Friday, 29 March 2024

Padharo mharo Desh Part 6

After walking on badals (refer previous blog), with our eyes shining from the resplendent Sheesh Mahal of Amer Palace, and a short stop to fill our tummies the next stop was Jaigarh fort. Just like Hawa Mahal we were told nothing to see here but a big ass canon but just like Hawa Mahal kahani kuch aur hee thi and "aya hun toh sab dekhke jaunga" attitude drew us towards a security guard who quite happily became our guide and walked us through the bhulbhullaiya that's Jaigarh. Amer was the royal residence whereas Jaigarh, built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh was for the military, overlooking Amer Palace and guarding it. There's a secret passageway connecting the two from where the royalty would come in times of threat. It was also used as a summer spot owing to its altitude. 

One of the main attraction here is the world's biggest cannon on wheels called "Jaivan" cannon. During the reign of Shah Jehan, Jaigarh was the most important cannon foundries due to abundance of iron ore mines near the fort. The Jaivan canon weighs approximately 50 tonnes and is 31 feet long. It is said that over 100kgs of gunpowder was needed to fire it through which a 50 kg cannonball is fired. The recoil itself is four feet. Having said all this, it was never used in any actual battle as the Rajputs of Amer had a friendly relationship or rather compromise with the Mughals. It is said it was fired once and the cannonball landed 35 kms away where a small lake was created by the impact. The cannon itself is beautifully decorated for a weapon of mass destruction! It has motifs of elephants, peacocks, birds, and a lotus motif frames the mouth of the barrel (the symbolism speaks for itself in our current times, I hardly need to give any commentary)

After clicking a hundred pics of the cannon thinking aur kuch toh hai nahi yahan, we met the security guard with his lambi mucche and the cutest smile contradicting the harsh mucche. I was ready to walk with him even if there was nothing to see but the fort was massive with beautifully kept gardens, watch towers , queen residences, dinning halls with life sized statues depicting the food and clothes of yore. There were statues showing the village life as well and the views, oh the views from the top were magnificent! One can see the fort's wall to the Amer Palace and it's gardens to the old city. We were under the burning sun but the breeze at that height was so soothing that I stopped bothering about it messing my curls and making it look like a "gharta". We were given a lot of information about the water harvesting and storage of this fort which was highly advanced for those times with artificial lakes and tanks been created, I remember the mention of one undeground tank which could store 6 million gallons of water! 

As we were getting out of the fort, a huge stage was been set up and there was a lot of shooting equipment around, when enquired someone said Salman Bhai ka shoot honewala hai. Hearing the words 

"Salman Bhai" and "shoot" in one sentence we concluded it was time to leave. 🏃🏃🏃

For more pics see - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/S7hZT6BSpYsBtMFk/?mibextid=oFDknk

















Monday, 18 March 2024

Padharo mharo Desh part 5

 Our second day of Jaipur we visited the Amer Palace, Jaigarh fort and Nahargarh fort. Because I am trigger happy with the phone camera there will be three or more different posts 😅

As we reached Amer, I was momentarily confused if we suddenly won the lottery and ended up visiting Europe rather than Jaipur. We both and our guide and driver were the only four Indians there! We were later told that's because we came really early and Indians it's seems come aramse at noon. It was quite surreal to feel eyes on you like you are a rare and foreign entity in your own country.

 Our guide Mr. Sharma was a jolly man full of life lessons alongwith historic facts. We learnt history, vastu shastra, numerology, culture, human behavior and psychology all in half a day! The man was a chalta firta University. One can reach the top on foot or on elephants or via cars. In our case foot was broken and if I sat on an elephant it would break so car it was up the slopes and winding lanes of the old city of Amer with it's meenakari artisans, sarangi vadaks, lac bangles makers, puppetry experts and historic charms. An interesting though regressive fact about the people we were told was they all lived in huge joint families in equally huge havelis but most of them are dilapidated now and they would not teach the art form to their daughters as they would get married, move to another village and share their secrets! As for the bahus, they are taught the traditional art only after a child is born so that there is a confirmation that she won't leave the family 🙆

 Amer Palace is a fusion of Rajput and Mughal architecture with the resplendent Sheesh Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-e-aam, Shiladevi temple, 12 matching rooms for the King's 12 wives (each of a different rashi we were told), common courtyards for them to assemble, sukh nivas, Kesar Kyari garden and am sure am missing a bunch of places 😬 The Shiladevi temple has something called "Pucca Prasad" which I stayed away from but navra jumped at quite enthusiastically and was thus in high spirits for the rest of the day! This "teertha" is a "fine" blend of wines and whiskeys people offer to the Kali Devi which left navra in "badal pe pao" hai mode. 

