Some people have wheels(or wings) attached to them, which always keep compelling them to remain restless and search for even the slightest of opportunities to put them (wheels/wings) in use. And for such people opportunities come, but always with a difference. Bottom line is: its never really easy for a globe trotter to plan a journey with ease. Mine case isn't very different. Last 2 trips of mine(1 to Kasauli in June and other to Jaisalmer/Jodhpur more recently) have been like this. I wasn't willing to go to kasauli, but God had other ideas. And for Jaisalmer trip, I was an outsider in a group where only my sis was the one whom I knew. And more importantly, I was working like a maniac in my office even 1 week before the trip, and my chances of joining the group were almost next to nothing. But again, God had other ideas.
So it was just on the Wednesday morning(the trip was scheduled for Wed 01/10 to Sun 05/10) the day of trip, that I got my leave for Fri approved, and here I was on my way to Rajasthan(where I had previously never been). While leaving my Gurgaon home, I was having mixed emotions. The excitement of seeing "the unseens" was mixed with the caution of meeting "the unknowns". And the Traffic Jams before reaching the Old Delhi station were not helping my cause. Anyways, just in the nick of time i managed to reach the station, and went straight to my berth. My sis wasn't there, so I called her, and she said that she was buying some chips and cold drinks. Another girl was sitting on the opposite berth, and on seeing me, she asked my berth no. I obliged by telling 38, and the next moment she was asking me that if I could change my berth with seat no. 52/53, as they were a part of a group which was divided at 2 places. I was thinking how to respond, and then a guy came in and asked the girl about Supriya. This was the name which I was trying to listen from someone(Supriya - my sis), and then I asked them - "R u with Supriya?", which the girl listened as - "R u Supriya?", and she started murmuring something, but the guy heard it correctly and asked me - "R u Supriya's brother?" My nod in agreement meant that I didn't need to exchange the seat :).
The next person to come in compartment was Supriya. And then one more guy and girl came in, and the 6 of us were together.
Characters :
Supriya - My sis(or di, as I fondly call her).
Isha - The girl trying to exchange seat with me.
Ravesh - The guy who heard me correctly.
Rishi - A cool dude. My first impression of him was that he would make everyone laugh by his antics.
Deepali - A bindaas girl, giving company to Rishi (as Rishi had joined the trip due to Deepali - or Deeps as Rishi puts it).
Myself - A confused person, thinking of ways to get mixed up with "the unknowns".
And for the first 3-4 hours my Mute button was On, as I was trying to get the feel of things. Seemed like Isha, Ravesh, Deepali and Supriya knew each other really well(as was expected with some current and some erstwhile employees of the same Co.). And then after sometime, I had the first cup of my fav. liquid in this world(T) and a big(T)hanks to Isha for that, as she was the one who kept pestering each and every vendor passing from our compartment asking, "Bhaiya chaiwaala kab aayega"(When would the tea seller come)? and the reply she got was a monotonous one -"Abhi aa raha hai"(Coming in a while). And then we made an arrangement to have one more T after a little while. Though Isha backed out of the plan, I was determined to have one more cup, as I didn't know when would I get the next cup. And after having 2 cupsful, I was a bit more relieved.
Then after a while, we started playing cards. A game called 'laad', which was new for me, but I was lucky to be the winner of 1st round. But then lady luck turned its back on me, and I was last and second last the next 2 rounds. As is the case with all card games, u can't play them for long. We were no exceptions either, and soon we gave up. And then there was a drama between Rishi, Deepali and Isha. Deepali was in the middle and both Rishi and Isha were pretending to sleep on her shoulder. Situation became such that once Deepali held Isha by her neck. And that was a Kodak moment. Snap is with me :). After having all that fun, we went to sleep. And actually I had to go to 52/53, but not alone. My sis was there with me. We chatted for around an hour or even more than that, and then I slept like anything. Got up at around 9:30(Isha had exaggerated my waking up time in her blog), and yes, I was the last one to get up. And on getting up, I came to know that one auntie wasn't able to sleep well b'coz of our(di and mine) chat last night, and that she kept reiterating. After a count of 4, I moved to merge with the rest of the group(4 times in 10 mins... gosh..)
