Rajasthan rarely makes news when compared to states. Delhi is in news since it is the seat of Indian democracy. Maharashtra makes great headlines for its Stock Exchange and farmer's suicides. Karnataka hogs media attention because its home to India's Silicon Valley. West Bengal is in news for its reds and Bihar for its blues. But Rajasthan, till a few months back it's contribution to national bulletins was often limited to weather reports like 'Temperature dips below freezing point in Churu' or 'Mercury shoots past 50 degrees in Chittor' , or 'Unseasonal rains ruin Rabi crops in Barmer'.

Well it's a different story this year. For if one were to pick one flavour for this season it was Rajasthani.

First the serial bomb blasts that hit the capital city of Jaipur then the Gujjar agitation and finally the victory of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. The idea is not to be insensitive and unfairly club these stories together but to highlight how the state dominated the national consciousness. So for reasons good or bad, we still ended up hearing a lot more voices from Rajasthan this season and saw a lot more of the state then the usual 'Incredible India' snapshots of Hawa Mahal .

When the terrorists struck Jaipur in the second week of April, it was an unexpected and unexplained phenomenon for many in India. One national weekly had a cover story, ' Why Jaipur?'. One could read it like, ' Why the hell would anyone bomb Jaipur'? After much analysis the attack was dubbed as a strategic one, aimed at hitting the multi-thousand-crore tourism industry in Jaipur. With 25.92 million domestic tourists and 1.4 million foreign visitors to the Pink city, it seemed to be the most convincing of all explanations.

But it was not tourism that came to the mind of the common man in Jaipur. It was the fear of a violent aftermath. The blasts targeted the walled 'Pink City' and the shock and horror of such violence brought back the memories of 1992. That was perhaps the last time when the famed bazaars of the walled city were shut down due to a curfew. During his Ayodhaya Campaign LK Advani had brought his Rath to Jaipur and had injected a heavy dose of communal poison in city's polity that culminated in communal rioting. So a day after the blasts Rajashan's popular Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika led with a headline ' Ab Sayam ki pareeksha' ( Now its the test of Patience), reflecting the fear that this blast might lead to a communal situation. Many wondered if Jaipur would be able to cope with the tragedy peacefully.

And yes, it did. From the young energetic Swayamsevaks to the skull-capped Muslim volunteers from Pathan Chowk , the city came together in its hour of crisis. Among the victims there were as many Muslims as there were Hindus and more importantly many of them were those who lived on footpaths where the blasts occurred. They needed blood, they needed medicine and it didn't matter if it came from a Hindu or a Muslim. So when the curfew was lifted two days later without a single incidence of violence, Rajasthan Patrika boldly declared on its front page, 'Jeet Gaya Jaipur' (Jaipur has Won'). The city was indeed out to prove that it was just as cosmopolitan as any other and it did so by hosting an IPL match four days after the terror strike.

But just when it seemed that parochialism was a thing of the past Gujjars firmly put their foot (and lathi) down on prove that it wasn't. Many journalists covering the blasts were diverted to the little known town of Bayana , the epicenter of the Gujjar agitation. It was from here, Colonel Bainsala , commanded his troops. Sending them on rail-roko missions, chakka-jams operations and what not. The protests were organized to mark the first anniversary of the first Gujjar agitation that happened in May last year. The sight of thousands of Lathi-wielding Gujjars blocking the main boulevard at Statue circle was a stark contrast to the peaceful candlelight vigil that was held a few days earlier to condone the dead in the terror attack.

If Gujjars were in no mood to relent, the Rajasthan Govt didn't do anything different from what they did last year. Shoot 'em, if they don't listen. More then 40 people were killed in police firing during this agitation and we are still counting. In the last four years the Vausndhara Raje's Govt has resorted to police firing over a dozen times. Is this a sign of a paranoid or a psychotic state? Surely this 'trigger happy' policy is not working, infact it further provoked the agitating Gujjars who then took their campaigns to other regions of the state. With no end to the Gujjar violence in sight and the Govt's growing helplessness with each passing day, what Rajasthan needed was a hero who could end the downslide. And that's what it got, not one but eleven.

Although entirely of cricketing type, these heroes made sure that the entire media and public attention was now diverted away from Dausa to the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. Rajasthan now pinned its hopes on Warne's boys. But was it prepared to cheer players from across the border? You see, in the past the only cheering (of you could call that) that Jaipuris knew was ' Pakistan Hai Hai'. Booing Pakistan was what you did in a cricket stadium even if the match was being played between Kenya and Scotland. But this time not only were there three Pakistani players in the Rajasthan team, at least one of them had played a crucial role in taking the Royals to the finals. IPL had turned the whole patriotic thing on its head. In the 20-20 universe Mumbaikars ended up cheering for Jayasurya and Kolkatans prayed for Shoaib Akhtar. In Jaipur's case age-old clichés like ' involvement of a foreign-hand' got a whole new meaning every time Sohail Tanveer bowled that perfect yorker. In the din of all the Royal celebrations, the anti-Pakistan rhetoric was given a silent burial. After all, for a state that never produced a single national cricketing hero this was the time to rise and catch the stars. And the rest as they say is history.

But still it could only be called a symbolic victory, a dream run but not the real thing. For Rajasthan the challenges beyond the boundary line are still just as big . In the coming months Raje Govt has to deal with what seems to be the biggest land scam ever. Then, later this year, the state will go to elections for which the caste cauldron has already started to boil. Gujjars have calmed down but only for now, the issue is far from settled. In southern districts of Chittorgarh and Bhilwara the saffron lobby is trying hard to replicate the 'Gujarat Laboratory'. And with Jaipur and Ajmer already on the terror map, the security threat has grown bigger.

But Rajasthanis can take heart. In their response to the blasts the people of the state proved that they are capable of rising to the occassion. It's been Rajasthan's season; lets hope it will be making more good news in the coming seasons. And if it does not, there is always a weather headline ready!