A colourful Odyssey

Your Royal Ride 

"Khamma Ghani Sa" is Namaste with much added respect in Rajasthani. This simple phrase said with the head bowed low down to the waist and folded hands exemplifies the culture and tradition of the vibrant piece of earth called Rajasthan.

As rich and colourful as its history is Jaipur may appear somewhat faded with neglect if your vantage point is only that of a tourist looking for camel rides, snake charmers and pristine locales.

An equally footloose and fancy free friend is my travel companion on this trip. We decided to explore the city as it opens itself to us - with no planned agenda or itinerary.

The pool at The Trident

Jaipur draws you towards it and makes you wonder if you ever went deep within yourself!  Its forts, palaces, bazaars and people all conspire to create an ache for one's roots.

The beautiful palaces, now mostly converted into boutique hotels are awe inspiring. We are unanimous in our vote for the Ram Bagh Palace as the most beautiful and luxurious. We were recommended a visit to Steam - the bogie restaurant at this hotel for an evening meal - since we were not working an agenda we ended up sampling the Polo Bar instead! Both highly recommended by yours truly - a self confessed foodie ;)

Actually glutton would be a better word given the amount of food I consumed on this trip - a visit to the famous LMB restaurant at M.I Road had us gorging on Dal Baati and Gatte ka Sabji..the old and ever famous Niros running since 1949 won us with coffee served in sterling silver tea pots...

...by the end of this Royal treatment I certainly had an ego the size of a bullock cart.

Looking at the world through the view finder has changed my definition of viewing points. 

Johri Bazaar 

From where I stood, the city and its people may still very well be living in 1225 A.D.

The Jai Garh fort had our heart wrung out due to the apathy of the Jaipur Darbar and the Rajasthan Government - the disrepair and neglect is so visible as we compare the vastly majestic stature in shambles with the more celebrated yet a lot less princely counterparts elsewhere in the world.

The Jai Garh Fort

We are told that both the Jai Garh and City Palace are managed by the 'Darbar Sa" - the royal family of Jaipur under a Trust. Obviously their efforts leave much to be desired!

My friend is determined and optimistic that with the right noises we can make them sit up and notice..being the cynic that I have grown up to be I am not so hopeful. I sure would like to believe that this rich heritage is kept preserved for our future generations though...they will surely need wings to fly but will also thank us for these roots to stay grounded.

..and finally!!

Jaipur Lake Palace
photo courtesy @Google

Jaipur (Rajasthani: जैपर Hindi: जयपुर) (Urdu: جے پور) 


Am off this morning for a short weekend break to the Pink City in Rajasthan, India! I have been to the city a few times before but always for work or day long touch and go trips acting as a local host to my global friends. Am excited and so looking forward to capturing the mood of this colourful city and its equally colourful people. 


Watch out for the pictures! 

Longing for a break

The usual spring in my step gives way to a lethargic drag. I bribe myself to get up from the bed every Monday morning and immediately begin to count hours to the next weekend!

Yearnings for a place never before visited...dreams of long rainy/overcast days stretched out like the unending sky...hands itching to reach out to the piles of newly bought unread books...July usually does that to me! 


Out of the many self realizations that have been off late making their presence felt this one hits home hard..!! Whatever happened to the girl who could go months and even years without so much as a blink or a nudge for a break? Now I need a vacation every quarter (well at least once every two quarters!)..

The need to get away gets stronger each week - I am drawing up lists of places that I have visited and want to go again, the ones that I have never been to and the lists keep getting longer every time. 

..a little more time...commitment at work calls..but till then I try to keep my head above the water with memories of holidays past...

Windmills

I chanced upon this sight on my way to Salzburg (Austria) on a recent trip to this beautiful tiny city............

Windmills

....and was instantly reminded of Sidney Sheldon's 1987 thriller novel Windmills of the Gods. Though the plot of that thriller was far removed from this picturesque scene in front of my eyes..I hung onto that phrase and, as is my nature, relapsed into another happy fantasy!!

This shot was taken from a moving bus across the hazy fiber glass window - you can perhaps guess that from the smudges across the picture specially visible on the clouds.

No photo shop needed as the picture itself was created by a much superior power - I seemed only like an instrument doing his bidding.

Camera - Nikon D 90
Exposure 1/1250s, 50 mm, f/5.6, ISO 200

visita relámpago - flying visit to Madrid

....One foot ahead of the other....the steps ought to take me forward...but I see myself walking back into time.. wondrously looking around ..lost in the grandeur surrounding me. It takes nothing but imagination to strip the neon signs off the facade of the beautifully sculpted buildings and one is transported to the early 20th century Spain.

Despite the macabre tale of modernization written all over this historic city, there are signs that show a culture breathing laboriously yet resolutely amongst its hip people. It is visible in the historic looking McDonald's building that perhaps may be the only outlet of its kind without the customary golden arch. The billboards around announce expositions of art and culture, celebration of sopranos and opera as well the latest Bollywood performance!

I am fortunate to witness one of the operas being played out at the Royal Theatre right opposite the Palacio Real de Madrid. Le Nizze de Figaro ( The Marriage of Figaro) is one of Mozart's controversial plays set in late 18th century. I am more intrigued by the audience sitting patiently outside in the square watching the live relay of the play on a huge screen set off atop one of the theaters.

Gran Via (pronounced as Gran 'B'ia) literally means the Great Way is arguably the most fashionable street in Madrid. Originally designed to be a thoroughfare connecting the Royal Palace of the King of Spain to the other side of the city it originally housed theaters and government buildings and was a place for cultural amusements.

