Rajasthan diaries - Part 1

Reminiscences of majestic rajasthan; jaipur-chokhi dhani, amer fort, bharatpur bird sanctuary, dheeg palace, braj bhoomi, mathura-vrindavan, krishnas abode

New Delhi to Jaipur: The journey


The year before last presented an opportunity for me to visit Rajasthan. Jaipur, famous as pink city, beckoned my imagination. We, a group of 40 odd participants in an organized tour. 

   I dusted my old suitcases of its cob webs and stuffed my neatly ironed clothes. Being a compulsive foodie, I loaded packets of chips, biscuits and chocolates in a separate bag. The night before departure I slept fitfully getting nightmares of missing my early morning bus. Shrilling of the alarm jolted me out of my slumber at 4 am. I jumped out of the bed like a hare and finished the  early morning chores. My younger sibling offered, dutifully but reluctantly, to accompany me to Bikaner house where I had  to board the ac bus to Jaipur. But, lo and behold it started pouring cats, dogs and pigs just when we were stuffing my excess baggage in our diminutive car.

   
   Anyhow, I bid my good byes and set off. We proceeded unhindered to our destination until one wrong turn caught us unawares. With only half and hour left for us to catch the bus it dawned upon us that we were in fact retracing our way  back home. The intense rain did nothing but cloud our judgement and road sense further. Frantic calls from my group members using the ever dependable Nokia and Samsung mobiles enlighened us to the fact that barely 15 minutes remained for the departure of our bus. We were clueless of our surroundings. With adrenaline running high and mental faculties at lowest ebb we reversed our route and rushed our little car at unheard of speeds towards the destination. We were fortunate to get one or two good direction tips from a tea vendor selling hot tea to people sheltering under a tree. Somehow, we reached just in time to catch the bus. 
  
   But little did I realize that my troubles had just begun. As we were pushing my baggage in the rear end of the huge volvo bus, one of my bags fell down. I was aghast to see all my belongings strewn down in a muddy pool of rain water. Admist suppressed laughter and giggles of the motley gathering I collected my stuff and put it back. A kindhearted batch mate stood near me holding an umbrella to protect me from rain while I did my packaging. My sibling in the meantime had fixed the handle of the bag at the cost of being totally drenched and looking like a tom cat. Finally we could get the stuff loaded onto the bus.

  
   Journey to Jaipur passed uneventfully. The group was generally having fun, with lots of singing and hooting. My chips and chocolates did not last even half and hour. Like a pack of hungry wolves all the eateries were soon consumed by the group. After about two hours, the bus halted in a midway eatery joint. We got around 15 minutes to freshen up and have tea and snacks. There were a few shops around with a displays of colourful jewellery, clothes, bedsheets, toys, kathputlis (puppets), all adorned with thread and mirror work so typical of Rajasthan. Another few hours of disharmonious ruckus  (singing) in the bus and we had crossed the highway full of monster trucks to reach our destination. We were offloaded at the bust station where from a pickup van took us to our hostel accommodation. To our surprise and delight the only welcoming committee in attendance comprised of a few stunned peacocks. 

......  continued in Rajasthan diaries - Part 2......