Jaipur Sights & Stories...

The Lal Maas lived up to all the hype. After indulging in gluttony, all thanks to the hospitality of the Rajputs, I figured I'd best venture out and get a little exercise the next day.

Jaipur is like a 5 star hotel buffet - much to choose from. I chose to venture out to The Albert Hall Museum.  What a very impressive building it is. The drive up and approach to it is even wow! So very pretty I couldn't stop clicking it from all angles. It has some very interesting things inside like an over huge sitar, intricately carved furniture and an elaborate collection of chillams. If only they had a store selling them with their necessary accompaniments. I've put that down in the suggestion box, let's see what comes of it.

I moved on towards Hawa Mahal, clueless about what awaited me. Talk about love! Talk about a connection! Once again I found myself in a trance, as I walked ever so slowly through the entire Palace. I listened to things over and over again on the excellent audio guide, not just hearing and visualizing what went on in each of the rooms I was standing in but I literally felt like I was there - transported back to 1799, hearing the sounds of girls running past with their payals (silver anklets) echoing behind them, chuckling and giggling with other ladies in pardah (face cover) looking out of one of the 953 'honeycomb jharokhas' (windows) from where the wind kissed my lips. Bless you Lal Chand Ustad for designing this Palace of Winds so beautifully for Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh and us ladies.

One thing about traveling here in peak heat season, you get every place to yourself, it's peaceful with no rush, no queues, no photo bombers! When I get to experience places like this - well kept, clean, organised, it makes me fall deeper in love with my country, makes me so proud to be an Indian - knowing this culture, heritage, history is somewhere, somehow a part of me. With that, I'd also like to say, maintenance is key. And every place I'd been to thus far had been extremely well maintained. If only we could get the rest of the country to follow suit.

Regardless, Jaipur did a great job maintaing me, my calm, my balance, my happiness. Gems, food, bikes and most of all people still await. Oh these roots of love, even if I try with all my might to resist, I can't seem to stop them from growing...

The road leading to The Albert Hall Museum

The Magnificent Exterior of The Albert Hall Museum

Very Beautiful Interiors too!

One of the many paintings that adorn the walls...

For those that didn't believe me, behold...

Paradise!!! :D

Gorgeous Carved Pieces, would've liked to own them all!

How many people do you think it took to play this??

Welcome to my ever so beautiful home aka Hawa Mahal

Main Courtyard

Cool how they played with mirrors and colors to bring in color, shade and maximize light in the daylight and candle light at night. 

Soaking it all in with some sunshine!

The smitten kitten chillin!

Perspective - lines and angles

The art of clicking selfies!

Up above the world so high!

See Jantar Mantar??

The watchman insisted on clicking this picture for me. Ha!

I'd like to think I'm not fat but I had to walk through sideways. Talk about narrow escapes!

View from the highest point (you can see the City Palace from here)

Looking out at 'my' ever pretty in pink city

Jaipur, And then some...

When one hears the word 'Rajasthan', there are a few things that automatically come to mind - desert & camels, big turbans & bright colors, gems & jewelry, royalty & palaces. As I previously mentioned, I wasn't there for any of these things, but everyone kept giving me suggestions - things to see and do. I had all the time in the world but most of all, I'd taken such a shine to Jaipur, its people and their ways, I figured I may as well go and explore the sights of this city that feels like the home I always belonged to. So I ventured out into the blazing sun, armed with my sunglasses, water bottle, chocolate and camera.

The first place I visited was The City Palace & Museum. I'm not going to be a travel guide (have attached links for those wanting more information), I'm just going to share what I thought was interesting and cool. The enormity of this Palace is quite something. And being a Swiss-return Parsi, I wondered how they managed to keep every nook and cranny clean, how many people they needed to clean it etc. I know... Sorry. Moving on.

Walking around, from room to room, courtyard to courtyard, I could only imagine what life must have been like all those years ago. To be a Queen or a Princess growing up in all that splendor. I was in shock when I looked at the size of some of the Maharajas' clothes, I think one garment of his could easily fit 7 of me and a couple of kids... And then some!!!

As I made my way to the top of the Royal Residence in the Palace, I noticed the flag of Jaipur called the Panchranga (5 colors) flying in all its glory above Shri Niwas, at the highest point of the palace. There was something unusual about it though, it had a mini-me flag flying right above it. I learnt quite a lot about Jaipurs history and Royalty, thanks to Aridaman Singh who very kindly and patiently answered all the questions I kept bombarding him with.

Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur was given the title 'Sewai' by Aurangzeb. Every Maharaja from way back then to this date has carried this title in his name. 'Sewai' means quarter (1/4). You see, a man is a man, but if you're a Maharaja, you're a man and then some (a quarter)! Thus the names read H.H. Maharaja Sewai XYZ...  Which is what the mini-me flag symbolizes too! The Panchranga together with it's quarter, lets the people of the city know that their Maharaja (presently 15 years old) is in the city. When he goes to boarding school, goes on holiday etc, the quarter Panchranga is taken down. I'm so grateful I got to go all the way up to the Panchranga and its quarter and even see Sukh Niwas, the Royal family hall. (Thank you my angels - you know who you are).

