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| Saturday, 16-Feb-2008 10:19 |
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Another Trip To Rajasthan. Mandawa 1
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This will not be such a long trip, as the last one. For one, it took place over a weekend. My wife, a friend and I went to this place about 250 km north of Jaipur. The area is called Mandawa. The region is hostile. Very little grows there and, about 150 to 160 years ago, members from several families, made their way to Delhi ( about 400 km away ), got on boats and sailed on the Yamuna River, across the width of the country, to Calcutta. Once they reached Calcutta, which is situated on the Hooghly distributary, they alighted. There, along what is called the Strand today, they set up their business. They started as wholesalers, with the office below the living quarters.
About forty years later, members of the family went back and set up these mansions made of limestone. And, had them painted inside out. Some of the paintings are classics. They then left them in the hands of caretakers, never to return. The caretakers live there today, and earn money by charging visitors entry fies.
You can also buy "antique" furniture in Mandawa. Ha! Ha! The furniture is made, and buried in the limey ground for a month, to give it an antique feel! 
This region's history is not marked for the history of the kings, but it is known for the history of the merchants.
The merchants today? Their businesses boomed and, their descendants are now members of the largest business houses in India - the Birlas, Ruias, Singhanias, to name just a few of them. These descendants are, today, setting up the Indian multi national companies that are slowly spreading across the world.
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| Wednesday, 6-Feb-2008 11:39 |
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Finally Ending That Old Road Trip
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An Old Jain Temple 1
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Sunset
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An Old Jain Temple 2
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I'm back after what seems to be a very long time indeed. I was in Delhi most of December and, half of January. We bought an flat(apartment) in December and, my mom-in-law died in January. So, it has been quite a period in our lives.
Since I don't like leaving a job undone, I thought that it would be appropriate to end the old trip with some shots that I took on the road from Jodhpur to Udaipur. The buildings are an old Jain temple. I forget the name. I think that I was too boozed out to find out at that time!
Anyway, I shall post again soon. Different place in Rajasthan!
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| Thursday, 13-Dec-2007 12:47 |
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In Jaisalmer
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Jaisalmer is a magical place. It is on the borders of the Thar Desert, and is one of the places where the earliest invaders used to enter India.
The fort itself is one of the largest desert forts in the world. The fort has three walls. The inner wall is where the warriors inside the fort would pour boiling oil onto the invaders. It could'nt have been a pleasant prospect, to have boiling oil come streaming down onto your head, into your eyes and, into your mouth.
The fort itself was built in 1156 Ad by the Rajput ruler Rawal Jaiswal. So now you know where the city got it's name. It was taken in Ala ud-din Khilji in the 13th century and was attacked again by the second Mughal emperor Humayun, in 1541. During Ala ud-din's siege the Rajput women committed jauhar - they killed themselves by jumping into fire rather than be taken by the invaders.
The fort today, is one of the few forts where there is a bustling market in the fort. Most forts are 'dead', in the sense that they are only peopled by tourists.
And, on the border of the desert, outside the town, are the tombs of the warriors and princes who died in battle. Forgotten but for legend, and the tombs that gaze silently on to eternal rest.
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| Monday, 10-Dec-2007 15:26 |
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Lunch time between Jodhpur & Jasisalmer
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the old man and his time
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entertainers at the restaurant
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rustic charm
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A note from the hospital. My hard disk has still not recovered. I need t take it to one more lab, and if that does not work, I will be stuck. As of now, it seems that all the shots I took in the last one year have gone forever. This means photos in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Zhang Jia Jie, an old section of the Wall, the by lanes of Beijing are alll gone. Plus, some more. And, these were amongst my best shots
Luckily, I had copied a whole bunch of photos on to CDs and, these are 'alive'. I shall now buy one more hard disk and, back up all my data.
To carry on from where I left off, we left Jodhpur, and drove to Jaisalmer. Even though this was October, the sun was bright. Very, very bright indeed. We stopped by at this little 'rustic inn' on the highway for lunch. It was a good break. October is still hot in Rajasthan, and the sun is strong. This point was 250 km out of Jodhpur, and we had another 250 km to go. We'd been drinking since the morning, and by lunch time, we were dead on our bums. Not dead on our feet. We were'nt walking. We were sitting. So, we were dead on our bums!!
The magic of the highway had dimmed. The star waned but, when we reached this inn, it waxed and shone brightly again. Inside the huts, was the cool shade, cool water, some nice food, and some more beer.
