The Rajasthan Chronicles-Day 6 (Bharatpur)

I woke up in the morning with a raging fever. I was burning all over and yet shivering due to the cold. I only wished to sleep right back again hidden underneath the warmest of quilts. Worse still I had lost my voice to a terrible throat ache and the pain in my ear was terrible and unfortunately that day we departed from Jaipur without breakfast so I couldn't even relieve my discomfort with pills. My friends took awesome care of me and it still makes me squirm to think of all the times I burdened them with my silly pains. I slept most of the journey and then towards mid-noon we halted at a wayside dhaba for a quick brunch which was the traditional kacchori and samosa. And the place also spotted a sign saying ' taharne ka uttam vyavastha'. Most of the lodging and boarding hotels in Rajasthan had this sign even when the place looked dilapidated and in nearly in ruins. While in the bus I overheard our teacher telling one of my friends that if I wouldn't recover by today I wouldn't be allowed on the trail to Ranthambhore. Ma'm wanted we to rest and recover before I took a turn for the worse. I had to summon all the will power I possessed to get well soon. I kept urging myself to feel better and waited for the perspiration to start trickling- a sure sign of the fever lowering. Nevertheless, I felt it in my bones that after one more night of burning I would be fit to greet the next day.

We reached Bharatpur in the afternoon and our pulse started racing when we read the board which said-'Agra-55 km'. We sorely wanted to visit Agra having come so near but our plans were quickly dismissed by our teachers by a rude face and a swear word :) We were so enticingly near and yet so  maddeningly far..

We engaged a guide at Keoladeo National Park. It's so named because it has a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at the centre of the park. It was previously named Ghana because the park is very dense. My friend had warned me though that because of a bad monsoon, the migratory birds were not seen in the park. He had said that you'll be lucky if you get to see any birds at all. Well, we did see birds but nothing exotic.  Home to nearly 364 species of birds, over here birds migrate from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and of course Siberia (the famous Siberian Crane). As we walked the change in the landscape also was very apparent-it started off being arid and then marshy and ended with a lot of water bodies. My friends helped me spot the rose ringed parakeet, flame back woodpecker, oriental magpie robin, collared dove, yello footed green pigeon, pied kingfisher, rufous tree pie, cormorant, black necked stork, rufous black shrike, white breasted water hen, mor hen, crested serpent eagle, bramhiny duck, grey heron (which was magnificent), spoonbill, black headed ibis, the indian roller, a family of spotted owlet and I got a glimpse of the hoopoe. I also finally saw the monitor lizard for the first time ever and also spotted the usual nilgais, sambars, chinkaras, spotted deer, terrapins and the bonnet macaques. Didn't get very good photographs here as the sun kept interfering and showing a very dull landscape.

But it wasn't fulfilling. We wanted to go on but were compelled to turn back as we had to reach Ranthambhore before midnight.

We had a sumptuous and delicious lunch at the forest guest house. It felt like a king's meal after eating at the roadside dhabas and hotels. The resort was beautiful and later we heard that we were actually supposed to halt there for the night but for the change in the plans. I felt better after shoving the food down my throat, my energy was back. We fooled around the resort for some time and as usual our group was the last to board the bus. People were having a gala time in the bus while I was forced to stay put due to my maddening illness. I was missing out on some real fun!

We reached Ranthambhore late at night. We were told that our trip into the park would be in the afternoon. For the first time in the trip, we had the entire morning to relax. Yuhoo!!!

The Rajasthan Chronicles-Day 5 (Ajmer)

This was one of the best days although the day kicked off with an awful start. We were given a choice between Ajmer and Pushkar. It had been decided to split the group-people who wished to visit the the dargah in Ajmer and the group that wished to visit Pushkar. We were not allowed to visit both places as we were short of time. To visit Pushkar, one had to go back a good 20 km while Ajmer lay on the way ahead to Jaipur. Protests and grumblings arose in plenty but the authorities were in no mood to relent. On one hand lay the famous Temple at Pushkar which is the only temple in the world dedicated to Lord Brahma and on the other the 2nd most holy site for Muslims after Mecca and the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti-the harbinger of Islam and Sufi tradition to India. It was a tough choice to make and one boy ended up asking, "Kiska aashirwad sabse powerful hai?" I dearly wanted to visit both places but then I found myself getting up and getting set to visit the dargah. Our group unanimously agreed to visit the dargah-we are good at sticking together.

The Ajmer group totaled to around 20. We were told that if we could finish with the dargah early we stood a chance of visiting Pushkar. It was a slim chance and we more than ready to take it. We rode in a city bus to the dargah, taking in the sights of the city. But being inside a closed bus the view was pretty sad. Nothing to describe here.

