What 210mm of rain looks like

21 cms and a few weeks is all it's taken to transform Laporiya's semi-arid landscape from a dusty desert into lush fields filled with crops. Villagers are smiling again safe in the knowledge that their family's future is secured for another yearas and their buffalo enjoy midday swims in the talab.

My 13 year old brother Pratab has never seen rain this heavy in July, anecodotely it's the best rainfall Eastern Rajasthan has seen for over 10 years. The 2009 monsoon only brought a crippling 200mm to Laporiya, well below the average of 614mm. This year we've exceeded last year's total and still have a good few weeks to go before the rains slow.

The first thing I do when I get into the office in the morning is pour the previous day's rainfall into a measuring contraption and record the amount. With funding from the Swedish Society of Nature Conservation, GVNML have been able to purchase a whole host of weather recording equipment so by next year we'll be recording changes in temperature, humidity, rainfall and wind velocity. The data will be used to guide programme activities so that farmers can better cope with climate change and protect their livelihoods.

Before the rain came...
From top: Government built farm pond on our farm; one of my Indian family's fields; the holy lake of Pushkar, 2 hours away.)

And after...