THE BEST PLACES IN JAIPUR

Hello,

Have been wondering for quite some time that I should be writing something about Jaipur on this blog. After all the name of the blog does necessitate that there be some connection with the city.

In order to start on this venture i have decided to write on the best places to visit in Jaipur. I will write on ten must visit places that are part of Jaipur and today i start with # 1 on the list: Nahargarh Fort.

Information on Nahargarh is plenty on the websites.
But the information that it was built in 1734 and is the first of the three forts built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh hardly means anything. The fact that it also means the fort of the tigers and a story that it is named after a prince to appease his ghost who had haunted the fort again means little.

So what is so great about Nahargarh.
To reach Nahargarh you have to exit the hustle bustle of Jaipur, cross Mansagar lake and take sudden left into the hills. This is an army road which leads up to the twin forts of Jaigarh and Nahargarh.
When you start the incline to Nahargarh you get a very wide view of the Mansagar lake. If the weather is good it is always advisable to stop your vehicle at one of the turns and soak in the beauty of the lake and the small palace within.
Some distance ahead is the turn towards Jaigarh Fort and then you reach a sharp incline that ends up on the outer gates of the fort. The incline and the entry are so close together that I have always felt that there should be some caution notice for the drivers coming out of the fort.
There are no tigers and although the guides will mention other wild animals I have never seen anything bigger than a mongoose. Yes you have many buffaloes, few monkeys and an odd Peacock.

When we reach the main part of the fort there is a sense that it is very small compared to the other forts. But the look is deceptive and once you get inside the main building the construction awes you. This fort has one of the best maintained interiors and the usual colorful rooms and corridors (common to all old forts in Rajasthan) attract your attention.
I will not waste my time here but get up on the terrace so that I get a bird's eye view of the fort. The beauty of the construction will fail to impress only the aesthetically challenged.
After having a view of the fort from the top I will walk on the ramparts (carefully as it may be damaged at few places) and feel like a rajput warrior doing the rounds. The ramparts are broad enough for a chariot to run on it.
Just adjacent is the 'Baori', dilapidated but gives you an idea of the scientific bend of mind of the inhabitants. This was the source of water for the fort.
One part of the ramparts (slightly damaged) provides you the best view of Jaipur. View it from the top and you see the symmetry of the old city. The beautiful city palace and the Talkatora with the temple complex. At night the RTDC restaurant (within the fort) or the cafe outside are excellent dinner locations.
Why is it site # 1 for me
I have fond memories of the place.
My first visit was in 1985. The last day in Jaipur after completing our induction course in SBBJ. The RTDC bus trip with a few other colleagues. This night trip in October gave me the first feel of the place.
I made the next visit in 1986. This time I was on the motorbike borrowed from Sanjoy and Radhika, my wife now was with me. After spending a princely sum on the date and dinner at the fort I had tried to save money by switching off the engine during the downhill journey. It was only when I switched off that I realized that the headlight also goes off when the engine is not working. Luckily we did not have any mishap. On the way down we met a gang of loafers high on beer. Another mishap avoided. Be careful of these guys who haunt the path at night. Harmless but you never know.
We have made several trips to the fort since then and I have never ever felt that it is not worth the effort.

One negative thought associated with Nahargarh is that it sheltered the British during the 1857 mutiny.

Any way one dark spot on the moon does not make it less pristine.

Best wishes,
Manoj

My Reply to a debate on Indian Literature

I beg to disagree with her when she says that writers do not get the respect they deserve in India. No offense as this is my personal experience and opinion.

I buttress my statement with the facts below.

I grew up in an India where literature was always so rich and awe inspiring.
Reading English, Hindi and Bengali literature I was always happy to note that for every famous English author and poet we always had one home grown one.

If we read 'O Captain! My Captain!' by Walt Whitman and 'The charge of the Light Brigade' by Lord Alfred Tennyson we also read 'Jhansi Ki Rani' by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and 'Sharfaroshi Ki Tamanna Aaj hamare dil mein hai' by Ram Prasad Bismil.

If Somerset Maugham, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain and Shakespeare influenced us so did Munshi Premchand, Sharatchandra and Bankim Chandra and Kalidas.
If we had a 'The Gift of Magi' and 'The last leaf' we also had the 'Kabuliwala' and 'Idgah'. If we had 'The tempest' and 'Othello' we also read 'Shakuntala' and 'Debodas'.

Kolkata always worshipped the literary giants - past and present. Robindra Sangeet and Nazrul geeti influenced the way of life in Bengal.

Poems by Robindranath Thakur are given the utmost respect by being chosen to be the national anthem of India and also Bangladesh. Not to forget our National song "Vande Mataram".

And before I forget I need to mention that we also had RK Laxman, Mulk Raj Anand and Ruskin Bond, if we wished to read Indian English authors.