Sheesh Mahal was definitely the main attraction with its convex mirrors designed with colored foils, embossed silver artwork, all the colors used been natural pigments which continue to shine and charm over the centuries. I could only imagine how heavenly it would have looked in its time reflecting candlelight from the walls to the ceiling. It was giving proper Mughal-e-azam feels! There was this one marble panel in a pillar with a flower made with pigments in the centre, carved butterflies, and we couldn't see at first glance but were shown it had everything from a scorpion to a cobra, a fishtail, elephant trunk to a lotus when seen closely. 

As we were exiting we saw a woman in traditional Rajasthani wear selling puppets in traditional Rajasthani wear, her warm smile and those bright colors beckoned us and that was the moment our "Rajasthan pockets Khali karega" journey began. Further ahead we were enchanted by an old man in a lovely orange turban and royal white moustache (mucche ho toh nathulal jaisi brand) and beard; playing sarangi. Matlab do teen ghanta chalne ke baad ki poori thakan utar gayi, I just couldn't move away from his music (sobbing obviously happened). His smile was as radiant as his music and he didn't ask for any money, we had to force him to take some. The joy he felt while he played, if we all can experience even short moments of that joy we would be lucky! 

From the palace we went on further to see the Panna Meena ka kund; a square stepwell with chambers for the kings to change clothes and points to jump from in the water. These stepwells were a heritage way of water harvesting, we visited Abhaneri as well which made Panna Meena look like navra in front of Big B! More on that later. Oohh we met a group of Malaysian women there who of all the things insisted on getting a pic with me like I was some celebrity 🤣 this was followed by a nice chat wherein they were further fida on us when we told them we honeymooned in their Langkawi. I was "badal pe pao hai" post this interaction aur unhi badalon pe se we reached the shops where happened a deep excavation of our pockets! 

Lo ab photus dekh lo...
















Wednesday, 13 March 2024

Watermelon Belly

 Sun is shining and watermelon times are here 😁 Bacche lok khup fruits khao aur bharpur Pani piyo.

While cutting this, I remembered our fruitwallah from Sion. He was a fixture there at the corner of our building throughout my childhood. He was tall, broad, always had a smile on his face and why I remember him distinctly is his belly was as big as the watermelons he sold 😁 Kaka was the fruit buying in charge and me and my sister went along bcos kaka always told him to cut a piece and give sample before buying so free kalingad tasting ke liye hum bhi jaate the... I continue to buy my sabjis and fruits and even kirana saman from local vendors and often chat with them rather than through the many apps (unless emergency). Just last Sunday as I strolled across our market, I was so happy when the steel store uncle came out to chat with us, the medical wallah said hi though we didn't get into his shop, the sabjiwala showed us his daughter's pics and the fruitwallah himself chose the best produce for us. But alas he had a nice flat tummy 😅




Padharo mharo Desh part 4

 Our first day at Jaipur ended with a visit to Choki Dhani. We entered with heavy feet and tired bodies after the early flight, travel, temple hoppings, museum and city palace and hawa mahal visits. I was already overstimulated. But one look around the various activities gave us a new boost of energy. This was helped by some "maherpan" feels. As we entered we saw a group of women in probably their 50s laughing and chatting and pulling each other's legs. It was so refreshing to watch them. Sone pe suhaga - the chatter was in Marathi. There's something about the mother tongue which instantly helps make connections. One of them zoomed in to my neckpiece asking me from where I got it and praising how beautiful i looked (unbelievable), soon the others gathered around me and heaped more praise. I was dumbfounded like I usually get when praise is involved while navra was smiling from ear to ear as if he himself made me by sculpting a stone or something! Further introductions revealed few of them were from Borivali (my Maher) and as soon as I told them our connection was tightened further. Knowing we stay in Pune now they started teasing us- ata mumbaikar nahi punekar zalat (which no true born mumbaikar can take lying down). The hassi mazak continued as we all roamed around and I clicked a bunch of their pics (Should have clicked one with them) . I must have clicked hundreds of pics of random strangers on their phones, be it couples or families with kids or friends groups. I believe there is something approachable about me that people freely ask me to click their pics and in many instances when I see them struggle with selfies I myself approach them and ask if they want to be clicked. The smiles I get then are blissful. 