So much history and culture here and that they keep certain traditions and practices alive, excites me. Keeping with the spirit of things, I hopped across to Jantar Mantar, got me an audio guide and about fifteen minutes later switched it off. Here's why:

First, I wasn't too thrilled that everything being said went smack bang over my head, deeply hurting my 'Intelligence Ego'. I wasn't amused.

Second, they tried to make it seem like a father was explaining things to his little daughter and kept giving stupid cereal-commercial like fake ha ha's saying 'wow you are so smart', just rubbing it in further, that some child can understand astrology faster than you. Whoever played the daughter, congratulations. No one has ever had such a high pitched, squeaky voice that made me want to rip my ear drums out, burn them and erase all memory of those fifteen minutes of my life.

Ummm... wow. Okay that out of the way, I just strolled around admiring the perfectly manicured greenery and over powering, huge instruments, thinking of the genius of how they constructed them and measured things with such precision in the early 18th century, now becoming a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. And with that, the sun set over the pink city and I decided to call it a day. After all, the night beckoned with the ever famous Rajasthani Lal Maas - homemade for me!

There's heaps more sight seeing to be done in Jaipur and tons more stories, connections and an unknown love growing deeper with each passing day...


PS. After trying to console myself with the being creative, using one side of the brain works more theory, I was most relieved to find out most people don't get Jantar Mantar at all (unless they're into astronomy and the likes of it). So guess who's back to being a gloating smart ass! Buahahahaha...

The Panchrang and its Quarter Panchrang flying seen from Sabha Niwas

The stunning Pritam Niwas & its various doors with finely detailed murals based on seasons.

Incredible detailing in the carving and paintings

Princess Ramona could totally get used to this. Calendar, khaana lao. And hellooo...someone press my feet already! 

Tada!! Right up there with the Flag of Jaipur - The Panchranga & the Quarter Panchranga.

The view from above - you can even see Jantar Mantar (Triangular Structure)

One of the astronomically large instruments at Jantar Mantar

It's very well looked after, see told you the green was well kept - hats off to the gardeners!

More fancy instruments

I don't know, these remind me of giant turtles.

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Jaipur...

Before I get into the Jaipur episode, I would just like to say, I had put up a post on a social media site, casually asking if anyone had any sort of recommendations for Rajasthan. Within a few minutes I had so many responses, messages and calls. Turns out I knew tons of Mayo-ites in Bombay (we'll touch upon them and their beloved Alma-Mater eventually), and lets just say every Mayo-ite/Rajput knows the other. There's always a connection - that is something I found most fascinating and instantly loved about them.

So a kind friend in Mumbai got me in touch with his very helpful and hospitable classmate in Jaipur, thanks to whom I got a beautiful room at the Mandawa Haveli. It is a gorgeous place to stay, so peaceful and pretty, friendly yet non-intrusive staff, located perfectly between the main old city and the cool C-Scheme area. Oh and I must mention the yummiest grilled chicken sandwich I've eaten - ever! I look forward to checking out their other properties in their province Mandawa, hopefully very, very soon.

I got in touch with the only one person I knew in Jaipur. It was a shock for him too to have me there at such short notice, but I'd messaged him earlier and let him know I was reaching Jaipur in a few hours. I had no expectations and told him that we could meet whenever he was free, I had no plans as such and didn't expect him to stop work or alter his plans to show me around. I was fully easy, just coming to be. Regardless, he gathered his friends and we were headed to 'Steam' within an hour of me checking in. Steam is a really cool spot at the Taj Rambagh Palace Hotel. It's a bar in a restored steam engine train at a recreated Victorian train station! It felt surreal. I was amused, excited and gobsmacked at the same time. Oh golly, my vocabulary seems to be heading back in time too!!

The whole gang arrived, I was introduced to everyone, we indulged in our drinks and wood-fired pizza and as we spoke, laughed and joked, the roots of my love for this place started planting themselves firmly in the ground without me even realising it. Everyone was so lovely, so easy to get on with, I don't know how they felt, but for me, it certainly did not feel like it was the first time I was meeting any of them. It was as if we'd been friends for years and this was just another night out together, fully normal. The night progressed and moved to one of their homes, after which we called it a night at around 5 am. Not a bad start huh?




The next afternoon, I awoke and lazily strolled down to the pool. The staff were so concerned I didn't show up for breakfast, they made sure I ate and drank well. I listened to some nice Sunday chill lounge as I wrote in my diary (an everyday essential in my bag) and my phone beeped.





My friend picked me up, we went to his home where everyone else was. We watched tv and played cricket. Yes. The boys played cricket with me and were so supportive! I was Man of the Match even - good bowling and batting skills people (not because I was a guest or a girl). At the end of the evening my friend thought I was taking the piss because I kept thanking him repeatedly for letting me be a part of their evening and play with them.

Truth is, I really couldn't remember the last time I'd felt like a part of a normal home life, family and friend circle that played outdoor sports together. This is exactly what I was looking for. I was breathing, breathing with a smile, gratefully aware of it - without even caring about where my BFF phone was!!

The roots started growing deeper as day 2 started to peak to its end...