Jaipur; the other shades (Day 2)

There is no simpler pleasure than to sleep in tucked thick blankets through cold nights, and chilly mornings. Mobile phone alarms have little say against such comfort. It takes odious pounding on the door to bestir you, and take you to waking life. And, so roused by the guy who brought our tea, the second day began with a mild headache. The tea was very good, though.

Nitin had brought postcards to write home; he apparently always does when he is out on a vacation. I thought it pretty cool, and on my part wrote to Ajay how it was too cold to hold the pen. Not winning any approval from either Niraj or Nikil, we all waited for the cab to pick us up. Initially, we planned to vacate the guest house, dump our luggage in the cloak room (Railway Station), arrange a to-and-fro cab to Jaigarh and Nahargarh fort, and walk through the pink city through the evening. Thanks to Nikil’s contact, we got a cab for a fair price to do all that, without having to go to the cloak room, and without having to find the various places for ourselves.

He didn’t know where the Research Station was. Situated right on the highway, close by the airport, not someplace many people wouldn’t know, I guided the local cab driver to our Guest House. And 12:30, we started, booked for 8 hours; we had no thought but to plunge into the city. On the way, we stopped by Birla Temple, which was closed for the afternoon (something that our guide didn’t know, either). From the hillock that was concealed by the marble temple, peeked what looked like the remnants of a small fort/palace (Moti Dungri). We soon learned, the snake god visited the palace once an year, on which day thousands of worshipers gather to offer their prayers. The beautifully carved marble temple (standing sternly concentrated upon its meaning, or so it seemed) was open through the morning and evening. But, not afternoon.

Next, we asked him to take us to a not-so-busy-bazaar so that Niraj and Aditya could buy gloves and skull caps. Promising a local bazaar, of which he knew only the name (Neelkanth), we had a good 45 minutes of clueless driving, U-turns, enquiries, wrong lane driving (Another very interesting Jaipur observation – You can drive any side of the road, people there are very tolerant, you wouldn’t even earn a scowl), mobile phone calls, and on our part checking the meter. When we finally arrived to this place, we found a 2 storey building with random bed sheets and pillow cover merchandise. Having wasted our money and time, we were very surprised to find that his mood, and not ours, got foul. One would expect an apologetic and/or subservient behaviour, given the circumstance, but clearly this man was unique.

What started with sycophancy slowly turned out to be dictatorship! We had clearly told him that we wanted to visit Jaigarh and/or Nahargarh fort (He said the route to Nahargarh was under construction, and thus ruled it out) first and later the Jaipur Palace. He didn’t repudiate, in fact he didn’t say a word; He just took us straight to Jaipur Palace. Peremptorily told us why this was the better option, and gave us an hour and half to go about it.





So, well, City Palace or Chandra Mahal, it was to be. As it is the official residence of the regal clan, only a part of it is open for tourist activity. The Architecture here was more intricate than that at Amer fort. And, both Mughal and traditional Rajasthani influence were clearly seen. Otherwise, There wasn’t much to see, and we soon walked to Jantar Mantar which is right adjacent to the Palace.

Random structures, random forms, and colors. Steps, Pigeons, and sign-boards crying “Under Renovation”. In short, the observer is choked with observations. The audio guides are not helpful. And, the local guides, like school teachers re-worded the audio guide, or in some cases, as one could overhear, made up random explanations and details. But, you couldn’t blame them, not many people came there to understand and appreciate. They had the serious nod to everything that was said, and clearly nothing was clear. It’s all staged; both parties know the other is faking. But, yet, there is the discerning nod, and the pedant guide. We initially tried. And, tried hard, to understand. But we were lacking both in time and expertise. We decided to look up the internet, instead.











Jaigarh fort closes by 5. There was no way we were going to make it on time. Yet we asked our driver to take us there. Visibly, not in any better disposition since he left us, he sped past the city. Swerving through hair pin curves of the ghat section, he made sure we never forgot his bad temper. With leafless trees, and swallowing fog; the hillside was a poignant view – one could taste the sweetness of death in effigy. Far away, sat Jaigarh Fort, breathtaking! As we got closer, beautiful blue colored peacocks, could be seen in hundreds, seemingly entertaining the fort. We never got to get into the fort, we had indeed arrived late, but it was worth the trouble.







As we descended, we could see the Jal Mahal gloriously floating on its reflections on a huge man made lake. The evening was setting in, and the last of the sun-rays bathed themselves on that lake. We stopped at the banks of the lake, took a few snaps, and were headed back.





Dinner was much welcomed, we hadn’t had anything after we had left the Guest House; and we were hungry. After the gloves and skull caps were bought, we stopped by Rawat Sweet shop. Had amazing Kachoris (very different from the ones you get here. These are simply huge, with slightly sour inner potato filling, and with absolutely no sauce/achar to go with) and a random assortment of sweets. It was 8:30, and our train was at 9:10. We made a dash to the Railway Station, situated not far away.

Thus, we bid Farewell to Jaipur. Two days weren’t enough.





Note: 2 megapixel mobile camera.

Jaipur; Amber and Fulvous. (Day 1)

Reluctantly, the train pulled itself to the station, delayed at least 2 hours. It was 8:45 but could have passed for 6:30 in Bangalore. Platform 1 housed the RTDC Office, wherein a listless (so much for host etiquette) Officer provided us with RTDC held city tour and taxi details. (Note: we couldn’t get a city map there)

Outside, the Sun had just risen, and we found ourselves a really amiable auto guy who packed us all in a single auto (Auto rickshaws there are very accommodating – they fit the five of us including Nitin and our entire luggage!) and dropped us at the Agricultural Research Station Guest House, Durgapura. Situated exactly on the other side of the Walled city, we spot no pink that morning.