Coming back to Choki Dhani, the sensory stimulus was unending right from the food stalls, to the games, the mehndi, the traditional dances, music, puppet shows, the lac bangles and other merchandise. Ooo the mehendi woman too praised my jewelry and "imaginary" beauty par woh toh kher tip ke liya hoga. I did have a lovely chat with her. The dinner spread toh was totally amazing with all Rajasthani delicacies which we stuffed ourselves with. I was so hungry that didn't click pics of that but the best food was the makke ki roti, teekhi chatni, curd and gudh we had while roaming around. It was served in a small hut as two women in local attire cooked it on a chulha. We stopped to watch even more dances after been stuffed full as well and just before exiting met my fan club again who told adi "amchya muli chi kalji ghe" (take care of our daughter) phir kya waterworks started and that's how I ended my first day at Jaipur with some good old sobbing 🥹

For more pics - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gEpzwaBbQwzcRmaE/?mibextid=oFDknk








Padharo mharo Desh part 3

 As we stepped out of the City Palace, the guide and a few locals we spoke to all more or less said - "Hawa Mahal mein kuch nahi hai sirf deeware aur hawa (cue forced laughter). Andar se dekhoge toh rasta dikhega bahar se dekhoge toh khidkiyan dikhengi, samne ek café hai wahan jake photo lelo baharse aur kya chahiye". However, my attitude of "flight ka kharcha vasul honeke liye jo hai sab dekho" took us inside Hawa Mahal and I definitely liked it more than the stuffy palaces.

The palaces and exhibits and guides almost all showcased the stories of bravery of their kings and the riches they collected. The women folk were like an after thought till ofcourse we reached Chittor and the tales of Rani Padmini, more on that later. 

Hawa Mahal, they have just let be and that's what attracted me. Without being fed any information I could let my imagination run wild. This five storied honeycomb like building made of red and pink sandstone has several small windows (jharokhas) with lattice work. This was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life and festivals celebrated in the street below without being seen. The breeze and cooling effect here was remarkable even on a hot afternoon. 

I especially loved the second storey "Ratan mandir" with glass work on its walls. The stained glass cast magical reflections on the floor as if calling you to put on colored glasses and have a peep into the past. 

As I strolled through the terraces and peeked through the small windows, I tried to imagine what kind of lives the queens and princesses must have lived. Were they enchanted by the glory surrounding them or trapped amidst the riches? Did they feel grateful or superior peeping through their little windows into the exterior world or did they feel suffocated? 

Have things really changed? The invisibility cloak on women may have been lifted now but are we still not boxed inside a honeycomb? Only the parameters of judgements have changed. Judged whether we are single or married, divorced or gay, have four children or none, have a career or not, judged on our clothes, mannerisms, way of speaking, our choices everything! We are on the street now rather than peeping out of the small windows but the windows still stay with millions of heads peeping out, ready to judge every move. 

That unexpectedly took a rather different turn, quite unintended. Anyway, gyaan kafi ho gaya lo photus dekh lo...

For more photos -https://www.facebook.com/share/p/g64jhwWd3E8DtBbo/?mibextid=oFDknk










Padharo mharo Desh part 2

 It's still day 1 pics continued of Jaipur from the last post 😬 This was a visit to the City Palace complete with a guide and total geekgiri from navra while I kinda sorta zoned out 😅 for more pics - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1jVhoDYtv8MYXTLr/?mibextid=oFDknk








Padharo mharo Desh part 1

 We finally went on a trip to Rajasthan, namely Jaipur and Udaipur for a week. This was an out of Maharashtra trip after six long years! Several physical, mental, and financial reasons plus the two years of covid later finally could go on a long trip. This was also cancelled last year due to my foot fracture plus ligament tear. We did the exact same bookings for the same dates and funnily enough (NOT) I managed to injure the same foot again this January but the healing period in between was more and finally ortho gave green signal to go with strict instructions of not overexerting (which I totally ignored). It was a fabulous experience filled with grand palaces, majestic forts, heavenly food, soaking in the local culture via dances, music, puppet shows, touristy photos, master classes with guides, shopping, gupshup with driver dada, strolls in the old city markets, strolls in historic gardens, random posing, more shopping, meeting interesting people and overall drenching in history and culture giving us lifetime memories!  For more photos - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/iGXMpgKhZpPkjrWG/?mibextid=oFDknk