This winter holiday I planned a vacation with my family in Rajasthan.Our original plan was to take the Ajmer Satabdi Express from Delhi railway station.So on the 25th of December in the shivering cold we made it on time for our 6.30 train.As luck would have it,we learnt our train has got cancelled due to the Gujjar agitation.I was completely disgusted with all this reservation nonsense.The more priviledge you give people the more they want.In the near future there may come a day when every seat for job,education,health will be reserved for someone.There will no longer be any provision for a person to secure something based on his abilities and thus we will become a mediocre nation.We had no other option but to go to the local bus service agency for a ticket to Jaipur.The tickets which would hardly cost two hundred bucks were sold for six hundred rupees. In exchange we were promised a deluxe bus which would start sharp at 6.30 and drop us at Jaipur by 10.30 am. On our way to the bus we met a young half-British half-Spanish woman named Dalini. We learnt that she has been charged 1000 rupees for the same bus ticket. I am quoting what Dalini said: " I dont like it here in Delhi. People are always trying to take your money away." Just imagine what kind of opinion foreigners are forming about us.
Still we were consoled by the fact that we would be reaching our destination on time. Little did we know that the Great Indian Tamasha was about to follow. It was 7.30 am and the bus was still static. Then after 15 minutes it started moving. After a few minutes it stopped again and for a long time. More passengers started boarding the bus. This time when the bus started we, the people who paid a premium price for the tickets were sitting on chairs. The aisle was occupied by villagers who were remained unfazed by their environment. Now let me tell you the bus was far from being Deluxe. The state-run buses are more comfortable. So basically the local bus operators cashed in on the opportunity and I am sure by now they must have gained at least 100 lbs by feasting on our hard-earned money. The people from rural India kept having groundnuts and were unabashedly scattering the shell on the floor. On seeing this, Krishna and Manish, two Indian boys born and brought up in Spain exclaimed "Why are they dirtying the place like this? Dont they love their country?" Our concept of loving the country is very different. We make fiery speeches, hold rallies, shout slogans. We the people of India protest a lot and on every other issue. To show love for our country we behave as boorishly possible with the British who dared to rule us for 200 years (forget their contribution to education, society: sati, widow remarriage). But when it comes to some basic civic sense, we have none. It took us nine hours to reach Jaipur.
On our first day in Jaipur we had the privilege of visiting Chauki Dhani, a traditional Rajasthani village built for entertainment. The entry fee was exorbitant, five hundred rupees per person including food. Inside the pseudo village the "villagers" were performing to entertain us. The Hawa Mahal in old Jaipur stands proudly amidst the hustle and bustle of the city least affected by time and bearing witness to the resplendent Indian history. The passerby is just as mesmerized by it as once the Rajput women living inside it were with the world outside.
From Jaipur we moved to Bikaner. In Bikaner we stayed at a B&B. Though the idea is very western but I must say there was a warmth in every little thing from the bed to the food. In spite of being a small towm Bikaner is surprisingly well maintained and clean city.
Jaisalmeer, a small town catapulted to fame during the 70's when renowned director Satyajit Ray made the movie Sonar Kella (The Golden Fort). Ever since then Jaisalmeer has become a major tourist hub though it lacks the basic infrastructure to support the tourism industry. Bengali tourists are aplenty, most of whom had come to see Mukul bari( Mukul's house). All houses in Jaisalmeer are built of yellow sandstone including the fort which gives them a golden hue in the strong afternoon sunlight. Another major attraction is camel ride in the Thar desert. Its an amazing feeling when the camel gets up and sits down. The camel gets up using its hind legs first. So you have to bend backwards as its body tilts forward and when it uses its fore legs you have to bend forward to avoid falling backwards. Many resorts have started tent and lodging facilities right in the middle of the desert. Its an added attraction for this small town and very expensive too. The main customers are mainly foreigners.
Our final stop was at Jodhpur. My first impression on seeing this city from the Meherangarh fort was 'Blue City'. Many houses are painted in blue. It reminded me of Greece. In the Mediterranean countries most houses or the front door is painted in blue to ward off evil spirits. From the fort the houses seemed like tiny blue specks amidst the white and pink. It was New Year's eve the day we reached Jodhpur. I tried to do some shopping but failed repeatedly as my eyes could not adjust to the bright reds, pinks and yellow's of the Marwari culture. I felt strangely calm in spite of it being 31st December.The incessant road trips has taken a toll both on my mind and body. On my way back to Delhi we availed the Jaipur-Delhi bus service. I have to admit that this was the smoothest part of the entire journey. The bus was very comfortable and I fell asleep immediately after boarding the bus and opened my eyes only on reaching Bikaner House. Delhi seemed strangely calm and luminous at 4 a.m. As I headed back to the University I was thinking that it would be only a few hours before the city would wake up and the hullabaloo, the bargaining, the competition, the dog-eat-dog-world would resume. But for that moment, I laid back on my seat and took in the silent night, the holy night, the New Year.
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