Then others had some breakfast in the form of Pakodas(not fair.. ) and T(I didn't had that since I was fasting for 9 days due to navratri, and hence had to first take a bath and only then have anything - Oh I forgot to tell, I was on fast, and had a companion in Isha). And then we had some innovative photo sessions - like 2 girls dying(well one was more natural, while the other wasn't serious enough to die). Then the one who was a natural, became a witch(by bringing all her hair in front, covering her face - did u really need to do that Isha :)? ), and started haunting the other one for not being a natural. Then the syndrome spread among all the girls, and lo, there were 3 witches there, and we all were looking for some ghostbusters. Then we clicked some more good innovative pics, and Rishi morphed them a bit, which made them look even better. Nice skills.
After a long wait of over 19 hours, we finally reached our destination - Jaisalmer Railway Station, where we took a pic of all the baggage which we had. It was manageable at that time. End of Part I.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Nuances of a trip - II (Jaisalmer)
Jaisalmer - Also called the Golden City of India because the yellow sand gives a yellowish-golden touch to the city & its surrounding area. It is situated on the border of India and Pakistan in West Rajasthan. Jaisalmer is almost entirely a sandy waste, forming a part of the great Indian desert. The general aspect of the area is that of an interminable sea of sandhills, of all shapes and sizes, some rising to a height of 150 ft. Those in the west are covered with log bushes, those in the east with tufts of long grass. Water is scarce, and generally brackish.
We landed on Jaisalmer Railway station at 12:45 p.m.(right on time, even through there were 40 scheduled stoppages). And immediately after getting down, I clicked a snap of people with their baggages(as I knew that since there were girls with us, we would be having just double that luggage at the time of return journey, and I had planned for a similar snap on our way back). Then with the help of local auto drivers, we reached a decent hotel(not Hotel Decent of Jab We Met :)), and it was good to know that the hotel provided a package tour for outing in Jaisalmer, which included 2 desert safaris(I was waiting for one such safari for a long time, and here we were getting double the fun), alongwith sight seeing and becoming part of a cultural event. And without even taking a slumber(poor me), we were on our way to the first camel safari(which was in a desert that was almost at the planes level). We went to a Jain temple on the way, where Isha and Deepali(the 2 eligible Jains) explained a few things about Jain temples, and their Gods, and we clicked some good pics there(as we were doing all the way - Isha posing as bandit queen, having Supriya as her deputy.. poor girls, they had just one scarf to cover both the faces. Me posing as James Bond with my gogs. Deepali too scared of the flashlights - bachpan mein uski mumma ne bola tha ki beta camera se bhoot nikalta hai.. light maarte hue.. tab se use photo sessions se bahut dar lagta hai :)). Jokes apart, I was just dying to reach the desert.
After close to an hour's journey via the cab arranged from hotel, we reached the sandy scalp of Jaisalmer, where Desert ships were waiting lazily to start their day's job. Six of us hired 3 of the ships - Hritik Roshan(who else for Isha/Ravesh), Michael Jackson(my/di's vessel) and .. oops I forgot the name of Rishi/Deepali's camel. Anyways, names were redundant, as there were at most 4 common names for around 50 camels. The thing was the safari. The first experience was little odd for most of us as the camel got up in a 3-stage process - First it raised its hind legs a little, then the front ones, and finally in a knee-jerking motion, it was up on all four, and soon became mobile.. and at a later stage, the camel puller, a little 8-9 yrs old who himself needed someone to pull him, pulled the camel since it was falling paces behind the others, and the next moment it was running like crazy, and I was barely holding the little grip provided,alongwith my breath, with the fear of falling down anytime, which luckily didn't happen. After 15 mins of this bumpy yet cheerful ride, we reached the desert having fair amount of sand dunes. And then it was GO CRAZY time - initiated by Isha, and followed by Rishi and Supriya. Isha said that she wants someone to shoot a video of her while she rolls down a dune. Rishi obliged, and in the process, himself got convinced that its a fun activity. And minutes later, 3 of the lunatics were coming down from a height, in a real topsy-turvy manner. And they were also being videographed, by none other than - yours truly. It was a real fun watching them roll down, hitting each other in an effort not to do so. That was the kodak moment of the day.
