The Rajasthan Chronicles-Day 7 (Ranthambhore-Tiger Country)

After reposing in the bed we went down for breakfast and finger-licking paranthas were laid out. I lost count of the number of paranthas that entered my stomach. One friend and me kept our grinding machines (read mouth) working non-stop. (He was so intent upon eating that he refused to keep count). It was a lazy morning and the first that we got to do as we wished. We sunned ourselves in the cold chill and then caught sight of mental boys jumping into the chilly pool.

Time passed quickly enough and we were then en route to meet India's Tiger Man-Fateh Singh Rathore. He looked like he was from a different day and age. A cravat around his neck, an impressive moustache adorning his face-he looked everything that I'd imagined him to me. But I had also thought of him as ferocious which turned out to be way off mark- he was gruff but very very kind. He spoke to us about park management issues, the need for rehabilitation of people who used to inhabit the space within the park, the threat to the park due to tourists, obstacles in conservation efforts due to dearth of ministers who understand the importance of ecology and wild life. He was pleased with the steps taken by Jairam Ramesh and called him 'one good minister who understands the importance of conservation'. Well more ministers like him and at least we would be on the path leading to success stories. He shared a lot of his hunting stories-he would organise hunting expeditions for the Britsh Royal Family and other Indian Royals but somewhere down the line he turned towards saving the hunted-The Tiger.

A search on Fateh Singh Rathore pours out bazillion results on this great man. My friend had specifically asked me to meet him and it was a thrill when he granted us an hour of his time. Widely known as the tiger authority in India, he is credited with successfully carrying out tiger conservation work in the Park. I guess this link will provide more accurate information on this living legend.

 At the end of our time we gheraoed him clamouring around him for his autograph and more information. I asked him something about having zero experience and yet wanting to volunteer for the various projects being carried out by the park. He gave a good-natured laugh and answered that from zero he would transform all of us into heroes. He then went on to pull my cheeks-apparently he was inquiring whether I was  chora or a  chori.

He being so old harbours the conviction that conservation will bear fruit despite corruption, apathetic officials, ignorant tourists all because he believes in the youth. Spending time with him was something that left a smile on my face and hope in my heart that with collective efforts change is happening for the good- slowly but surely. However, they don't make people like Fateh Singh Rathore no more.

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 (Finally Jaipur-The Pink City!!!!)

After setting off from Ajmer, we had a long way to travel. Jaipur by far was the place I was most excited to see. My sister had spent half an hour in Jaipur some years ago-she had been shopping like wildfire for me back then. The markets that she had described were enough for enough to whet my curiosity about this place. I frankly couldn't wait! But our bus 'Laxmi' mulled along slowly and I couldn't fight the sleep anymore and in no time was fast asleep. When I woke up people in the bus were oohing and aahing at various sights. I didn't feel very well so I put myself back to sleep. But the sounds of exclamation got the better of me and I found myself looking at the various sights of the city. Palaces big and small round every corner and malls caught my eye. Here the old and new co-habited peacefully, it didn't seem wrong here to have an urban, hip mall next to a stately, old and grand palace. Jaipur was in no hurry to give up it's tag of being one of the most well-planned cities in India. The second I lay my eyes on Jaipur I loved the it!

After lunch we set off to Amer Fort also known as Amber Fort located on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. It looked down imposingly at us. A huge wall spread over nearly 4 hills caught our eye-Great wall of Jaipur??? I'd read that the one could see the fort's reflection in the lake at it's foothills, but Lake Maotha was sadly empty. We went in to be greeted by scores of monkeys and pigeons-nothing out of the ordinary in places like these.We climbed zig-zagging steps and this led to a huge courtyard. It was teeming with people and here we spent some time just admiring the wast expanse. We made our way inside and this time I was truly stunned. Beautiful hunting paintings adorned the wall and ceilings, the mirror work and the carvings were simply breathtaking. Our guide then took up one carving and with his practiced hand hid various parts of the carving which then revealed elephants, fishes, birds, butterflies, bees and many more animals. It was fascinating and felt like a secret document which was being deciphered for us. He then dragged us to one place which had 12 doors. These doors opened into the quarters of the 12 wives of  Maharaja Man Singh. He also showed us the pavillion where Aishwarya Rai feeds Hrithik Roshan in the movie Jodha Akbar. People who had seen the movie sighed while I just 'hmmemd' at this piece of information. He then took us to see the cave where the food was prepared during this scene and then once again we were out in the sunlight. We spent some more time doing some tom-foolery with mammoth sized cauldrons places there and then once again we were off. While going back one cheeky boy gnashed his teeth at the monkeys. This angered the monkey so much that without a second thought the monkey gnashed back it's teeth right back at him. The boy was so taken aback that he ran down immediately from there. We couldn't knock off our laughing for a long time.

