Jodhpur
Extensive
sandy deserts, herds of camel here and there women with large bangles and nose
rings -
This was my
imagination and expectation about Rajasthan. All these imaginations were
shattered the moment I saw Jodhpur
A beautiful
well planned and developed city it was. Uninterrupted, copious water supply in
hotel rooms, lot of large aluminium troughs containing cold drinking water at roadsides big water tubs for animals – in fact I had a
sigh of envy comparing Rajasthan with Tamilnadu
Ancient
Jodhpur palace has transformed into star hotel keeping intact the ancient
artistic beauty and grandeur. Room size varies from 500 to 5000 square ft.
Again a sigh of envy – I have seen 2 bed room
apartments in Chennai with area of 400 sq.ft
Jodhpur Fort
is standing majestically on a very high mountain. At the entrance of the fort
we see musicians with large turbans playing long instruments .
Inside the fort
we see ancient palanquins , beds sofas
and dress – all with the royal grandeur – make us forget the present and take
us to a royal life with a crown on our
head
Mirchi Bonda
(Green Chilly Bonda ) is one of the special foods of Rajasthan . The restaurant
man warned us not to taste it unless we are accustomed to it, yet we dared to
taste it assuming that it will be like chilly bajji – a very popular snack in
Tamilnadu.
Only after
putting a bit in mouth we understood the reality. The main ingredient of mirchi bonda is green
chilly ground into paste. A little flour is added to it and fried .
Our tongues
and eyes protruded out with uncontrollable tears in eyes and sweating. Thank
God anticipating this the restaurant man had kept water, milk and sweets on our
table
We took
Rajasthan meals one day for lunch. One of the items served was just like a ball
made out of clay in colour, smell and texture. Mirchi bonda experience rang a
warning bell and we safely avoided it
Safari dress
was a speciality of Jodhpur. At that time just for Rs. 200/ a beautiful Safari
set was available- cloth of superior quality Rs 100 + Tailoring Charges 100/ .
The cloth will be in 3 pieces and only tailors there can stitch it. You select
the cloth today and tomorrow you get the safari set. I got 3 sets.
One more speciality
of Jodhpur was local conveyance. Mini Bus and Town Bus operators are a good
example of humanitarian consideration. If you just wave your hand and they
happen to see you they will wait patiently till you board the vehicle
irrespective of distance time and crowd.
There is a
train service to Jaisalmer the desert area .We did not venture
to go there because of Hot Summer
We visited Jaipur
and Udaipur. Lake around the Udaipur Palace was dry due to summer
In a
nutshell the one month stay in Jodhpur was a pleasant experience still
lingering in my mind – more than 30 years have passed
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