Next was our turn to have some innovative pics of the sunset, which we did gleefully, giving all the absurd poses possible, like lifting the sun, holding it between fingers, and so on and so forth. Then after having enough of sunset, we moved to the nearby camp - The Oasis - which was the venue for the cultural event. We were welcomed by vermilion marks on our foreheads, and then were offered a nice relaxing spot with a mattress on the ground, and a small but beautiful chowki in front to keep the snacks/accessories etc. There we got thoroughly entertained by folk singers and dancers. We were watching the dance - awe struck - as some of the stunts done by the dancers were hard to believe. Firstly the dancer put 7 pots on her head, and gradually danced. And then, if that was not enough, she did all the possible balancing(and sometimes dangerous) tricks, like standing on top of the brims of glasses, daggers, broken glass etc. And then, as a final act, she picked up a 100 Rupee note from a steel glass using her mouth(in the meantime, all the 7 pots were intact on her head), and this successful feat of hers brought everyone to their feet. And that was the time when the girls started shaking their legs with those dancers, and it was a lot of fun for everyone. I also joined the group, and after merely a min, everything was revolving for me, and I was on ground, as I tried to dance in a rotating fashion with one of the local dancers. But thankfully, I wasn't hurt, and learnt the very imp. lesson. Never try to match steps with professional dancers. Whatever is bread and butter for them, might be too hot to handle for others
Then after the dinner there, we were on our way back to hotel, as there was one more day to be spent in Jaisalmer(everyone was planning to spend Sat in Jodhpur, as Jaisalmer would be conquered in 2 only days). On the way, we heard some reality about dreams from Isha, and some songs from Deeps' cell, which I liked a lot(as her choice of songs was quite close to ones which I like). And after a long tiring day, we were back to our Hotel. After gossiping for some time, it was time to put the lights off. The hotel room, esp. the bed, was really comfy, and it didn't took us long before we were fast asleep. This brings me to the end of day 2.
We landed on Jaisalmer Railway station at 12:45 p.m.(right on time, even through there were 40 scheduled stoppages). And immediately after getting down, I clicked a snap of people with their baggages(as I knew that since there were girls with us, we would be having just double that luggage at the time of return journey, and I had planned for a similar snap on our way back). Then with the help of local auto drivers, we reached a decent hotel(not Hotel Decent of Jab We Met :)), and it was good to know that the hotel provided a package tour for outing in Jaisalmer, which included 2 desert safaris(I was waiting for one such safari for a long time, and here we were getting double the fun), alongwith sight seeing and becoming part of a cultural event. And without even taking a slumber(poor me), we were on our way to the first camel safari(which was in a desert that was almost at the planes level). We went to a Jain temple on the way, where Isha and Deepali(the 2 eligible Jains) explained a few things about Jain temples, and their Gods, and we clicked some good pics there(as we were doing all the way - Isha posing as bandit queen, having Supriya as her deputy.. poor girls, they had just one scarf to cover both the faces. Me posing as James Bond with my gogs. Deepali too scared of the flashlights - bachpan mein uski mumma ne bola tha ki beta camera se bhoot nikalta hai.. light maarte hue.. tab se use photo sessions se bahut dar lagta hai :)). Jokes apart, I was just dying to reach the desert.