We were then take to a garden where wedding preparations were in full swing. Colossal ice sculptures, mouth watering dishes and dainty decorations bedecked the place. It was all certainly charming and royal.  I was by now extremely feverish with hardly any energy left. A cold chill was making me feel worse. After wandering around we had a nice hot cup of coffee which infused some life into me.

Now the part that I was waiting for the most-We were then dropped off at our hotel with instructions to step down in 5 minutes flat.  The shopping was about to begin. I hurried up, emptied my haversack to fill it with the shopping goodies, grabbed my cash and I was the first one down. I was flushed with feverish excitement and my legs were itching to start walking. However, we had to wait for a long time (it seemed ages to me) for the others to make their slow way downstairs. By now I had reached boiling point. We started off with our tour-manager. He kept telling us that the market was 2 km away and that we would need a bus to get there. But the buses were overflowing and so we walked  and walked. People had started grumbling by then as the walk was tiring. My friend and me in our excitement didn't notice that most of our gang was lagging behind. We both were enjoying ourselves to the hilt-this was surely the best way to see the city. We saw 2 marriage processions and the grooms were really cute, we saw the old palaces now converted into 5 star hotels and all this while i could feel my temperature rising. I could feel a heady rush and I couldn't stop my feet from running. We were headed towards Hawa Mahal for our shopping trip. On reaching the gates of the city I now remember screaming for joy. I threw a caution to the winds, grabbed my friend's hand and we ran to cross the road and then we reached the first shop and exhaled deeply. Finally we could begin. I slowly let my eyes wander and saw Hawa Mahal look down at us. We were surrounded by shops selling all that we wanted, shop-keepers beckoning us towards their wares and so much of beautiful colour. It enlivened me even more. My friend and me ran in and out of shops like a storm leaving a blazing trail of astonished shopkeepers in our wake, occasionally meeting some lost friend who only disappeared minutes later. Everyone was in a a hurry to make the most of this shopping trip. I ended up with dupattas, some colourful jutis, a stole, dress material and bangles. Bargaining was the highlight-the shopkeepers would quote some silly exorbitant price and we would beat them down to peanuts all in fast motion. It was an experience of a life-time. We had never enjoyed so much. After we had amassed all that we wanted, we started to cool down a bit. I could now feel my euphoria ebbing away and I suddenly realised that I was blazing with a fever and shivering in the cold. I was now paying for my excitement which had kindled itself into fire in the past few hours. I was also sorely hungry and my head was throbbing away. The pain was all the more terrible because I didn't have anything to take my mind off it. I was now more aware since the thrill had now passed. We caught up with our HOD and some friends. Our HOD promptly packed us into a rickshaw with some orders. The rest is in a haze. But I distinctly remember bickering with my mother, pushing some food down my throat, shuddering in the cold and then witnessing a fight between my seniors in the bus. That woke me up thoroughly. While in the bus people showed their purchases to each other. and we had a jolly good time. My only regret was that, that I hadn't been able to grab some ear-rings. It had been my dearest wish to buy them but sadly this was left undone :(

Back in our rooms we had a great time comparing our goodies. After some dose of hot gossip and cough syrup I was asleep. I knew that the morning was going to be awful for me. I was sick and now I was frightened.

