Jaipur – Mixing business with pleasure

Late last year I got a chance to make a short trip to Jaipur with a few of my office colleagues for an offsite conference. On the sidelines of the official event, we managed a quick tour of the city and I thought I would write a brief account of the sights we managed to see.

The hotel was quite hospitable and one evening dinner was served out in the open in a private space. They had decked up the place with diyas, scented candles and flowers. We wined and dined like royalty !

In the evenings, we managed a few quick trips to the city to see the sights. A unique mode of transport was the electric rickshaw (not commonly seen in Indore). In the late evenings, the open rickshaw was comfortable, silent and a good mount to watch the sights of the city and soak in the atmosphere.

The Hawa mahal is bang in the middle of the city and is quite imposing yet pleasing to the eye.

The hotel we stayed at was close to the Jal Mahal. We spent a couple of evenings by the lake admiring the mahal and snacking on the spicy kulcha chole and sweet kulfi sold by the road side vendors.

Come Saturday, it was time to pack up and return – but not before a visit to the amazing Amer fort. I will let the pictures do the talking.

A short trip it might have been, but it left all of us thirsting for more. Surely Jaipur is now high up on the list of spots to visit for the next holiday.

Revisionist History

Malcolm Gladwell has been one of my favorite authors for a few years now. A couple of years back he started broadcasting a podcast series called Revisionist History http://revisionisthistory.com/. Somehow it skipped my radar. Last month I chanced upon it and was mighty impressed. Hence thought I would share this with you.

As the name hints, revisionist history is a series of 30-40 minute podcasts on topics that deserve a second look. Gladwell picks up one seemingly innocuous or straight forward topic each week and goes in depth brining us insights into a different side of the same story.

For instance one episode covers the topic of french fries – and why he is cross with McDonalds for changing their formula! A slightly more disturbing episode dealt with the Bengal famine of 1942-43 and how 3 million lives were sacrificed on the altar of stockpiling for the war effort. Incidentally the stock of grain and flour diverted elsewhere was never used/required.

Gladwell presents the podcasts in an engaging and crisp manner interspersing his editorial insights with interviews.

I would highly recommend this podcast. I for one am hooked!

The city of lakes - Udaipur

During the last week of September, my family joined me for a brief vacation in Indore and we made a weekend trip to the city of lakes – Udaipur.

Udaipur was beautiful and we had some interesting experiences, hence thought of blogging about it. I have also added a few photos of the beautiful city.

Udaipur is around 400 Km from Indore and we decided to leave early on a Saturday morning. Indore had been in the throes of the final rains of the monsoon season and we were looking forward to a sunny time in Udaipur (did not realize then just how sunny it was going to get!). With military like precision, the three ladies in the family got ready on time and we started at 5:30 AM.

The condition of the roads being excellent, we made good time and reached the outskirts of Udaipur by around 11:00 AM. Wifey took an interesting snap of a ‘deluxe’ bus operating between Jaipur and Udaipur. The caption read ‘ From the city of lakes to the pink city’ - somehow the caption sounds catchier in Hindi. There didn't seem anything ‘deluxe’ about the condition of the bus though.

Getting closer to Udaipur and viewing the landscape, one could see why Udai Singh shifted his capital from Chittorgarh to here. The whole area seemed to be in a large valley hemmed in by mid size mountains on most sides. That would have given his troops numerous vantage points to look out for danger.

I had booked a hotel online after checking out the reviews and promises of ‘lake facing views’. What had attracted me the most was the fact that the name of the hotel had the word ‘palace’ in it and the photographs on the website seemed to confirm that it was indeed an erstwhile palace. A few reviews were positive too.

It was an anticlimax when we reached the hotel. There was a lake and a lake facing room all right but the aforementioned lake was nothing more than a glorified pond! Or Ambalakulam as we say in Malayalam! You see, there are scores of lakes in Udaipur and the most famous of them are – Picholi Lake and Fateh Sagar lake. Silly old me had not checked and hence we got a pond to view from our balcony. The rooms looked like they had seen better times. I learnt from a rickshaw driver later that it was indeed a palace and that the hotel was a well known one in the past, but was currently leased out by the owners. And definitely not well maintained of late. Having paid a fortune in advance there was no way we could back out.

Rather than getting bogged down, we decide to make the most of what we had. By now our two ‘princesses’ were hungry. We decided to hire an auto-rickshaw for the day and the first request was to take us to a decent restaurant. After quickly polishing off the thalis, we visited the city palace by the Picholi lake. The majestic palace was wonderful to visit and the museum visit meant we could escape from the midday heat while learning more about the history of the place. A couple of hours later we came out of the complex, had a quick peek of the famous Jagmohan temple (from outside) and the contacted our driver to proceed to the next attraction. A ropeway ride and a boat ride on Lake Picholi seemed too touristy but we decided to do it anyway. And… we were glad we did it – the beauty of the city from the top and from the waters was something indeed. The views were breath taking!