After close to an hour's journey via the cab arranged from hotel, we reached the sandy scalp of Jaisalmer, where Desert ships were waiting lazily to start their day's job. Six of us hired 3 of the ships - Hritik Roshan(who else for Isha/Ravesh), Michael Jackson(my/di's vessel) and .. oops I forgot the name of Rishi/Deepali's camel. Anyways, names were redundant, as there were at most 4 common names for around 50 camels. The thing was the safari. The first experience was little odd for most of us as the camel got up in a 3-stage process - First it raised its hind legs a little, then the front ones, and finally in a knee-jerking motion, it was up on all four, and soon became mobile.. and at a later stage, the camel puller, a little 8-9 yrs old who himself needed someone to pull him, pulled the camel since it was falling paces behind the others, and the next moment it was running like crazy, and I was barely holding the little grip provided,alongwith my breath, with the fear of falling down anytime, which luckily didn't happen. After 15 mins of this bumpy yet cheerful ride, we reached the desert having fair amount of sand dunes. And then it was GO CRAZY time - initiated by Isha, and followed by Rishi and Supriya. Isha said that she wants someone to shoot a video of her while she rolls down a dune. Rishi obliged, and in the process, himself got convinced that its a fun activity. And minutes later, 3 of the lunatics were coming down from a height, in a real topsy-turvy manner. And they were also being videographed, by none other than - yours truly. It was a real fun watching them roll down, hitting each other in an effort not to do so. That was the kodak moment of the day.
Next was our turn to have some innovative pics of the sunset, which we did gleefully, giving all the absurd poses possible, like lifting the sun, holding it between fingers, and so on and so forth. Then after having enough of sunset, we moved to the nearby camp - The Oasis - which was the venue for the cultural event. We were welcomed by vermilion marks on our foreheads, and then were offered a nice relaxing spot with a mattress on the ground, and a small but beautiful chowki in front to keep the snacks/accessories etc. There we got thoroughly entertained by folk singers and dancers. We were watching the dance - awe struck - as some of the stunts done by the dancers were hard to believe. Firstly the dancer put 7 pots on her head, and gradually danced. And then, if that was not enough, she did all the possible balancing(and sometimes dangerous) tricks, like standing on top of the brims of glasses, daggers, broken glass etc. And then, as a final act, she picked up a 100 Rupee note from a steel glass using her mouth(in the meantime, all the 7 pots were intact on her head), and this successful feat of hers brought everyone to their feet. And that was the time when the girls started shaking their legs with those dancers, and it was a lot of fun for everyone. I also joined the group, and after merely a min, everything was revolving for me, and I was on ground, as I tried to dance in a rotating fashion with one of the local dancers. But thankfully, I wasn't hurt, and learnt the very imp. lesson. Never try to match steps with professional dancers. Whatever is bread and butter for them, might be too hot to handle for others
Then after the dinner there, we were on our way back to hotel, as there was one more day to be spent in Jaisalmer(everyone was planning to spend Sat in Jodhpur, as Jaisalmer would be conquered in 2 only days). On the way, we heard some reality about dreams from Isha, and some songs from Deeps' cell, which I liked a lot(as her choice of songs was quite close to ones which I like). And after a long tiring day, we were back to our Hotel. After gossiping for some time, it was time to put the lights off. The hotel room, esp. the bed, was really comfy, and it didn't took us long before we were fast asleep. This brings me to the end of day 2.
Nuances of a trip - III (Jaisalmer Continued)
Morning of Oct 3rd - Friday. Not much time lapsed between getting up and gearing up. The agenda was - Sight seeing and going to fort. But before that, there was another drama in the offing. As we had decided to go to jodhpur the next day, we had to ensure that our boarding station for the return journey gets changed to Jodhpur from Jaisalmer(this was a little unplanned as far as we were concerned, and the real prob was that Rishi and I were not having confirmed berths. It was RAC 6 and 7 which had very little chances of getting confirmed(and it remained as it is till the time of journey). And due to this, we were not given the boarding from Jodhpur at first. But the might of the Earthly God got over the RAC factor, and everything else became redundant. Our boarding got modified and we were part of the group again. Jai jai money..