The bus halted a few good kilometers away from the dargah and we had a long walk. We left our footwear in the bus since it was considered to leave footwear unattended near the dargah. And so we walked barefoot dodging the spit and cows, the pan spitool, dung, wet mud and water. Nobody minded and we felt much better for the walk. We bought a chadar since most of us wished to ask for something-the dargah has a reputation of granting people's wishes. The path leading to the dargah had the typical air of a holy town. Shopkeepers clamoured loudly asking people to buy their ware, children badgered people selling holy threads, photos, rosaries, flowers and various other offerings etc.

We expected the dargah to be heavily crowded since it was a Friday but we were surprised to find a moderate crowd there and people from all walks of life too! The Saint has a huge following and people come here from all over seeking solace and invoking his blessings.

On entering we first washed our feet and then made our way to the dargah. The dargah was teeming with people all just wishing to lay their eyes on the dargah. It was a huge push and shove process and no sooner we entered than we were pushed out by the swelling crowd. Outside a group was singing Kawalis and it created a surreal feeling then. Now I felt the sacredness of the place; watching people in a trance, some praying with a contended calmness and some praying with an intensity that seemed to radiate energy that went into creating the holy atmosphere. It was peaceful and I felt my eyes turn moist...After being there I felt that it will not matter whether my wish will be gratified or not, I was just glad to experience that feeling wash over me.

We made our way back to the bus and were informed that we can't make it to Pushkar since the other group had already left from there. A slight bitterness crept in but the after effects of the Kawalis lingered and bitterness was diluted to nothingness.

Our faithful bus was waiting for us and now we were off to the place I wanted to see the most-JAIPUR!!!!!!

The Rajasthan Chronicles-Day 3 (Jaisalmer continued...)

I approached the camels with some trepidation, a memory from the past had woken up and I remembered the feeling when the camel got up after we had sat on it. I actually couldn't wait to sit on a camel again. They were to take us to Sam Sand Dunes to view the sunset in the desert. I chose one camel and sat on it. One of my friends joined me and then we were off. We were thrown in the front and then the back while the camel got up and all at once numerous screams of fright and excitement filled the air as the other camels also got up. Our camel was named Sharukh Khan and the camel's handler was Khurim Khan. When the camels started walking we were still giving out screams and sometimes out of nowhere some camel would start trotting resulting in some more louder bawls from the ones on the camel while we laughed at them and then only to start hollering when our camel started doing the same.

One of our Michael Jackson crazy friend, by some providence was sitting on a camel named Michael Jackson and couldn't quit raving about it! The camel handlers were really young and seemed to be not bigger than 12-15 years age though most of them claimed to be 16-18 years. Their small size caught them out. I was soon at ease on Sharukh Khan. He was a calm fellow and maintained a steady pace and our discomfort was negligible. I was merrily clicking pictures when out of nowhere a screech drowned all the noise. A camel was trotting very fast, our Head of Department was calmly sitting in the front, talking on the phone while behind him sat a boy who was desperately waving his hands in all directions and wailing at the top of his voice. It seemed as if the boy and his voice was scattered all over the route. Withing a blink of the eye men and camel had disappeared leaving behind just a cloud of dust. It was singularly the most funniest sight that had met our eyes in the desert. I laughed till tears poured out of my eyes. Towards the last leg Sharukh Khan started a good run and our camel ride ended with satisfaction. Again while the camel knelt down, we were instructed by Khurim Khan to lean back to ease the getting down process.

After getting down we were badgered to provide bakshish by the camel handlers but we had been told previously that they had been provided with their share of cash beforehand and so not to fall prey to their money-extorting tactics. The sand dunes rose up magnificently and we started climbing one particularly steep one. All the sand entered our shoes, pulling us down but we trudged on and on reaching the summit we were rewarded with the sight of even more sand dunes in the distance. We started playing on the dunes with all of running down the steep one and then diving into the sand. Everyone was in high spirits and the gaiety was contagious. Posing for photographs, running in the sand, finding beetles, admiring their patterns in the sand, watching the ripples in the sand and the shifting sand ahh...It was the most relaxing evening. We had nothing to do but wait for the sun to set.

While we waited, a group of kids surrounded us, begging us to see them dance and sing. They would break into a impromtu song and dance routine and then demand money from us. They tried it on the people there and some were followed by their fathers carrying a tambourine and the jew's harp. The music washed over me It was sad to see the kids do this but the kids bounded about joyously from one unsuspecting tourist to another.

