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Traveling Through the Sands of Time

Deepti Pookat

A new year and like always I was looking forward to my jaunt to the north of India. A 9 dayvacation packed with plans to visit Delhi, attend Sakets wedding, check out Agra andFatehpur, finally head out for the deserts of Rajasthan and pack in anything else in between.Two weeks before the start, all my free time was spent ogling at the desert packages of Jaisalmer, forts of Jodhpur & booking tickets for the various laps of the journey.

So one fine Friday I set out from Blore city, Ajay picked me & my brother from the airport andwe headed out to Faridabad where we stayed at Ravis place. After a late night session of

gupshup we caught some sleep bcoz we planned to check out the sights of Delhi the next day.I am going to resort to a diary style coz that would help me keep the train of events.

Day 1: This trip was meant to be a gourmands delight and it was flagged off by Ravis momsyumm parathas and uncle ke haath ki banayi hui bindi sabzi (my mouth waters when I thinkabout it). That day we checked out the India Gate and the Delhi metro. Highlights: Theflyovers in Delhi are commendable; we had the audacity to pose for a picture right in front of

the security check at the metro station, thankfully we were stopped before we clicked else wewould have had to shell out 500 bucks as fine (Note: Do check out the rules of the land beforeu board the tube else it can prove to be very expensive). In the evening we got back toFaridabad, dressed up and headed out to Sakets home from where the baraat was to set out.Everything was so colorful and beautifully done up. The women looked so gorgeous in all thebright colors and finery.

We discovered the dance floor a little late. Nevertheless with our MJ Mayur at the lead wewere the last ones to quit once we started dancing. Did not wait for the wedding ceremony tocomplete since, like all Punju weddings, it was slated for the wee hours of the morning and wehad to set out early morning the next day. We got back to Romis place, unpacked andrepacked for the two day trip to Agra and Fatehpur.

Day 2: We (me, Ashish, Ajay, Romi, Mayur & Gera) set out in a Quails from Delhi at 6 in themorning. With short breaks for bfast & lunch we reached Agra by 1 in the afternoon. Since ourhero Raj Babbar was visiting there were lots of crowds on the roads. Our first visit was to thefort at Sikandra which houses the tombs of Akbar and his wife. An impressive structure in redsandstone with well manicured lawns all around. Those kings did live & live after death instyle. From there we headed out to the Agra fort. What stays in my mind is the beautifulcarvings in marble and the view of the Taj from there. Other points of interest here were theDiwan-e-Khaas & the Diwan-e-Aam where the emperor addressed his council of ministers andthe commoners. The Sheesh Mahal stands testimony to the fact that every facet of royal life isreally royal. From there we set out to Fatehpur Sikri, the capital city during Akbars reign. Thehighpoint of this visit is the man from the past who guided us through the ramparts of the oldfort. Let me introduce Kalakar, a man with copper colored hair & beard whose language waspoetic loaded with Urdu-Hindi & shayari. We first visited the tomb of the Shaikh Salim Chisthi.

The jaali marble screens are remarkable here. It is believed that if you tie a thread around the jaali here and pray your wish will be granted (we did try it & I am waiting for my wish to cometrue). The 54 m high Buland Darwaza or the Victory gate is the main entrance to the compoundthat houses the Jama Masjid & the Saints tomb. I found this during my google search onFatehpur:

A koranic inscription upon the gate read, "The world is a bridge, pass over it but build no house upon it. He, who hopes for an hour, hopes for Eternity, for the world is butan hour".

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Kalakar told us of Akbars 3 wives & 300 girl friends (did that make all the guys jealous). Thepalace of Jodhabhai, Akbars Hindu wife was the main harem in the enclosure. The Hawa Mahal,where the king must have spent some lovely evenings watching the sun set with his wife (wivesrather), is made entirely of stone latticework. There was Mariams (the Christian wife) palacewhich was at one time completely gilded with gold. The Diwan-e-Khaas is a single vaultedchamber with the massive central lotus throne pillar which is intricately carved. To me themost audacious display of power was the huge pachisi gameboard (similar to ludo) drawn onmarble on the Diwan-e-Aam courtyard where Akbar and his courtiers used slave girls dressed incolorful attires as the pawns in the game.

When we were about to leave the place we came to know that Kalakar is the man who used todive from the top of the Buland Darwaza into the well below. He was featured on manytelevision channels. Since the government banned the act he has taken up to being a guide.

We then returned to Agra and found ourselves a place to stay. Since Rang de basanti was thetheme for the trip we headed out for the night show (for your info we had one fourth timer,two third timers, 2 second timer & one first timer amongst us). Worthy of mention is theadventurous travel in the autos of Agra (Jintax is the word I would use to describe those boomboxes). At least my auto driver was sober unlike Romis. She was fighting with the guy to putthe loud music (aka noise) off, at least while passing through the residential areas. And believeit or not at one in the night (or early morning) there were 6 crazy souls walking the streets of Agra knocking the doors/gates of every hotel and asking if they had a coffee shop or a disc(since Gera insisted that one guy had told them that every hotel had a disc, it took us sometime to realize that maybe that guy had mistaken a disc for a dish or whatever..) We finallyaccepted defeat & got back to our rooms where the night outers had a who sips tea theloudest competition.

End of long day 2.