The Rig Veda, the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Ramcharitmanas have been literature masterpieces that have been heard by generations of Indians.

Would it be wrong to suggest that we took lesson in life by reading and listening to dohas of Kabir, Surdas, Rahim and Nanak.

Gita continues to influence the way of life of the entire world.

On the other side, there has never been a book like 'Kamasutra' ever written.

Yes, it is true that we never had the wherewithal to discuss it over champagne and cherries, but we did discuss them as well, over cups of chai and bread-pakoras at the road side addas and while traveling on jam-packed local trains of Kolkata.

Yes, I am sure they get the respect they deserve in India.

The Sahitya Academy fellowship and the Jnanpith Award honor writers every year.

Please note that I have not talked about the various other contributors from the South and the West and the North-East.

Best regards,

Manoj

WIMBLEDON - THE FINAL HURDLE

Andy Roddick in finals!!!

The other Andy, Andy Murray was trying to become the first Brit since Bunny Austin in 1938 to advance to the Wimbledon men’s final. Heart break for the British once again.

But Roddick beware. You have Fedex on the other side. The champ is going for the record. 15 Grand slam championships. Bravo and best of luck.

By the way the old war horse is at it again - Leander Paes is in the finals of the mixed doubles.

Best wishes to him as well.

Wimbledon Dominance

Wimbledon has a tradition of creating heroes.
Like the dominance by the Williams sisters.
They have been in the finals every time since 2000 (except 2006) and between them have 7 winners and four runners up finishes. They have another three doubles titles as well.
Individually still far away from the 9+3 results of Martina Navratilova. We have not forgotten her seven doubles titles and four mixed doubles titles. She is the true owner of the centre court having ruled over it from 1985 to 2003 (almost twenty years in a sport where speed and strength means so much) when she won the mixed doubles with our own Leander Paes.
We had Pete Sampras winning seven titles and Roger Federer is now a few steps away from his sixth top finish.
Sisters being so dominant have only one other comparable period when in 1881 -89 William and Earnest Renshaw had 8+5 winners and runners up finishes and seven doubles titles as well.

It would be interesting if somebody worked on this angle. Why is there such an history of domination at Wimbledon.

Trip to Malaysia

Fruit Vendor in Malaysia

The trip to Malaysia posts were delayed as I struggled for the name of the hotel in KL. It was Citrus.
We reached the hotel at about 6 PM and Mr. Homi, our Indian guide from Cox and Kings was waiting for us. He had already taken the room keys and started giving instructions immediately. "At 7 PM I want all of you in the lobby as we will be going for dinner. The way he barked his orders I was reminded of the short time I spent at the hostel in St. Michael's, Patna. It sounded as "Be on time or no dinner".
We were ready at 7 PM and down in the lobby. The hotel was located in a side lane and the big bus could not get in so all of us had to walk down to the main road. Mr. Tanwar, did not give up his late coming habit and we had to wait for him. "from tomorrow no late coming and please leave the front seat vacant for me. Today I am making a general announcement but from tomorrow I may be direct", Homi threatened Mr. Jain, who had occupied the seat in the front of the bus.
The restaurant was good. The food was South Indian and Chaach was unlimited. It was good too. The buffet spread was OK and the vegetarian stuff was acceptable to our fellow tourists (my wife included).
So just after a drive through the city we were back at the hotel.
There was no drinking water bottles in the room and when we asked we were told you can use the tap water in the bathrooms. Not many of us relied on the assurance that the water from the toilet was good for drinking and therefore all of us were making a trip to the local seven eleven store for drinking water.
My wife wanted detergent soap to wash the undies but could not get it. Luckily we were carrying spare sets for the entire tour.
What we had forgotten was tea bags, milk powder and sugar. It was an issue as the supply in the hotel room was just enough for a single cup of tea each and we could have it either in the evening or in the morning.

Anyway, we were dead tired and had a good night sleep. Homi had told us that he would wake us up at 7AM for breakfast at 8AM and departure for the tour at 9AM. We set our alarm for 6AM knowing well that we would need more than one hour to be ready for breakfast.
As expected we were late and started breakfast only at 8.20AM. The hall was crowded as we had other groups from C&K and also SOTC staying in the same hotel.
The breakfast had variety. In fact we even had rice and chicken curry in the breakfast buffet. Fruits are tasty and juice, bread, eggs suffice for us.

The 9AM trip starts a little behind schedule but the Headmaster is happy. He says he had a cushion of 15 minutes. So no punishment for anyone. But Mr. Jain (he belongs to Lucknow but an original resident of Viraatnagar, Rajasthan) did not listen to what Homi had said the other day and was seated on the front seat again.
Minor problem that got sorted the next day.