The sunset was one truly rewarding experience. Brilliant orange, red, yellow- my favourite colours all throwing up new hues and shades with every passing second. At one point the sun was divided into 2 parts. The upper part had shades of yellow and the lower part had shaded of orange. As the sunset a silence befell the desert as everybody stood transfixed looking at the sun. It was a rare moment and time stood still. I felt that I could sit there forever watching the sand under the stars and listen to the music that tugged the heart strings.  And then the sun set but it left behind a myriad of colours right from purple, pink, red and the promise of truly a brighter and beautiful tomorrow. A song came up to my mind but only this was a tequila sunset.

While walking back to our bus I spied a thin boy wearing a superman t-shirt sitting upon a camel. I muttered something about superman not needing a camel to transport himself. my voice carried over to that superman and he swiftly flexed his muscles grinning down at me :)

Our stay for the night had been arranged in the tents a little away from the dunes. The evening came alive with camp-fire, sufi music, tiras, rajasthani dances dressed in the most wonderful colour. I felt more so alive experiencing this huge treasure trove of culture unfolding in front of our eyes. The bhavai was stunning as usual and so was dama dam mast kalandar and kesariya balama. The men wielding the tiras won everybody's hearts with their dexterity and skill and the jugalbandi between them and the dhol was captivating. A dutch lady sat next to me and she kept up a steady dance sitting and she seemed totally entranced by the music. We got talking and I learned that she was professional dancer and she was in India to explore the folk dances. She was adept at belly dancing, tango, latin american, ballet and many more dances. She nearly emptied her wallet on the musicians and dancers giving away plenty of notes. When the ghoomar begun we were pulled up to join in. Faster the beats demanded and faster we swayed to keep us the rhythm. We danced and danced and couldn't stop our feet. The fast beats made us lose all our control. Finally it was time for dinner and a rustic meal had been prepared. The traditional thali with dal bhati churma. We were so tired that we just gulped it down. Meanwhile our class singer had taken over the mike and was now regaling the audience. When she sung tujhse naaraz nahi zindagi my heart broke. It was simply beautiful.

Next we attended a meeting with the tour manager who was still expressing his reluctance to take us to Desert National Park. He was firmly put down by the teachers and the HOD showed his disapproval. the tour manger kept saying that we don't have permission to visit the park while a student said that no one can deny permission to students who want to visit the park. The student had her contacts with certain people in the park who assured her that we were welcome to visit it. We decided to visit the park inspite of the tour manger's misgivings. The cold was now starting to creep into my skin and we were shivering once again.

After the meeting we got ready to sleep but we were still in the mood for some merrymaking. Our tent was stone cold and dully lit. So, we crept up to the room occupied by the other half of our group and exchanged bits of the usual juicy gossip. Their room was more cozy than ours and within 15 minutes I could feel sleep over-powering me. We slid back into our rooms and slept by 1 a.m. It was blissful and we slept contented.

Rajaon ka Sthan

I've been listening to a wonderful song since the past week- Mark Knopfler's -Me and the Wanderlust. It's fitting because the wanderlust bug has bitten really hard now. Packing up my bags for a 2 week tour of Rajasthan-The land of the Kings.

Home to one of the oldest people in India-The Bhils, somewhere there is a tiger if you are lucky enough to spot one, and someplace else the desert can swallow you in as you gaze mesmerised at the sifting sand dunes, the women who really know about colour all the more because of the bare and barren landscape, where the men dress in pristine white and turbans of varied hues adorn their heads, where the palaces in all their grandeur tell stories of centuries gone by, where the killas repeat tales of glory and sing praises venerating their heroes... and then the legends of the Rajputs...

Rajasthan seems to have offer all that a traveler craves for- Romance in Udaipur, Adventure with the wild-life, tempting cuisine to tickle the taste-buds, shopping for the love of art, royalty everywhere and brazen toughness also everywhere.

On previous occasions I have thought Rajasthan to be a dull, drab and boring state with nothing in it except sand and IIT classes. Hovever, since the time I have started reading about it I have been floating at higher heights, dumb-founded at the richness it offers. So spectacular, so splendid.

Our Rajasthan expedition starts with Jodhpur-the Blue City and then Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Abhaneri, Bharatpur, Ranthambore, Ajmer, Pushkar and ends with Udaipur-the Venice of the East. My scrapbook is ready, my bags are packed and I just have to get on that bus.

Bidding an au revoir with Knopfler's Wanderlust :-

Big black cloud
On a yellow plain
Sure enough it
Looks like rain
Packin' up all our
Faith and trust
Me and the wanderlust

Open window
Empty bed and chair
Who's that callin'
Ain't nobody there
I look behind me
And I see there's just
Me and the wanderlust

Dead of night
I had a dream
Sky was bright yes and the
Fields were green
I was down the road
In a cloud of dust
Me and the wanderlust

And I'm on the edge
Of an endless fall
Sure enough
He's come to call
Got to go now
Get on that bus
Me and the wanderlust