My first travelogue - Jaipur !!

Jaipur was not as hot as we expected. In the month of May it’s everywhere simmering hot in India. But we didnt feel the heat in Jaipur. We felt the warmth of our host though. A wedding party turned a tour-de-Jaipur was throughly enjoyed. We captured a close glimpse of what a typical Marwari family is like. Sometimes it was really funny. To begin with, we had our co-passengers in the train who were going to attend a different wedding in a distant village near Jaipur. After every half an hour someone came and exchanged greetings. Later, I discovered that most of the people in the train were going to attend the same wedding. I also came to know that they would be attending multiple weddings in the same trip. This was the height of socialism I had ever come across - an epitome of the phrase Vasudev Kutumbakam - The world is one family !!

We were shiverring inside the AC compartment when we alighted at Jaipur station in the afternoon. Without doing much bargain with the rickshaw driver we got a fair deal and in close to fifteen minutes we were at our friend's place.

By the way, when I say WE, it means me and my flat mate in Pune, Harshal. We reached our friend's house and got painted by our host's hospitality. We were greeted with an electrifying smile on everyone's face. After a quick shower we proceeded for lunch. Though there wasn't any authentic Rajasthani food yet it tasted amazing. The feel of having a group lunch during wedding is really great.

After the pet-puja we got dressed and thought to beat-the-heat by crusing on the streets of Jaipur. We reached bada bazar. Then we understood why Jaipur is called Pink City. 9 out of 10 buildings were predominently coloured in pink. The pink shops had a range of small kirana shop to expensive tanishq show rooms. The roads were patrolled by hand pulled rickshaws and colourful auto-rickshaws. Just for fun we boarded a hand-pulled rickshaw and saw the City Palace of Sawai Mansingh Maharaj II and the queen's factory where they make quilts and sarees. The quilts weighed around 100gms and Sarees weighed around 25 Gms. We didnt shop much except roamed around. We couldnt enter the City Palace turned museum as they were closed for the day for public viewing. We had a magnificient darshan of Govind Dev Jee and of Vishnu at Birla Mandir.

Pani puri in every city tastes different. We tried one near the Birla Mandir but didn't find anything outstanding about it.

The next day was a bigger plan; to see the forts around Jaipur. We were scared about the heat but then where there is a will there is a way. The way was more pleasent because the day wasn't sunny at all and we were greeted by clouds hovering around.

We tried to bargain for a cab and none of the drivers were ready to workout for anything below 1000 bucks. We finally settled for an autorickshaw who got ready for mere 350 bucks. And then the cruise began. We straight way went to the Fort of Jaygarh. Fort of Jaygarh is located on the top of the hill, by the name of Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles). As the name suggests it is the 'Victory Fort'.I havent seen many forts but it wont be an exaggeration to say that this fort os one of the spectacular forts in India. It was made to tighten the security of Jaipur and Amber. Jaigarh Fort used to serve as the center of artillery production for the Rajputs. It has the world's largest canon called Jaivan and one can see the remains of a canon factory in the backyards of the fort. One of the liveliest things we witnessed at the Fort of Jaigarh was a puppet show. It reminded me of the nomads who visited across India and played puppet shows on the streets. I had seen many such street shows in my childhood. The brightly coloured dresses of puppets were similar to what the nomads wore and it gave an epitome of the dressing sense of the marwaris. We were tired and thirsty and so tried the water which they said is pulled from a tank situated beneath the fort where the kings used to hide their treasure. The guide told that this treasure was revoked during the emergency by Late Indira Gandhi. No one knows the whereabout of the treasure now.

We then headed to the fort of Nahargarh. It was built by Maharaja Jai Sawai Singh of Jaipur. It gave a beautiful view of the Arravali range which blankets this fort. The term "Nahargarh" refers to "the Abode of Tigers", so it is also known as the Tiger Fort. The guide told that once upon the time the area was haunted and the fort was built in the name of the prince to evade the evil spirit. I have heard that Rajasthan is rich in such ghostly stories. Another major attraction was Rang de Basanti's shot of "Masti Ki Pathshala" location. We clicked several pictures at this spot. A group of college guys told me that this place is best enjoyed in night when you get a bird's eye view of the city with sparkling light all around and drive way back to the city being high on beer. The palace inside the fort is magnificent. The colour of walls and paintings still loks very bright and attractive.

We then moved to the Fort of Amber. This was the final major attraction especially after the fame of Jodha Akbar's shooting and the controversy of Slaman Khan's Veer. History books of primary school got revisited when I saw the Deewan-e-Khaas and Deewan-e-Aam. Amber Fort is located in Amber, a small kasba near Jaipur. Eventually when Akbar took over this fort he made Jaipur as the caiptal city. Though it is written as AMBER but its spellt with the B silent as AMER. We could bargain a guide for just forty rs. The guide quoted Rs. 500 for his service and we were able to manage and bargain to rock bottom level. He agreed to give us a tour of the fort for just Rs. 40. The fort is well decorated by exquisite paintings of hunting scenes on the walls depicting the temperament of the Rajputs, who were adventurous, revolutionary and self-indulgent.

The temple has a Kali Temple where they still offer a sheep once every day. There is also a temple of Krishna with Meera. We learned that this is the only temple in India where Krishna sits with Meera. In every temple the better half of the diety is placed at the same level but since Meera was not his better half and was more of a devotee hence she is placed a step lower than the Lord. The white skinned tourists were ferrying a royal elephant ride but we desis found it to be an extravangza. The guide then took us to a small shop. He adviced us to buy anything we want from here itself rather than the big shops around the city. He said that the sellers are students and hence they are honest about quality as well as need money for their help. I bought two kurtas hoping it was a genuine cause. The second day when I wore the kurta it got torn off easily. It looked brightly coloured but was really low on quality. I got turned off becuase of being felt cheated and that too in the name of "a noble cause".

While returnig our way home we halted at Jal Mahal or the palace in the middle of Manasgar lake. We figured out that this palace has less of historical significance and has more tourist attributes. The government of India has offlate fueled in around 100 crores to glorify this place. But the efforts fo the government to add beauty to Jaipur by this lake and the palace was really well thought. One is not allowed to go inside the palace although. Tourists were having camel ride along the banks of the lake.

I lit my first ciggrette of the day as I was really tired and couldn't stop myself. After the day long tour I asked the driver's name. His name was Mohammed. We discussed about Jaipur as a modern city. His face spoke of contentment as a citizen of Jaipur. The wide and smooth roads, clean vicinity and well spoken warm people make Jaipur a real good place to visit for a vacation.