On to the Gadisar lake. We had some good snaps there. Isha tried her hands on Basukhan, a Rajasthani traditional instrument(and that too after once being denied the permission of holding a similar instrument by another local performer). I clicked some serene snaps of my sis sitting, having the Lake as a beautiful background, which I really like a lot. And then it was time to move to fort, which was again a first of sorts for me. We reached the fort, and went to Jain temples(again). After visiting the temple, we suddenly realized that we were hungry. And next thing we desperately looked for was a place to fill our tummies. And it wasn't too far from us - The Roof Top Hotel. Though there was nothing great about that hotel. Fan was barely working, and hygiene was last thing which we could've asked for. But the good thing was - we were together and we were sitting - in shade. Then Ravesh tried his hands on desi Pizza(the taste of which only Ravesh can explain :) ), whereas Rishi ordered for some honey toast, which he seemed to enjoy(he asked for extra honey too). Then there were macaroni for Deeps and Di, whereas Isha and I were content to have some banana and apple due to our fast. And after the lunch, it was time to move back to hotel, as we had one more safari lined up in the evening.
We reached hotel, and had some T(after a long time) and then we were again charged up for the next adventure. This time desert was on a height. But before reaching the no vegetation land, there was an option of vegetation land - well saying almost vegetation land would be a better bet - The Fossil Park, which by the name appeared to be housing some of the greatest remains of now extinct species of flora and fauna. And that the fauna part was a myth we discovered on reaching there. On the way, Rishi had asked - what would be there in the fossil park apart from fossils, to which Deepali had innocently replied - Park, and we had a good laugh. But Deepali was so very wrong. Forget fossils, there was no park either. And what a pity that we had to pay 60 bucks for this non adventure :(. But then, hum log bhi Mogambo ke bhateeje Gogo the - aaye the, to kuchh to lekar jaana hi tha - so we got a chance to click some good pics in those demolished structures, with the Rock On!!! movie serving as an inspiration for the poses. It was not a total loss. And Ravesh was adamant to get his snap clicked by the bushes(we were suggesting him to sit in a particular manner behind the bushes, but he didn't do that :).. smart chap..) And again Rishi obliged and Ravesh was there in the cam, alongside his favorite Bush(Get over Bush Man - Obama or McCain is the future). That was the kodak moment of Day 3.
Then we again started our travel to the 2nd desert. After about an hour or more drive, we reached the second desert. Here, the camels were again waiting, but they were not anywhere near as adorned as their counterparts last day. And it was a feeling of deja-vu all over again. We did nothing new as far as sunset was concerned, and after spending sometime in the desert, we were looking to go back to hotel. Which was what we did, but not before Rishi had some altercation with the camel puller little boy(who considered himself as smart as Sherlock Holmes, and kept speaking and speaking, so much so that we got really irritated - and all this for 30 Rs, which Rishi had paid to another one of his colleagues since he didn't had the change..)
But all was well when the one who got paid the extra amount told the fussy boy that he would give his share. And after the dispute got settled, we headed back to our hotel immediately. We also had a family accompanying us in the cab, and there were 2 sweet li'l kids, who kept everyone engaged with their sweet acts. The cute poems by the cute, little girl were too good, and took us down the memory lane. And amidst all the songs/poems/jokes, we didn't realize when our cab stopped in front of our hotel. And the next moment, all of us were in our rooms, trying to pack everything, as we had our bus scheduled to depart at 10:30 pm. Then we had our dinner at Riddhi Siddhi, which was good as per others(banana, mango and some potato wafers for Isha and me). And after sometime, we were inside the bus, waiting for the ride to get over ASAP. Jodhpur here we come. End of Day 3.
On to the Gadisar lake. We had some good snaps there. Isha tried her hands on Basukhan, a Rajasthani traditional instrument(and that too after once being denied the permission of holding a similar instrument by another local performer). I clicked some serene snaps of my sis sitting, having the Lake as a beautiful background, which I really like a lot. And then it was time to move to fort, which was again a first of sorts for me. We reached the fort, and went to Jain temples(again). After visiting the temple, we suddenly realized that we were hungry. And next thing we desperately looked for was a place to fill our tummies. And it wasn't too far from us - The Roof Top Hotel. Though there was nothing great about that hotel. Fan was barely working, and hygiene was last thing which we could've asked for. But the good thing was - we were together and we were sitting - in shade. Then Ravesh tried his hands on desi Pizza(the taste of which only Ravesh can explain :) ), whereas Rishi ordered for some honey toast, which he seemed to enjoy(he asked for extra honey too). Then there were macaroni for Deeps and Di, whereas Isha and I were content to have some banana and apple due to our fast. And after the lunch, it was time to move back to hotel, as we had one more safari lined up in the evening.