All we had time for was a quick pit stop for buying trinkets, and then we headed off to our ‘palace’ for an hour’s rest. We took it easy after that. We drove around in our car, spent some time by the Fateh Sagar lake, had dinner (at the same place we had been to for lunch) and then retired early.

After a reasonably good buffet breakfast, we checked out and headed off to Saheliyon Ki Bari. This was an exclusive garden/hang out place made in the early 1700s by the King for his new bride’s friends (saheliyon). Apparently there were 48 of them and the queen was also quite demanding. She wanted a ‘rain’ experience. The kind acquiesced and made a wonderful garden with a set of pools and fountains that gave a rain like experience all year around. With the location being downhill, his architects used gravity and hollow pillars to route the water. They ensured that the fountains never ran out of water. Cool eh?

Well back in 2017, it was getting hotter by the minute and we decided to proceed to Sajjangarh palace which is on a hill. It was the summer retreat of the kings and the views of the lake city from the top were breathtaking.

It was getting even hotter as it approached midday and we decided to head back to Indore. Both the car and its occupants had to refuel. We stopped on the outskirts of Udaipur at a decent looking place for lunch.

The return journey was uneventful. However one observation made by my wife was interesting. We passed through multiple villages across two states during the journey and got a scenic view of rustic life. In many cases, the cattle had settled in comfortably on the road and this ensured that speed breakers on the highway were redundant. My wife’s observation was that in rural areas across India, both women and men wear traditional clothes – or at least you can see some of them wearing them. The only exception is Kerala where the attire of choice is the ‘nightie’ and the ‘lungi’. Come to think of it she is right – you would find it hard to see someone in a ‘mundum vesthi’ except during festival season and even then it is typically the well heeled who flaunt their new clothes!

Anyway back to the trip, the return trip may have been uneventful bit it was long, we reached home well past 9 PM. All in all, an enjoyable trip. The kids had fun and so did we. We promised ourselves that if we went again it would be in winter and of course we would avoid the ‘palace’ we stayed in!

Reminiscences of my longest road trip to date

It has been exactly a year since I (along with my family) made my longest road trip to date. Reminiscing about it, I thought why not blog about it.

It was during Onam last year that we decided to drive from Trivandrum to Indore to get our car there. We debated the option of sending it by train/road transport and but decide against it. Driving the car down (or geographically speaking driving ‘up’) to Indore seemed a better option. Since the wife and kids were game to join in, the option of hiring a driver was discarded.

Day 1

We started on Saturday 10^th September 2016 at 5:30 AM from Sreekaryam, Trivandrum. Within a couple of hours we reached the scenic environs of Arivalmozhi with its numerous windmills.

Soon we hit the Kanyakumari- Bangalore highway and we were cruising. We managed to reach Madurai by 10:30 and stopped over at Saravanas for brunch. The dosas and chutneys at Madurai are second to none and we enjoyed every dish we ordered.

Windmills of the Gods

Palace or College ?

Back on the road it was back to cruising at about 100 kmph.

Around 1:30 PM we passed by Salem and dispatched off Krishnagiri too by 4 PM without stopping. We had enough stock of quick eats and games to keep the kids busy/happy. We were to halt at my brother-in-law’s place at Bangalore. The last stretch however was painful as it took us about two hours from Hosur to my brother-in-law’s place in Bangalore. We reached by around 6:30 PM. Time to put the feet up and relax!

Day 2

We again started at sharp 5:30 AM (looking back I feel sorry for the kids – early start for three days and more than 13 hours on the road each day, would not have been good for them. However they did not complain – rather they made the most of it playing games, snacking and napping).

Within about 40 minutes, we were out of Bangalore and on the highway. My bro (and sis)-in-law came for an early Sunday morning drive in their car and escorted us through the Bangalore roads so that we could get on to the highway quickly.

One thing we quickly learnt is that while on Day 1 we were spoilt for choice on where to stop for food / rest stops, the Bangalore -Pune highway was barren in terms of decent places to catch your breath. We stopped at Chitradurga for breakfast – can’t say we enjoyed the place even half as much as Madurai. We scampered off back to the highway. 

This highway had even less traffic than the first leg of the journey. Hebbal (or Hebbalu as it is called today) was dispatched off at 9:30 and Hubli by 11:30. Cries of hunger from the travellers meant that we stopped 20 minutes from Hubli at ‘Roti ghar’. Since the name of the restaurant suggested what we should eat, we complied.

Swamiji's mobile residence

The rest of the journey was uneventful except for a painful 20 km stretch near Satara which was under repair (incidentally this was the only time during the whole journey when we got bad roads). We reached our hotel at Phaltan by 7:30 PM. Thankfully the hotel was an excellent one (Phaltan is an Industrial town and this was probably the only business hotel). As you can imagine we hit the sack pretty early and had a good night’s sleep.