Day 3: Early morning get ready & head out to see the colors of the rising sun on the Taj. By thetime we got there the sun had already risen. I guess I had set my expectations very very highand so in some sense I was disappointed. (One Mr. Reginald Massey is to be blamed for this. Wehad a lesson in our 12 th Standard English in which he had written about the Taj When you haveseen the pictures of a building taken from every possible angle by the worlds bestphotographers, it still cannot prepare you for what you experience as you walk through thedoors on whose walls are inscribed the holy Koran). The place was swarming with groups of tourists from foreign lands. We took a lot of pictures there. After the most expensive bfast atUdupi Park we started our return journey to Delhi. Once we reached Delhi I, Ashish & Ajay setout to the station to start the next part of our trip to the exotic Rajasthan. Here Mua-the tripcoordinator did the first goof-up. I assumed that the train would be from New Delhi stationwhereas on arriving there we realized that it was from Old Delhi & so we had to race againsttime (& Delhi traffic). Fortunately we made it to the station on time. Me friend Neelu (pal fromschool) joined us at the station. So four of us were all fresh & geared for the next 3 days tripinto the deserts of rajasthan.

Day 4: We reached Jaisalmer station at noon. We were attacked by touts from various resortsand hotels the moment we set foot outside the station (I wish we had that scene on camerawhere each one of us was gheraoed by a group of drivers promising various things). We thenheaded out to a restaurant called Bhilwara. Jaisalmer truly is a golden city since all itsbuildings are made of yellow sandstone and the fort at the centre of the city on a raisedplateau reminded me of pictures of sandcastles on beaches. The food at Bhilwara was truly lipsmacking and both the food freaks we had with us truly freaked out.

After consulting with the man at the counter at the restaurant we decided to head out for thedeserts of Khuri rather that the dunes at Sam (though our cab driver was pitching in heavily for

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Sam). Khuri is an hours drive away from the city of Jaisalmer. Enroute we got to see the drydeserts of Rajasthan, with just a few shrubs for vegetation and no human habitation for milestogether. At Khuri we checked into the Khuri Desert Resort which had the option of huts ortents or dune stay for accommodation. (No guesses, we chose option 3). Immediately we setout on the camel safari to watch the sunset from the dunes. Mounting and dismounting thecamel is as scary as a roller coaster ride but it was very different experience. They took usthrough the village where we watched a potter make a pot and also visited one of thetraditional huts in the village. I really dreaded each time we had to stop and get off the camel(Thankfully we had to do the entire circus of getting off & on only thrice). The sand patterns onthe dunes are really beautiful. Here we could see one big expanse of sand dunes surrounded byscrubland (I guess the Sahara desert is where we would get to see dunes till where the eyes cansee). After the sunset we headed back to the resort where they had some cultural programsorganized in the courtyard between the huts. There was a local Rajasthani troupe thatperformed. The guys played some local musical instruments - that part was very good. Alsothere was a Rajasthani dance recital (me & Neelu also joined in towards the end). After a nottoo impressive dinner we returned to the dunes. They set our cots on the dunes. The mostmemorable part of this place was sleeping under the canopy of the star studded sky (simplyfabulous it was like being in the worlds biggest planetarium).

Day 5: The next morning I walked into the dunes (though it does get scary if youre alone andyou reach a point where youre all alone and wonder if you can find your way back). After thesunrise we headed back to the resort, freshened up and set out for Jaisalmer fort. We were lowon energy so we did not go around the whole fort, just checked out the museum there. Thefact that sets this fort apart from the others we saw is that it is like a colony with lots of people living inside it even to this day. Then it was bye bye to Jaisalmer as we boarded a localbus to Jodhpur (one really long 7 tiring journey which as always Ashish slept through). Wereached Jodhpur in the night & caught a rick to the place I had chosen to stay. It is a homestaycalled Saji Sanwri. As we passed through many twisted and narrow gallis to reach the place Iwondered if it was a good decision. Thankfully the saving grace was that we could see theJodhpur fort from the terrace. This is run by a very friendly Jain family. Though Neelu willnever ever forgive me for taking her there (the artificial flowers and lamps all over the placepsyched her out she gets nightmares to this day)

Day 6: I guess there was something wrong in the dinner because three of us had severe stomachupsets. I even thought of ditching my visit to the Jodhpur fort. Thankfully with the medicines Iwas able to manage it. The Meherangarh fort is privately maintained by the Maharajas family.Its a very well maintained place. You can hire a guide to take you around or do a self tour witha walkman guide that gives a commentary on different points along a marked route through thefort. From the fort you can also see the blue painted houses in the city below from which thecity gets the name of blue city. From here we set out to the Umaid Bhawan palace. We weretold that the entry into the hotel part of it was Rs. 500. However on reaching there we came toknow that prices have been hiked to Rs. 1700 and since none but Neelu had an appetite wereturned without seeing the palace. That night we started back from Jodhpur to Delhi.

After five full days on the road we really needed a break. I spent two more days at Delhirecuperating and reached home sweet home.

Handy tips:

1. Try to visit the Taj during a full moon, so that you can visit it in the night. (night entryis permitted only during the full moon time & they charge Rs. 500 per head)

2. Check out the roof top dinner at Meherangarh fort in Jodhpur3. Drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration while in the desert4. Take the rear seat on the camel ride if you are not the enjoy roller coaster types