We reached hotel, and had some T(after a long time) and then we were again charged up for the next adventure. This time desert was on a height. But before reaching the no vegetation land, there was an option of vegetation land - well saying almost vegetation land would be a better bet - The Fossil Park, which by the name appeared to be housing some of the greatest remains of now extinct species of flora and fauna. And that the fauna part was a myth we discovered on reaching there. On the way, Rishi had asked - what would be there in the fossil park apart from fossils, to which Deepali had innocently replied - Park, and we had a good laugh. But Deepali was so very wrong. Forget fossils, there was no park either. And what a pity that we had to pay 60 bucks for this non adventure :(. But then, hum log bhi Mogambo ke bhateeje Gogo the - aaye the, to kuchh to lekar jaana hi tha - so we got a chance to click some good pics in those demolished structures, with the Rock On!!! movie serving as an inspiration for the poses. It was not a total loss. And Ravesh was adamant to get his snap clicked by the bushes(we were suggesting him to sit in a particular manner behind the bushes, but he didn't do that :).. smart chap..) And again Rishi obliged and Ravesh was there in the cam, alongside his favorite Bush(Get over Bush Man - Obama or McCain is the future). That was the kodak moment of Day 3.
Then we again started our travel to the 2nd desert. After about an hour or more drive, we reached the second desert. Here, the camels were again waiting, but they were not anywhere near as adorned as their counterparts last day. And it was a feeling of deja-vu all over again. We did nothing new as far as sunset was concerned, and after spending sometime in the desert, we were looking to go back to hotel. Which was what we did, but not before Rishi had some altercation with the camel puller little boy(who considered himself as smart as Sherlock Holmes, and kept speaking and speaking, so much so that we got really irritated - and all this for 30 Rs, which Rishi had paid to another one of his colleagues since he didn't had the change..)
But all was well when the one who got paid the extra amount told the fussy boy that he would give his share. And after the dispute got settled, we headed back to our hotel immediately. We also had a family accompanying us in the cab, and there were 2 sweet li'l kids, who kept everyone engaged with their sweet acts. The cute poems by the cute, little girl were too good, and took us down the memory lane. And amidst all the songs/poems/jokes, we didn't realize when our cab stopped in front of our hotel. And the next moment, all of us were in our rooms, trying to pack everything, as we had our bus scheduled to depart at 10:30 pm. Then we had our dinner at Riddhi Siddhi, which was good as per others(banana, mango and some potato wafers for Isha and me). And after sometime, we were inside the bus, waiting for the ride to get over ASAP. Jodhpur here we come. End of Day 3.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Nuances of a trip - IV (Final day - Jodhpur)
After a tiring journey by bus, nothing could've been more frustrating than to search for a hotel to put our baggage as well as our bodies to some rest. And the end result was nowhere close to what we were able to achieve in Jaisalmer without much effort. And that too when we had a guide (in form of my sis, who had studied here for 3 yrs) with us. Anyways, everyone was too tired to crib, and the best thing in the world was that 'Good for nothing' hotel bed which was inviting everyone of us, an invitation which everyone accepted gleefully.
After the most minimal of sleep, we were again good to go. And after having a bit of breakfast, we hired Auto-rickshaws(the luxury of cab was not there this time round :( - as the hotel we got this time round was again like its beds - 'good for nothing'). The first place we went to was a palace-cum-temple where, unlike other normal temples, the deities were their long gone kings. We did only a bit of photoshoot there, and then we were on our way to the Jodhpur Fort(the earlier fort which I visited in Jaisalmer wasn't as good as I had expected it to be, but had heard from our guide that this one's much better).
