Exile: Go to exile in Jaipur, main citadel of the erstwhile Rajasthani realm, even though it has become a wee bit touristy, with touts, tourist guides and taxi drivers crowding around you the minute you step out of your train/bus/hotel. Despite this irksome reality, the history and culture of the city makes it well worth the effort of dealing with them all. Carry a copy of “A Princess Remembers”, the memoirs of Jaipur’s beautiful Gayatri Devi - Queen Mother, one time politician, Jackie O’s friend, royalty defined,
for a glimpse into a nostalgically magnificent life of worldwide travels, close friendships with Britain’s royal family, hunting, and luxury shopping before monarchy was put down.
Explore: The Amber and Tiger Forts, where it all started, built like castles on adjoining misty hills, the bastions rising and falling with the slopes, so vast and sprawling that it’s quite impossible to explore every part of it. Below, be prepared to face the harrumphing and warm dung smell of some 80 caparisoned elephants, with quirky names like ‘Polmathi’ and ‘Veer’ that wait to take you up the sheer alley, for a wickedly steep Rs.500. A friendly mahout will tie a bright 9 meter turban on your head and explain on the way up if it’s a girl-elephant or a boy! Once you get down, jump out of the way as quick as you can because the lovable, well-trained thing will gently whack you on the backside, asking for a tip, which you will not be able to resist handing over! You might need a whole day to explore the nooks and crannies inside. Just to make sure you don’t get lost, or if you prefer having someone to explain the fort’s history and architecture, hire a guide from the ticket window for Rs 150.
Express: Jaipur is home to several splendid arts and crafts. Learn
how to make blue pottery at the Kirpal Singh Shekhawat School. Shekhawat, one of the last few master craftsmen, has conscientiously revived this dying art. (Contact him at B-18 A Shiv Marg, Beni Park, Tel: 91-141-201127). At the museum in the City Palace, not only can you examine a huge collection of ancient miniature paintings belonging to the Jaipur School, you can also watch painters at work and pick up a few basics from them.
Exhale: Within the old walled city, entirely filled with faded pink sandstone buildings, which gave Jaipur the epithet of Pink City. You’ll find that the newer structures are not sandstone at all, but suspiciously painted with an almost similar color. The Hawa Mahal or Wind Palace, with almost a 1000 carved windows, built for the women of the zenana to watch processions below without being seen themselves, lives up to its name; once on top you can expect your hair to be whipped around by strong breezes. Visit Jantar Mantar, an observatory built in 1728 by Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of Jaipur; it’s still supposed to accurately predict the position of the sun. In the City Palace museum, the display of wonderfully capacious and rich royal clothing is not to be missed.
