomely; yet, we hardly see them.

'Living Lightly - an Utsav Celebrating Pastoralism in the Deccan' sought to remedy this. Hosted by the Centre for Pastoralism, Sahjeevan, and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) with other collaborators, the event that firmly put the spotlight on pastoral commun...