Day 3

For a change we started late (8:30 AM) as we decided to pace ourselves. From Phaltan the route was via Ahmednagar and on to Malegaon from where we could catch AB Road (Agra-Bombay road) which was the final leg in our journey.

Day 3 was uneventful but felt long. The travelers were tired and quieter than the other two days. The kids slept for part of the journey. The last couple of hours were interesting in that Indore was just within touching distance but we never seemed to be getting there. Probably many of us have felt that during long journeys when the final leg seems the longest!

We reached home by 8:30 PM after 3 days of being on the road. As per the log book, we had covered 2160 Kms with a driving time of 36 hours spread across 3 days, averaging 60 kmph. 

Before the journey, our close relatives had advised us against it but we made the plunge as everyone was game. After the trip, we were indeed tired but it was worth it as we enjoyed every moment of the journey. Paraphrasing a famous quote it is not the destination but the journey that is important!

 Our trustworthy chariot

Commercialization of places of worship

There are two jyothirlinga temples within a couple of hours drive from Indore. The Mahakaleswar temple at Ujjain is about an hour’s drive whereas Omkareshwar is a couple of hours from the city. Though they are in close proximity, the experience is as different as chalk and cheese.

At Omkareshwar, right from the moment you approach the parking area, you are accosted by ‘intermediaries’ who promise you a ‘direct’ and ‘special’ darshan of the Lord. Then there are the boatmen who inflate the distance and time needed for darshan and try to cajole you into using their services for a hefty fee. If you are traveling with elders, for a moment you are tempted to accept.

We experienced this during a recent visit. Even if you decline, they follow you to the temple, the ‘rate’ decreasing in proportion to the distance left! I could get rid of them only by telling them that my mother was threatening to return without entering the temple (which she was).

Once inside the sanctum sanctorum, the story was no different – half the people present were the same ‘guides’ who had brought their ‘tourists’ to the front of the queue!

At Ujjain on the other hand, the flow of pilgrims is regulated by the authorities and there are no intermediaries selling their ‘wares’. One can enter the temple premises on their own and spend as much time as required without anyone interfering.

As you can imagine, the Ujjain experience is that of visiting a place of worship whereas Omkareshwar did not have the same feel. Sad to say that these days the latter seems to be the norm.

Sev

If Indore is the street food capital of India, Sev is Indore’s favorite snack.

Indorians cannot do without Sev. It can be had as an evening snack, or as a combo with pori (there is a hindi name for this that I cannot recall now), or sprinkled on poha (in fact sprinkled on anything edible) and there is even a Sev paratha (born of a Punjabi-Indori wedlock). But what takes the cake is the Sev tamatar sabji – may not sound very tempting but very tasty may I add. In fact I prepared it the last time I went home.

Now that we have established that Sev is important for just about any food preparation, comes the next confusion – which variety. Ratlami Sev, Ujjaini Sev, Lehsun Sev, Hing Sev, Palak Sev,…..there are literally scores of varieties!

Whichever variety you choose and in whatever mode you consume it, Sev is the king of Indorian street food - period.

Signing in from Indore

Back in action after a long hibernation. Well, truth be told blogging completely skipped my radar till last week a friend from office casually hinted that he had chanced upon my blog and read a few posts. He also encouraged me to write more often.

Well, time is definitely not a constraint. A month or two after my last post, I moved to Indore. And being away from family for most of the time I do have a lot of (weekend) time on my hands.

Obviously the first topic that comes to mind is the new location. Its been close to a year now and Indore has a charm that is difficult to resist. As with any other city/town there are pros and cons and it is easy to focus on the negatives.

But actually it is a case of perspective. On hearing that I was moving to Indore one of my friends shared his experience that it is a difficult place to live in – especially the food. But my experience in the food department has been the opposite – eating out in Indore has been much more easier – in terms of variety, quality, price and overall experience - than in Trivandrum. You see for a person whose diet is primarily non vegetarian and who cannot do without rice (especially the red variety), it is difficult to eat out. But for a vegetarian this is heaven, Indore is the street food capital of India! Different strokes for different folks!

Enough about food – there is a lot to bitch about Indore – the traffic sense (lack of), the heat (midday), the biting cold (winters), lack of vegetation (Indore is part of the Malwa region and terrain is primarily flat and barren), general lack of sanitation … but on the flip side there are lots to be thankful for. Even in peak summer, there is a cool breeze at night (try surviving the Delhi summer), cost of living is less than many tier 2 cities, and mostly for me the commute is never more than 30 minutes (even during peak times)

It depends on how you approach any change – you can either moan about it and suffer, or adapt and enjoy the journey.

What did you say? “Hau” ? - that’s Indori for Yes :)

More on Indore later..