Irishman, 80, Revives 10 Ancient Stepwells in Jodhpur

When Caron Rawnsley visited Jodhpur in 2014 to walk the streets his mother once knew, he discovered something worth staying for.

The 70-year-old Irishman stumbled upon ancient baoris and jhalras, elaborate stepwells that had sustained this desert city for centuries. Now they were filled with plastic bottles, silt, and years of neglect.

Caron's mother Caroline had grown up in Kashmir during British rule, where her father worked as a railway officer. She spent time in Jodhpur with relatives, filling young Caron's imagination with stories of the vibrant city.

Those childhood tales brought him to Rajasthan, but the stepwells gave him a mission.

After his appeals to authorities went nowhere, Caron grabbed a stick and started cleaning the wells himself. Under the scorching Rajasthan sun, locals watched this foreign retiree hauling trash from forgotten structures.

They called him "Paagal Saab," the crazy sir. They couldn't understand why someone would spend their golden years this way.

Caron kept showing up. One stepwell led to another, and volunteers began joining him.

Over the next decade, he helped restore 10 historic water structures. The work brought renewed attention to Jodhpur's water heritage, reminding residents of the ingenious systems their ancestors built to collect precious monsoon rain in the desert.

The Ripple Effect

Caron's persistence didn't just clean old wells. It sparked a movement.

Volunteers now join the work regularly, and the city has taken greater interest in preserving these centuries-old structures. The stepwells that once sat invisible beneath layers of trash now stand as working reminders of sustainable water management.

For Caron, the mission became personal in ways he never expected. The connection he sought to his mother's past grew into something deeper with the city itself.

Now 80 and walking with a wooden stick after fracturing his leg, Caron still climbs into baoris alongside volunteers. He believes the best way to inspire people is to work beside them.

The journey that began with tracing memories gave this Irishman a home halfway across the world, and he hopes to spend whatever years remain right here in Jodhpur.