Randomness rules

For a change I have been working hard, avoiding distractions and focussing on work, that though is now a passe, it was the past fortnight, now that I have achieved some success the easy go lucky guy in me is back in action. Sigh… only if I had some more appetite for success, somewhat like the space I can make when I see delicious food coming my way. Its quite amazing how my body can actually take in all those quantities and thankfully not bloat or explode!!

 

The month of December is bad that way, way too many parties and weddings and everywhere you kind of find one or the other food item that gets you drooling and salivating and then you indulge and then err.. geez food just makes me digress, lets stop the food topic for a while.

 

I  came to the blog to write something about the new movie released yesterday which I have not seen so far, Baji Rao Mastani, I am not a Sanjay Leela Bhansali fan, for long I have believed he packs mundane stories in sort of grand gift wrap papers, where in the gift wrapper is more beautiful than the actual gift. I till AIB Roast of Ranveer happened could not even stand him, now am actually looking forward to seeing him. The guy is cool, the guy is actually enviable, perhaps that is why that dislike was there. I am actually wanting to watch a SLB movie that is featuring Ranveer Singh and no, I am not wanting to watch it just for Deepika, mind it! The movie has a story and since I actually googled Baji Rao Peshwa and his story I was feeling kinda ashamed that I knew so little about perhaps one of the greatest warrior’s in India’s history.

 

I wonder why our history books showed so little of him or taught us so little, though I must confess as I live longer I always feel our school history books taught us very little, thank God for Amar Chitra Katha’s which actually in someways helped satiate my fascination for historical characters. I don’t think there is anything more fascinating than reading history or hearing stories about it. Be it the Alan Turing story in The Imitation Games or reading about the Bangladeshi turmoil and their liberation from Pakistan  history in more ways than one makes you wonder about human behaviour and always questions your conclusions about certain things. I am a complete student of history and will keep on reading more and more and hope to learn more and more about this world of ours, in many ways history tells you why we are, how we are!

 

 

अजीब (strange)

लकीरो में लिखी है सारी दास्तान
पर क्या हम इन्हे कभी समझ सकेंगे

वैसे तो हम चांद तक पहोच गये
पर अपने आस पास ही देख ना सके

मिलोन दूर का ही हमेशा सोचा
अप्नो की ही कभी सून ना सके

अजीब सी ये रीत है इस जहान की
जो नही है उस्की क्यो खोज में उलझी है…

जो है उसमे क्यो खुश नही है…
अजीब सी है ये ज़िन्दगी

 

Monkey’s eye view! :P

In the twilight hours we reached the biggest fort in India, Chittorgarh Fort unfortunately we couldn’t manage to see much of the fort or get a guide as we were late and the fort had closed down, however, a temple complex that over looked the city was open and we joined the numerous mischievous monkey’s there who were gazing the city and its lights!

Whether you can spot the monkey’s in this picture is a completely different matter altogether!

Jharokha

The Jharokha’s in almost all Rajputana forts and palaces are quite intricately done and they never fail to intrigue me, here is a photo of one such Jharokha in the Salam Singh ki Haveli with the Golden Fort of Jaisalmer in the back drop.

Apparently almost all books and internet sites I read say it was Salim Singh Ki Haveli where as the guide who showed us and manages the places claims they are from the same family and that it is Salam Singh Ki Haveli. He also very strongly disputed the whole history that was largely written by James Tod a fellow he claimed never traveled to Jaisalmer!

There are quite a few interesting stories about Salam Singh Ki Haveli and about that man himself! I will let you onto those in my next few posts! 😀

Of Kings and their subjects!

At many times my naive mind used to wonder, especially when I was not such a keen history student how did some people in the desert become so wealthy, why did their subjects stick around those kings in those deserted plains where growing anything for self was tough, where water was scarce, where the sun was harsh and the terrain unforgiving. Over a period of time after reading a lot on wikipedia and the internet I have understood how the silk route used to work and how the people who lived in the desert benefited.

Eventually many Rajput kings also joined forces with the Mughals, where in after a war the territory would be owned by the Mughals but all the loots would be given to the Rajput’s who would many a times be the leader of the armies. No wonder the Rajput’s are still so proud about their weapons and their bravery. No, I am not judging anyone, I am sure the Rajputs did need the gold as their territory was not very fertile and they had to arrange for things that only wealth would buy.

Another very important thing I have noticed is that since the Kings were above their subjects and no one could actually question them, they lived life as per their whims. Not one king we heard about on the trip had less than 8 wives. If some king actually had one I guess he was not important enough for the guides to mention him! We even came across one guy Takhat Singh who had 58 queens and 59 children! Still no where near the Dhritrashtra figure though! 😛 lol

Some of the stories, anecdotes and ways of life of those ages are …well… lets say of another era… I guess we at times cannot comprehend some things.

Above is a shot of the Umaid Bhavan Palace, now a luxury hotel managed by Taj, though the king still stays there using some 20% of the property with the rest being converted into a pretty mean and expensive hotel. The shot was taken from Mehrangarh Fort, the Umaid Bhavan Palace is one of the last built palaces among the royal complexes in India. The king’s palace simply outsizes the houses of the subjects!

Padharo mhare desh….

So this gentleman and his family sat outside the Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur singing and inviting tourists and travellers alike. Rajasthan has its own typical way of welcoming tourists into resorts or palaces. For a state that receives a large share of foreign tourists I guess the welcoming way is a unique way of intriguing the guests and also making them feel special. Probably one of best managed forts I have visited till date, Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur is amazingly clean and no matter how much the crowd, the management is so good that it still allows you to be able to experience enough peace to soak in the the whole royal grandeur of the bygone age.

Be it the elevator to get to the top for the older people or the audio guides or the dustbins or the cafe’s inside the fort everything I found to be kept quite in order and actually is a shining example of how a lot of other places in the country should be managed and maintained.

Apparently we also managed to sneak upon the Maharaja of Jodhpur who happened to be visiting the fort to go to the ancient Chamunda Mata Temple inside for the traditional pooja of his weapons which is done by Rajputs on the auspicious day of Dusshera!

We also learnt later that this fort has also won several awards on prestigious international forums which recognize how well the place is maintained and managed. Not for nothing I guess.

Foto Friday ! and a foto quiz ! :P

one of India's most famous love stories happened here can you guess the place ???? and the story behind it ????

Lets add a twist to this Foto Friday, Can you guess where is this place ? The clue is one of India’s most famous love stories happened here !! The story and the details a little later in the next post.

 

My photograph for all those who guess it rightly !!!! 😈

 

Moderating comments will enable them on Sunday ! 🙂 🙂 🙂