(In the campus, Durgapura)




The Orientation of the City is simple: If you consider the Railway Station as reference. The Wall-ed City and the various forts (Amer, Jaigarh, and Nahargarh perched on adjoining hillocks) were on one side; while Birla Mandir, and Chowki Dhani were on our side. The Wall-ed city hosts the City Palace, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, Albert Hall (Museum) and the name-winning pink stoned buildings. And, The Jal- Mahal is on the way to the forts.

With that defined, we sat across the comfortable sofa set in the Guest House and planned the two days that lay ahead. The city tour was too hurried, and so we decided to explore the city ourselves. We took a long time to freshen-up, had a great Breakfast (Simple Roti, Dahi and Achar with hot tea) and decided to set off after lunch as it was already 11 past. While the rest took to reading, Nitin and I set foot to explore the interesting rustic campus. The water tank with a bird-view of the entire campus guided us to the farms. After an hour of bird-watching, squirrel-watching, and Nitin ‘singing’ to the birds (the birds actually followed us, and responded to him, or so it appeared); we headed back to yet another simple but filling meal.

There is no better way to get to know the city for real than to take its Local bus, and so we took it. Headed Amer Fort, which was the last stop, 15 minutes through the journey, we saw an agitated Nitin telling us that the conductor got Niraj and Nikil off the bus. And, instantly, he was off too. Confounded, I got off at a signal point. And, Aditya later. Thus, spewed at 500m intervals, we soon reassembled. It turned out that we had asked for ‘Amer FORT’ as opposed to ‘Amer KILA’, which through stroke of luck sounded like some Mall which the conductor took for, and hence had got us off. Nikil was right, “We got the bus too quickly; it was almost too good to be true.”

And, Amer Fort we reached. And, we were all Awestruck! There it stood, Imposing and Commanding; the atmosphere had distinction. One can only wonder the impact it had in its day!

We had barely an hour to spend there, as the majority wanted to go to Chowki Dhani later for dinner. In so doing, we missed the late evening musical show in the courtyard of the fort, the arrangements for which were most alluring; with the entire Fort shimmering in its rapt amber color (the lighting was perfect!)




















We took a bus back to our Guest house from where we were to be picked by the RTDC taxi that we booked to take us to Chowki Dhani. On the way, the Jal Mahal was all lit too – brilliantly floating in its reflections! We then made through the Walled City. Pink, maybe it was long long ago, but now, Fulvous, it is. Another interesting feature we saw was that in Jaipur (and later in Jodhpur) all the medical shops are lined up. As in, you find 5,6 medical shops all in a row; and then you don’t see one for very long.

I am not great at distance estimation but how far can a place 20 minutes away from our Guest House be? Definitely not 60kms up and down. We did pay up for that range though. Chowki Dhani – the expensive popular evening hangout – was less than 20 mins on the way back. A very notable place. The Food was very good – gazar Halwa, khichdi, khadi, roti plainly dripping of ghee, mishri mawa, mathri, daal-moth, and plenty more – everything very VERY tasty ! But, that’s all was good there. Or at least, we were way out of place. And, the extreme cold and foggy climate added onto the hazy ambiance making the whole place very uncanny and contrived. All wore the same blurred, drugged expression of happiness – dancing, running around, shouting, laughing, smiling, laughing, dancing, hugging, taking pictures, dancing, giggling – it was crazy! Something was very wrong, very, very wrong. I am not sure with them or us? (We were neither drunk nor high) If you have seen this movie ‘The Stepford Wives’ you would know what it was like to be there – Artificial.

Jaipur offers so much to see. 2 days isn’t enough. We realized that after the second day. That night, however, as we sat and discussed the day, we thought we could make it.

NOTE: Pictures were taken using my 2megapixel Mobile camera.

...and we begin.

With the booking of the tickets, the skeleton formed. [---Jan 7 Jaipur express (reaches Jan 9, 6am), Jan 10 night train to Bikaner, Jan 11 night bus to Jaisalmer, Jan 12 night train to Jodhpur and Jan 14 train back to Bangalore (The Idea was to spend each night on a train, that way we didn’t have to stay locally, also not waste daytime travelling; saving both time and money) ---] And, it slowly gained flesh and perception with all the internet reading and trivia exchanging. Soon enough, Draped in vibrant hues; Pink (Jaipur), Gold (Jaisalmer) and Blue (Jodhpur); it was a sight to behold!

This growth, and Jan 7 were eventfully interposed with my Bday (Thanks to Vinay and Sindhu, I had a great time!), interesting school reunion, not so-interesting ‘3-Idiots’, abysmal Linear Integrated Circuits paper and random domestic running around.

Meanwhile, The White Notebook grew to gather all the required information – what to carry, how much to carry, places to visit in each city, orientation and distances from the railway stations, RTDC information, checklist of sweets and other food items to try in each place, Phone numbers, etc. Later, it also assumed the role of an accountant. Clearly, one cannot exaggerate its importance.


(Nikil at CANT with all the luggage)

Thus equipped, Jan 7 arrived. By 12:30, it saw Nikil and me in Cantonment station, and the rest in Majestic. I couldn’t have hoped for a quicker and more entertaining two-day train journey. It was the typical bunch of excited college guys travelling stuff – Cards, Politics (USA and conspiracy theories being the highlight), Sports, Random games, more talking, Dumb charades (It couldn’t be clearly established which I was worse at : Being dumb or interpreting the dumb) , Movies, paneer pakodas, tea, bad train meals, Tin-Tin, Aditya sleeping – and Nitin, the very institution of entertainment..

And, thus we arrived; Fervent, Eager and Animated to a cold Jaipur.




(Aditya, Nikil and Nitin)


(niraj and Aditya)


(Creepy Niraj)

NOTE: Pictures were taken using my 2megapixel Mobile camera.