The self-taught guides are vital to tiger tourism in Ranthambore, but they earn very little.
Suraj Bhai Meena is a rare female tourist guide, the only one in Ranthambore, who gamely does the rounds in the heat and dust. Having trained under her experienced brother for a year in 2007, she quickly learned the ropes. Inspired by her, three more women joined up but soon dropped out as they found it physically challenging.