Rishi bought tickets this time. There was an option of going up via an elevator, but everyone gave it a thumbs down, as we didn't want to miss the fun of whatever was there to be encountered on our way to the top. So rightfully we moved forward, well aware that a steep incline was awaiting us with bated breath, and we were equal to the task. On the way up, we found a cannon, blocked from both ends(who knows, anyone might've fired a round had it been unsealed :)), and being the photoholic(any guesses who am I talking about??) miss photogenic is, a pose with the cannon was very much on the cards, only that the adventure got a little too far for the comfort of a guard : Isha gave this pose by sitting on the barrel, and the guard started shouting, but not before that moment was captured in Rishi's cam - Kodak Moment of the day. And after that mild scolding, we were back on our way.
The fort had a museum, which mainly housed the royal belongings. A robe of king was there on display, which was so big that only a giant like Hulk(or Chacha Choudhary's friend Sabu) could've worn it. And then the height of doors was so less, that only half the king would've been able to enter through that. And the reason for the lesser height of doors in words of a guard - "The doors were made of lesser height so that even an enemy would enter only after lowering his head". Nice theory - but what about the poor Giant King?
But the robe was only a beginning. Lots more was there to be unfolded. There were weapons all round - of all kinds. There were some traditional ones like spears, swords, knives etc, and then there were guns and rifles also, which gave a feeling of completeness to the collection. And it was not only about brute force kings, but the tender queens were also very much part, as there were those beautiful dressed statues, grand palanquins and luxurious palaces of her majesties. And best amongst all was Diwan-e-khaas. The ambience of the whole place was just awesome, and you need to be there to feel what I am unable to put in words. All these were witnesses to an unbelievable era gone by.
And from the palace and museum, we had just one more place to visit. A place where just a week back a tragedy had struck - a stampede, which took with it lots of precious human lives. A stampede, which is not very common, but given the nature of the place and the time of the year, could've been avoided had there been enough security. The place I am talking about is Goddess Chamunda temple, and during Navratri, the no. of visitors increases 100 times than what this temple sees on ordinary days. And when we went there, to our surprise, it wore an unusually deserted look, and the no. of policemen outscored the no. of devotees. Seems like tremors of a tragedy can overcome the religious sentiments of Indians, which is an extremely rare thing to happen considering the ever so religious nature of us. But still we were glad to see that we were not the only ones to have reached there. There were only a handful around, but they were enough to give the feeling that we were in a temple.
After that temple visit, we went back to hotel, had lunch, and then girls were out - this time on the original mission for which they had put in so much effort. The dreaded 'S' word(atleast for me:(, specially with di - don't mind di, I would still accompany you to market places). But that splurge provided some relief to guys, as we invested that time to get some rest, which refreshed us and by the evening, we were again raring to go, but this time back to Delhi.
Like all good things come to an end, our trip was also over. It was like waking up once more to find out that what we just saw was a beautiful dream, which came to an end with the break of dawn. But unlike other dreams, this one bore a fruit for everyone. I learned some new words - 'Moar-chang', 'basukha', 'kartaal', 'bhapang' are some of the musical instruments. A pair of slippers is called 'mojri'(rhyming with hosiery). But the best of the lot were the terms used by Isha for fasting and feasting people - 'Vrati' and 'Non-Vrati'. I also got good friends on this trip. Friends who are alway willing to accompany on trips like these, and who are fun being with. I am very much willing to go on more such trips if everyone else is ready. What say guys???
P.S. : Though we had decided many things on the trip, there were few which got missed. Some of them are:
a) Shooting everyone's experiences of the trip in the form of videos.
b) Clicking a pic at the time everyone de-boarded the train(to get the measure of increase in luggage due to shopping)
b) isn't feasible now, but just hoping that a) might happen some day in near future. With that hope, its adios time. Hope you enjoyed this journey through my writing as much as I did while experiencing it, and then by sharing that experience here. Sayonara, Dasvidaniya, Bye.
After the most minimal of sleep, we were again good to go. And after having a bit of breakfast, we hired Auto-rickshaws(the luxury of cab was not there this time round :( - as the hotel we got this time round was again like its beds - 'good for nothing'). The first place we went to was a palace-cum-temple where, unlike other normal temples, the deities were their long gone kings. We did only a bit of photoshoot there, and then we were on our way to the Jodhpur Fort(the earlier fort which I visited in Jaisalmer wasn't as good as I had expected it to be, but had heard from our guide that this one's much better).
