Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Rajasthan Trip Oct 2013 - Part 3 (Jodhpur)

Continuing from Part 1 and Part 2..............

I have just been reminded about the great responsibility I now have as there are people following this blog. The burden is almost too much to bear.

Getting back to Jodhpur, the saga continues…….

Jodhpur is also called the Blue City due to the large number of houses painted Blue. Originally, the blue indicated a Brahmin’s house. But over time, many people started adding indigo to the white wash of the house as it was believed to keep insects away from the house. I have seen Jodhpur 9 years back. You can still discern the Blue, but it was much more clearly Blue then. Obviously, paints are available in a much more variety of colors now.


We reached Jodhpur at 0600 in the morning and took an auto to the Air Force Officers Mess at Ratanada.


The mess is a grand old structure built by the Maharaja to house official guests. It was called the State Hotel. In fact, the impression of the name is still visible on top of the building after all these years. The Air Force acquired/ were gifted the building for their use sometime after independence and converted it into an officer’s mess. We had booked rooms through two separate sources, both of whom had confirmed the booking. But our names did not figure in the register. Luckily Yuvraj had spoken to the Mess Secretary a day earlier to confirm the booking. As there seemed to be some slip up, they gave us the only rooms available, the VIP Rooms :-). It was only while leaving that we realized that the rooms were booked in the name of our sources.


We had beautiful rooms with bay windows overlooking the lawns.

We generally took it easy in the morning. We took an auto and proceeded to Umaid Bhawan Palace at around 1100.


This was the last palace to be built in India prior to her independence. Work started on this Palace in 1929 and was completed in 1944. Built at a cost of Rs.9.5 Million in those days, it was the largest private residence in its day with 347 rooms.


The interiors were designed by Maples in London. Unfortunately, the ship carrying it to India was sunk by a German U-Boat. So the interiors were redesigned by Stefan Norblin, a Polish Art Deco interior designer who had fled war-torn Europe. In fact the painting from the Ramayana adorning  parts of the building are very interesting as they have a distinctly European, or should I say Art Deco, style.


****RANT BEGINS****

I do not like Indian Royalty. I have nothing against such enormous projects as they add to the cultural heritage and beauty of this country. What irritates me is the fact that all of them are now in politics, minting money in business but try to portray themselves as the saviours of their people/subjects. If they had any concern for their subjects, they wouldnt have been in this sorry state in the first place.

The Jodhpur Royals are a prime example. In all the literature, it says that the palace was built to provide employment to the people as there was a famine in his state. Bull****. If he had any concern for them, he would have used the 10 million rupees for some useful public works, such as a canal system, etc instead of a private residence. My theory is that he got cheap labour. In fact he paid them with food, no money. Today, the maximum part of the building is an ultra luxury hotel run by Taj, part is his private residence and one small side section is all that is open to the public…telling them that this building was built for the public good. You need to pay Rs.2000 to just enter the main building. Bull**** again.

****RANT ENDS****

The museum was decent. Just a few photographs, painting and artefacts glorifying the history of the Royal Family. There was also an antique car collection to be seen through a glass partition.


The most important takeaway were the photographs with the Palace in the background.


On completing the tour, we came out to take an auto to head back. We paid Rs.80 to come up. They demanded Rs.200 to go back…because there is no other mode of transportation available to head back.

*****RANT BEGINS****

We, as a country, have become adept at availing every opportunity to profit from the handicaps/ disadvantages of others. We therefore no longer have any sense of the value of labour. The auto rates at Jodhpur vary depending on how much you need him or he thinks he can fleece you. In fact, Yuvraj called the auto driver a thief. The driver had the gall to threaten us and ask if he had picked our pockets. He seriously thought that he wasn’t doing anything wrong by demanding extra money. In any case, he threatened the wrong customers. We gave it back to him, reminding him about govt rates, and threatened to complain to the police about them not using the meter. That quietened him down, and he quietly slunk away. Fortunately, we still have a few decent people, and so we found an elderly driver willing to take us back at the correct rate.

****RANT ENDS****

Continue reading Part 4 .....................

24 comments:

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