All the while, the people waited. They waited for travellers like us to come by, so that they could earn some money. They have time on their hands. I think that, when you have time on your hands, you develop a kind of inner calm. It may, at times, be a dead calm.
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| Tuesday, 27-Nov-2007 07:41 |
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Moving On From Jodhpur. Only A Map...
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My hard disk is still in hospital and, I will take it to a doctor tomorrow. So, I figured that it may be good to show you all a map this time. You'll see Jodhpur in the centre of the map. From here we moved on to Jaisalmer, which is on the Westen border of Rajasthan. You'll also see a little red line going left from Jaisalmer. This is where the desert is, and where we went camel riding. Apparantly, a very good place to get opium and hashish. Apparantly, a lot of hippies like to bonk off with the locals of this area, while floating about in a hazy world!
We took another car from Jodhpur. A very nice car, which gave us access to the luggage space at the back, actually. We crammed our luggage into the smallest space possible and filled the rest with ice boxes filled with ice and cane of beer. A cassette of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was jammed into the car stereo and, we were off.
Now when you are on the highway, with the road ahead of you, and the sky above you, floating in a beer haze, occasionally in a marijuana haze, and listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sing, you feel close to God indeed. It's an entirely different experience.
Now, I have to digress and, talk about another occassion. This was during my engineering days. Must have been about 2 am or 3 am. A couple of classmates and I were jammed into my room, smoking pot. There was a fierce storm outside, and we were listening to "Riders on the Storm", by the Doors. Similar and yet, so different. An experience that brings you close to God in a different sort of way.
But, on this trip, we had Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with us. And, his singing can set your soul free. With freedom in the air, you pass into an entirely different realm of human experience. The highway never leaves you. Ever.
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| Tuesday, 13-Nov-2007 05:49 |
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Lazing, Gossiping Away In The Bright Light Of A New Day
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Timelessness
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This is the last entry from Jodhpur. This will also be the last entry for a while, as I don't seem to be able to access my hard disk, and I will have to recover all the old files and photographs from it.
In India, in the days gone by, people had a lot of time on their hands. They's often sit on coir beds, calle char pais (four legs?), in the shade, drink tea and gossip away.
You still see this, in the cities, in the small towns, in the villages. Not just in India, but even in buzzing places like Shanghai.
Anyhow, like all things, these old habits too, are passing away gently, into the dust.
From timelessness, we are now discovering the microsecond. And, even though, to paraphrase the old poet, if we can find eternity in an hour, we can also find it in a microsecond. But, it is not the same and, never will be.
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| Wednesday, 7-Nov-2007 03:31 |
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If There Be Music, Play On
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Play on, play on.
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Still in Jodhpur. For this, and one more entry, I am afraid.
Also, still in the old market where I left you all the last time.
The Rajasthanis, like all Indians, love music. And, the Rajasthanis love wooden toys and decorative stuff. Incidentally, in Rajasthan your origin can be identified by the style in which you tie your turban. I have no clue where these musicians come from.
It does not really matter, I suppose. Music transcends social boundaries.
If there be music, play on...
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| Sunday, 4-Nov-2007 04:10 |
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An Old Road Trip. III. Jodhpur. The Plebs
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Entry to the market
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Windows. Who lives inside?
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Shops below
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Before I start this entry, I must make an apology and vent a bit of irritation on fotopages. I have not made any comments to your fotopages recently, because I can't. I comment, and when I try to upload the comment, I am met with an internal server error. 真的不好 。
Anyway, let me move on. So, you saw how royalty lived. And, here are some shots of how the plebs lived, and live even today. Houses in Jodhpur are typically made of yellow sandstone, which keeps the interiors relatively cool. But, when you go there in summer, the reflection of the strong summer sun can really hurt the eyes. Summer temperatures can typically reach 47 degrees Celsius. Hot, yes? I know. I've been there in summer.
Typically, you enter gateways and, there's life teeming on the narrow streets. The streets are narrow. The by-lanes, which we call gullies, are even narrower. They were'nt built for modern transport but, you will find cars edging along the street nowadays.
At ground level, there are shops. And, people selling stuff on roadside stalls. On top, they live. And, the old folks carved some pretty intricate windows. I forgot what they are called. Shall have to ask my sister. She's an architect. Teaching in Wisconsin nowadays.
The windows are pretty famous, actually. And, I have to say that my photos do not do them justice. I think, at some point, we should have a 'fotopages group' going along on a road trip to some exotic location in the world. That would be cool!