The Metropolitan building is almost considered the face of Madrid for most people. Tourist fill the street mostly looking up to capture the beautiful architecture atop most buildings that fill the narrow street on both sides. A local friend remarks in jest how the locals make out the tourist by the way they look up in admiration and awe at these majestic buildings.

My first visit to the city is another step in my appreciation of the diversity of the human race. The city's people leave you to yourself, almost appearing rude at times as they ignore your presence and your attempts to befriend. Yet their open acceptance of the right of choice of an individual to live the life they want, in the manner they chose to live it, is definitely admirable and ought to be emulated.

As I get ready to leave the city, I find myself already looking forward to and planning my next visit...perhaps one not so short as this one. I am sitting here waiting to board my plane to another city ...wondering what purpose destiny has in taking me to these different places....is this a mere exercise in my education to be more grounded or a need for an old soul to recall or remember...?  

New York contd.....

A city in celebration

Despite its colossal reputation, NY reminds me of a shy teenager, who upon realizing that she is actually a person in her own right goes berserk and wild! The sky high buildings co exist with old Gothic architecture with equal elan...its many parks dot the city, its old fashioned subways - now cleaned up of their not so pretty image - run the city only as a lifeline could. I certainly got addicted to the Metro and would take rides just for the sheer fun of it!!

belief, faith, trust....

True to its cosmopolitan nature, the city is home to many cultures and cuisines. One's ears get attuned to listening in many tongues..from the accented southern American drawl to the far eastern Asian, from the rapid static German to the vastly curvaceous Spanish..and of course not to forget the variety of cuisine on offer...they are all here... stamping the place with their very own character that culminates into this exciting, inviting juxtapose called New York City!

I secretly find myself imagining how it will be to live here as a citizen and comparing it to my relatively sedate life back home..the comparison excites me - as always I get motivated into action by the sheer possibilities :))

Manhattan on a winter afternoon

I click like there is no tomorrow..forgetting to think, to plan my shots, I just click knowing that my time here is finite. Smarting as the cold winds bite into my fingers..my nose a frozen dot on my face.. Later I regret not planning some shots better - some have turned out better than I imagined but others..my hopeful ones..are too simplistic just because I didn't think of taking a step to the right or left - or basically didn't use my one and a half moment that could have made the difference!! Lessons learnt, mistakes acknowledged..I move on.

The city as I see it

Frozen in time

Talking about moving on..I am realizing that is my biggest strength or maybe my one nemesis ..depending upon the way you look at it!

I am grateful for the life that I lead - so much more fulfilled than many others.

Here's hoping this New Year -begun a little differently than others, would teach me to stay grounded and humble, bring in the love of family and friends and above all make me a better person than I am today.

New York



Visitors at Times Sqaure



A city that calls out to you… vibrant and thriving on the massive energy of its people…. designed to make the most adamant of your inhibitions disappear..even if for a little while....its little towns and Burroughs..streets and avenues are a little confusing to a first time traveler to the city but then it gets easily familiar as you feel the city inviting you in with open arms..!

 

I happen to arrive on the last day of December into this city as 2010 was ticking to a close and another New Year waiting in the wings. Like most things in my life, this was not by design. I had planned on being here a couple of days earlier to drink in the sights and get myself organized before deciding upon the most appropriate manner to spend new years’ eve in the city everyone refers to as The Big Apple and of course THE place to be on a night like this. But like most of my other best laid plans, this too had its own mind and so here I am - playing along to the whims of a higher force….

....to be contd...

Morges, Switzerland

Morges, a small town on Lake Geneva or Lac Leman as the French call it, near Lausanne, once upon a time was an important commercial centre.

I am told that for this reason a port, which nowadays serves as a port for yachts, was built at the end of the 17th century. The promenade along the lake shore of Morges stretches from the castle all the way to the Vertou Park and offers a fantastic view of the lake and Savoy Alps including the Mont Blanc, on a bright and sunny afternoon!

The place offers an ideal, quiet weekend getaway from bigger cities like Geneva in Western Switzerland. In addition to interesting museums and sights, the car-free Grand-Rue of Morges is perfect for a spot of shopping, and there is a market with local produce every Wednesday and Saturday. 

The people are friendly and inviting..often offering help unasked and always willing to click a picture of you if they see a camera in your
hand! J

I am learning that the world really can survive solely on the language of the eyes and that there is nothing that an engaging smile cannot achieve! The region is predominantly French speaking but so far I have survived well with my limited vocabulary of Bonjour, Merci, Voila and Au-revoir!! Despite my non existent language skills I manage to make friends in the Afghani honey seller who wanted me to tell people back home in India how much he loves bollywood (!!) or my charming hostess at the Hotel de la Nouvelle Couronne (www.couronne-morges.ch) who frantically tried to pacify a completely freaked out yours truly when the fire alarm decided to go off in my hotel for no reason!! J J

My first Sunday in Morges – and its drizzling this morning!! The first thought that came to my mind as I got up was mercy in heaven that I went out to the lake front yesterday and clicked some lovely weekend life J! As I promenaded along the lake this morning, the cold breeze stings the eye yet is so refreshing..the almost fall colors around transports one to a surreal place which seems quite close to heaven. 

The clock tower reminds me every hour that I am traveling through a time tunnel but in this place it is simply a reminder of one's mortality..as if to say that this is glimpse of what heaven would be like!!