The Colours of the Pink City

It’s not everyday that one gets to savor a typical rajasthani cuisine or hear stories about the Rajas and Maharajas and get transported in time. Therefore when the opportunity arose for us to visit Jaipur, we jumped and grabbed the chance with two hands.

Of Course one must look into the trivialities of reaching the destination, therefore the tickets were booked and there we were in the New Year on our way through a chilly night. Our destination of Ranthambore via the Sawai Madour junction didn’t disappoint us in any way except probably for the lack of tigers. The chilliness in the air did a lot to increase our vigor towards play and food which was just too good. However the tigers disappointed us. Two hours of sun, dust and more dust which left most of us looking like carpenters and yet we saw no tigers nor any paw. However the Rajasthani folk dance at night soared our spirits also made us conscious of the fact that city bred folks need to learn a lot more from rural India about culture. The next morning after a visit a long climb and a dekko of a local fort we were off to Jaipur and Chowkidhanee. Thoughts of shopping lanes and more rajasthani delicacy created mirages throughout the way in everyone’s head.

And Chowkidhanee refused to disappoint that mirage. The exotic village make-believe enthralled us for a good 2 hours with its Kadai Doodh, Hair Massage, Mehendi Palmistry and a lot more. However it was the gastronomic food will keel the place alive in our hearts for the sheer size and taste of the meal. Truly we had enough of a Rajasthani meal and yet craved for more. The next day we finished of with our industrial visit of a Newspaper and a Radio Station both of which we learnt and enjoyed but we had seen better earlier (being in Bombay that is). The Jantar Mantar and Amer fort held our interest purely because of the artistry and sheer magnificence of the place and the knowledge of building in that era. A new jaipuri band was formed: the “Neel Kants”, which happily kept us occupied during the night along with the ‘Dj nite’. However our hearts were impatient for shopping and thus we awarded with a full 2 hours for shopping. For shoppoholics this would be slander but we had a train to catch.

With bags ranging with bed sheets for the house to ethinic jaipuri camel ethnic chappls, we were ready to enter the train. On the way back memories of the trip, its food as well as the last trip to Delhi plagued us. But a novel game of black jack soon kept us busy throughout the journey and with a blink we were back to the dust and grime of Bombay with nothing but our souvenirs and the thought of the gastronomic portions of rajasthani food to serve us company until the next trip.