So, the windows. They allow ventilation, look cool, and afford some measure of privacy.
For the shopkeeper, living on top had advantages. With almost no travel time to work, he could go up for lunch, have his afternoon snooze, and be back to selling with renewed vigour in the evening. Not bad as a lifestyle but, could be limiting in it's scope, I think.
The plebs life was, is, and will always be different from that of the royals. They lose out on the opulence, but, have more freedom and laughter in their lives.
Not all of 'em, though. The poor sods who work for the merchants get it pretty bad. There are layers and layers in human society.
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| Thursday, 25-Oct-2007 13:48 |
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An Old Road Trip -II. Jodhpur. Royalty
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Well, we actually did not go from Jaipur to Jodhpur. We first did a day trip to Ajmer, and then took a train from Jaipur to Jodhpur. Oddly, while I have lots of pictures, I only scanned the two that I put up the last time. I will buy a film scanner in January and scan all my old negatives. Else, they will get screwed. Spoiled.
We stayed at the Royal Palace in Jodhpur. Okay, don't be jealous. or, better still, be jealous!! Many old palaces in Rajasthan have been converted into luxury hotels. One of the divisions of my old company was the hotel division, with some of the best restaurants in the country. The royal palace hotel in Jodhpur was run by my old company's hotel division. We got a fantastic rate during the peak season. 50 US Dollars. Today, it would probably cost you 500 US Dollars a night!
One of the highlights is the old Jodhpur fort. They still have the cannons on the ramparts. I have the photos in colour. I don't like them. So, I will not put them up.
The fort in Jodhpur is pretty cool, I must say. Very, very cool. Pretty high up, so it is a bit of a climb. The rooms still have some of the old furniture. Talk about luxury. Life as a king could be good, I must say.
Many of the old blokes were given their privy purse sometime around 1950, and the old kingdoms were abolished, so we could be one country. But, the town folk still regard them as demi-gods. And, the blighters - the old kings - act as Gods. Old codgers. Old habits die hard.
I once did have tea with the Maharaja of Jaipur. Maharaja means "Big/Supreme King" or, Emperor. In the fellow's living room in his palace. Now, that was something, I have to say. Lovely gold filigree work on the walls. Beautiful decoration pieces and carpets. I must say my dusty shoes felt out of place. The aura of the place can be quite awe inspiring. And, so is the kindly, kingly attitude of the old king, deigning to have tea with me, the humble subject.
The sad thing about these events, is that while this has been etched into my memory, it has, I am sure, faded out of the memory of the king. Else, his brain would have been etched away! He retains his brain, however.
I have to say one thing about these forts. In the old days, the kings were not very united. Jaipur had a king, so did Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur etc etc. All twns within 500 km of each other. The Muslim invaders often played divide and rule, and so it was pretty easy to conquer India. Again, and again, and again. The women, however, did not want to be taken by the Muslim invaders and become part of their harems. So, to keep their honour intact, when the battle would be going badly, they would light a big fire and, jump into the fire. And, be cooked to death. Sati.
Sati is a bad thing but, this custom is not the origin of sati.
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| Saturday, 13-Oct-2007 16:58 |
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The Start Of An Old Road Trip. Jaipur
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Hawa Mahal
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Street Girl
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I went on this road trip in the western state of Rajasthan many years ago, with some colleagues from office.
"Sthan", in Hindi, means place. "Raja" means kings. So, Rajasthan means the place of the Kings. A bit of a misnomer of sorts because, although Rajasthan had many kings; India, as a country, had many kings. We had, at the time of our independence, several hundred princely kingdoms or estates, which had to be abolished to allow us to exist as one country. So, it has been very easy for conquerers through the ages, to come in and invade us by playing divide and rule. Indeed, Rajasthan was one of the areas where they were quite successful with these tactics.
Even today, we are Punjabis, Tamilians, Marathas often before we are Indian.
But, we've taken in the invaders, absorbed their cultures and, made them our own. Which is one reason why we have so much diversity and why we are such a fascinating country.
So, back to the road trip. I'll write more about this as I get deeper into the road trip.
The Hawa Mahal (or, literally Wind Palace. Hawa Means Wind) was one of those places designed to let in the cooler evening breeze from the desert. As per some people, because of all the windows, young princesses could cast their lecherous eyes on the handsome young dudes passing by on the streets below. Women were secluded, you know, those days.
I have no clue where that young girl is now. Ships passing each other in the night..
But, you see the snake charmer in the background? Proof of the fact that we are the Land of Snake Charmers!!
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