Rishi bought tickets this time. There was an option of going up via an elevator, but everyone gave it a thumbs down, as we didn't want to miss the fun of whatever was there to be encountered on our way to the top. So rightfully we moved forward, well aware that a steep incline was awaiting us with bated breath, and we were equal to the task. On the way up, we found a cannon, blocked from both ends(who knows, anyone might've fired a round had it been unsealed :)), and being the photoholic(any guesses who am I talking about??) miss photogenic is, a pose with the cannon was very much on the cards, only that the adventure got a little too far for the comfort of a guard : Isha gave this pose by sitting on the barrel, and the guard started shouting, but not before that moment was captured in Rishi's cam - Kodak Moment of the day. And after that mild scolding, we were back on our way.
The fort had a museum, which mainly housed the royal belongings. A robe of king was there on display, which was so big that only a giant like Hulk(or Chacha Choudhary's friend Sabu) could've worn it. And then the height of doors was so less, that only half the king would've been able to enter through that. And the reason for the lesser height of doors in words of a guard - "The doors were made of lesser height so that even an enemy would enter only after lowering his head". Nice theory - but what about the poor Giant King?
But the robe was only a beginning. Lots more was there to be unfolded. There were weapons all round - of all kinds. There were some traditional ones like spears, swords, knives etc, and then there were guns and rifles also, which gave a feeling of completeness to the collection. And it was not only about brute force kings, but the tender queens were also very much part, as there were those beautiful dressed statues, grand palanquins and luxurious palaces of her majesties. And best amongst all was Diwan-e-khaas. The ambience of the whole place was just awesome, and you need to be there to feel what I am unable to put in words. All these were witnesses to an unbelievable era gone by.
And from the palace and museum, we had just one more place to visit. A place where just a week back a tragedy had struck - a stampede, which took with it lots of precious human lives. A stampede, which is not very common, but given the nature of the place and the time of the year, could've been avoided had there been enough security. The place I am talking about is Goddess Chamunda temple, and during Navratri, the no. of visitors increases 100 times than what this temple sees on ordinary days. And when we went there, to our surprise, it wore an unusually deserted look, and the no. of policemen outscored the no. of devotees. Seems like tremors of a tragedy can overcome the religious sentiments of Indians, which is an extremely rare thing to happen considering the ever so religious nature of us. But still we were glad to see that we were not the only ones to have reached there. There were only a handful around, but they were enough to give the feeling that we were in a temple.
After that temple visit, we went back to hotel, had lunch, and then girls were out - this time on the original mission for which they had put in so much effort. The dreaded 'S' word(atleast for me:(, specially with di - don't mind di, I would still accompany you to market places). But that splurge provided some relief to guys, as we invested that time to get some rest, which refreshed us and by the evening, we were again raring to go, but this time back to Delhi.
Like all good things come to an end, our trip was also over. It was like waking up once more to find out that what we just saw was a beautiful dream, which came to an end with the break of dawn. But unlike other dreams, this one bore a fruit for everyone. I learned some new words - 'Moar-chang', 'basukha', 'kartaal', 'bhapang' are some of the musical instruments. A pair of slippers is called 'mojri'(rhyming with hosiery). But the best of the lot were the terms used by Isha for fasting and feasting people - 'Vrati' and 'Non-Vrati'. I also got good friends on this trip. Friends who are alway willing to accompany on trips like these, and who are fun being with. I am very much willing to go on more such trips if everyone else is ready. What say guys???
P.S. : Though we had decided many things on the trip, there were few which got missed. Some of them are:
a) Shooting everyone's experiences of the trip in the form of videos.
b) Clicking a pic at the time everyone de-boarded the train(to get the measure of increase in luggage due to shopping)
b) isn't feasible now, but just hoping that a) might happen some day in near future. With that hope, its adios time. Hope you enjoyed this journey through my writing as much as I did while experiencing it, and then by sharing that experience here. Sayonara, Dasvidaniya, Bye.
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