We started our day tour with a visit to Petronas. This is actually the highlight of the tour. We make a stop for a photo shoot and we choose a professional to take a family pic. Cost us 15 RM but is one of the good family pitures we have. So it is worth it. I notice that our group does not want to spend anything extra. No one else opted for the professional photo shoot. After everybody had taken pictures, the group headed back into the bus and then we entered the Petronas Tower. The ground floor and basement and the mezzanine are reserved for shops of the best brands in the world. So you have the Gucci's, Gap, Versace and other brands that have the ability of creating a hole in your pocket. Anyway, such stores are everywhere now and not much of an attraction for us. Went around marveling at the architecture.
The towers were built by two sets of engineers. Japanese and Koreans and they raced each other to complete the project in time. The outer structure and the star shaped design is said to be Islamic. (Malaysia is Islamic- The girls near the tiniest of mini pants on the streets as well especially at Genting Highlands). It is unique in the sense that a country like Malaysia could even think of such a structure. After all it is just a 50 years old country. But the beauty of it is lost as it is in the heart of the city surrounded by only by concrete structures takes the charm away from it. The structure therefore remains commercial in mind rather than becoming a marvel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower where the ambiance adds to the allure.

After the visit to the Petronas we made a trip to the kings palace. The king is a decorative position and shared in turns by the families who had ruled the various smaller states than combined to become Malaysia (Singapore had joined Malaysia but then opted out after being a part of the country for two years in the sixties. Nobody talks of this in Malaysia as the recreation of Singapore happened mainly because of the ethnic tensions created by the Malays)

However, they have done well for themselves even after the tensions in the sixties and the 90's. Should add here that the roads were wonderful. It is said that the Al Nino has brought excessive rains to Kuala Lampur. But the planning has been in advance and we saw a broad three lane road in the heart of the city which is actually a drain used to take away the water from the city roads.

And then we went to the chocolate factory. Another money making racket. This is the place where all foreign brands of chocolate are made with the help of palm oil instead of animal fat. 100% vegetarian they said. The chocolates were supposed to be cheap here but turned out that it was available at cheaper rates outside.

Malaysia was a country of tin prospectors and the house were all made of wood. Kuala Lampur means muddy river and mining was the main activity. Two clans fought over the control of trade and had burnt down the entire city in 1881. An entire heritage was wiped off. Malays are 50% of the population and are very particular about their dominance. The Chinese 23% and Indian 7% are the other communities.

After the visit to the Chocolate factory we visited a beautiful Chinese temple. As it is difficult to describe the temple I am pasting a picture alongside. There were these boat like structures at the top. It is understood that the Chinese like to have two things to be part of their construction. Water and bats (Not the cricket bats but the flying ones). Both are considered lucky. The interior of this temple was also equally colorful with dragons and warriors painted on the wall. The Chinese also use a lot of Jock Sticks for their prayers. The temple had a park which had all the animals representing the years of their calender and a pond full of turtles. Again for luck and prosperity. None of the Indian temples can match the colour and cleanliness of this temple. And although water is considered a required feature they do not throw water around as we do in India. This chinese Temple is next to China Town. The place where you get genuine duplicates and Tee shirts that can be worn by three generations. Grandfather when it is new, father after one wash and grandson after the next wash and before it gets torn.

We were taken to see the National Monument. The world war I and II soldiers, mainly British and Indians are honored here. Wonderfully clean and absolutely green. In fact the whole country is green. I always liked the India Gate memorial and the vast spread of open land around it. Really made the India Gate stand out. No such structure here.
Interesting story of the statue is that the British sculpture commissioned for the work had seen just one Malay, the then President so although there are six people in the memorial statue all of them look the same.

The Merdeka was our next stop. Can you believe it nobody got down. Merdeka is the Independence square with beautiful british structures all around. An old cricket club pavalion reminds you of the pictures you see of the county grounds in England. I was reminded of the Merdeka Cup football. I went out and took a few pictures. Mayank got excited when he saw that Liverpool coach Arsene Wenger was expected there and wanted to stay back/come back. But his idea was vetoed and we had to get back into the bus and head for our lunch at Sagar.

Sagar was a restaurant in the basement next to Little India. Just like China Town it is a place where you have narrow lanes and small shops. I failed to understand why people of India, who have the Chandini Chowks, the Johari Bazars and the Chor Bazar, were getting excited about these places.

We sat for lunch and unfortunately shared a table with the Jains. This made Mayank & Ruchra uncomfortable and they hardly had any Non Veg. I hogged as usual but could see Mrs. Jain look disapprovingly at my plate as it got piled with bones of different variety.

Anyway this brought us to the end of our City tour.
We had the remaining half day free to do what we wanted and we went shopping (window shopping).

To be continued...