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 4 (Desert National Park)

Woke up very early in the chilling cold. We had to leave early for Desert National Park. Gulped down a quick breakfast and then we were off. We reached the Park and had to wait for an hour for permission to enter the Park. We spent time admiring one goofy camel who was very pleased to pose for us and who showed us it's horrible teeth from all directions. What a treat! It was one useless conceited camel. I guess our visit brightened it's miserable life :)

We got permission to enter just the periphery of the park. A couple of friends and me broke off from the main group. We decided to explore the park on our own. We had an excellent time spotting Variable Wheatears, Isabelline Wheatear, Green Beaeater,  Lesser Grey Shrike. Rufous Tailed Lark and one bird which we think is a Bustard! At one point while I was photographing a Wheatear, the Wheatear did something stunning. It looked at us over it's back, then flew straight at us, then stopped at around 4 feet in front of us, flapped it's wings in mid-air for around 15 seconds and then flew away towards our right. It was simply amazing to look at the bird from such close quarters. We both were so astonished that neither of us could remember to capture this sight. We just gazed with our mouths hung open stupidly. But now we think that's okay. Somethings are best left committed to the photographic mind than the camera; we somehow like to remember it better this way.

While leaving we were party to another fabulous sight. A chinkara bounded out of nowhere straight towards us. When it spotted us in hovered frightfully in the grass staring at us at a distancde of 100m. We too halted in our tracks. The chinkara moved it's head from side to side-it was evident that it was unsure about what to do next. It then leaped up and bounded away towards our right still maintaining a safe distance from us. After it reached the safety of some tall grass it again stopped and stared at us, we wondered if it's heart was beating as fast as ours...

Then we had nothing much to do but travel and travel. We were now on the route to Jaipur and we were supposed to cover Pushkar and Ajmer on the way. Akaal Fossil Park seemed to have been conveniently forgotten by the tour manger. It was a dull journey and everyone popped off to sleep. I was bored and went and sat in the front with the driver. The journey took on a whole new perspective now. The driver and his partner enthusiastically pointed out various sights to me, telling me stories about villages that we were passing by. They ordered me to stay put in the front for we were now to pass a stretch where chinkaras, deer, neelgais, sambars and peacocks adorn the road on either sides. This was a treat that I surely wasn't going to miss. We passed villages with delightful names- Dudhiya, Khara, Sujasar, Bithari were just a few. Amritsar was 690 km away and the road was beautiful. This was NH-15 and I was loving every moment of it. Later we paused for a break at Pokaran and after half hour resumed the journey again. I was now joined by a couple of my friends. The drivers swore now that the promised treat lay just a few metres ahead. We rounded a bend and then we lay eyes on a huge flock of birds that I don't know-but the sight was amazing just the same. They flew all over the bus wildly flapping their wings in desperation. Next we spotted numerous lapwings, doves and chinkaras strewn all over the landscape-not too often but not too seldom either. Night was falling rapidly now, the trees formed an arch over the road and lay standing next to each other as if they were holding hands and welcoming us. One lone cyclist on he road huddled rapidly to the side when he saw the bus approaching. The trees started turning thorny and straggly when without warning a Neelgai appeared on the side of the road. It was very dark now and the Neelgai stood strangely quiet looking at us while we looked at it. It didn't move a muscle and just stood waiting for a cue. Even when the cameras flashed it didn't move and finally the driver had to make the first move of revving up the bus. The Neelgai then just turned nonchalantly and walked back into the woods. I was enjoying myself thoroughly, the wind was blowing my hair across my face and I could feel a slight chill but I didn't care. It was an incredible feeling. I knew that I would have to pay for this joy later-I fell ill terribly after this foolhardy action of mine.

We then went back and started a song singing routine in full swing. Amitabh Bachchan's songs ruled that night and it felt that the night ought to go on for ever. Half the bus joined in and we truly had an enjoyable time. I screamed so much that finally I felt my throat give away. Now I had really fallen ill. We then stopped at one stinky dhaba, had a quick dinner and were then again on our way. Reached our destination again late in the night and immediately fell onto the bed.