Another breakfast of paranthas and pickle on the sweaty roof. My companion was a lovely dentist from London, Sameena, who I convinced to join part of my tour in Ladakh.
Packed and ready to go, I hopped in the Nandu Express for the six-hour drive to Jaipur. We joined the caravan of transport trucks trundling through the space-age sprawl of Gurgaon. Like Hockneys on wheels, Indian trucks are a riot of colour and creativity, whimsically reminding passing drivers to blow their horns to pass. In between mindless chatter with a view to keeping Nandu awake, I took copious photos of the backs of trucks. Nandu laughed after each snap. I asked if he’d ever seen a tourist take so many pictures. “No,” he answered straight-faced. Then he giggled.
My tour guide was Jitendra who, in Rajasthani warrior caste tradition, wore earrings in both ears. (Learned something new!) He took me on a tour of the City Palace where, serendipitously, I saw the
Jaipur royalty
sister of the late Mahajara, luminous in lilac chiffon, arrive for the anticipated reading of Rajmata’s will. The 90-year old Maharani Rajmata Gayatra Devi was the matriarch of the Jaipur royal family, the most prestigious of Rajasthan’s 22 imperial families, and had a $200 million fortune whose inheritance was the subject of much gossip and speculation. Alas, the will was not read that day, and I have since lost the thread.
I was then taken across the street to the Jantar Mantar, an 18th century astronomical park full of giant apparati for measuring the skies. To some no doubt it was fascinating, but I was just trying to avoid fainting from the heat.
Inevitably there was a visit to a shop where my guide stood to make a considerable commission from my purchases. This was a “fixed price” shop (“fixed” being as likely an outcome as drinking Ganges water and surviving) where I was given the dog and pony demonstration of how to do traditional hand block print. The shop was overflowing with male salespeople, and I was the only potential customer. Yippee. Plied with chai tea, piles of Punjabi suits were paraded for my perusal. There were two I quite liked, but for $250 (and that was after the fixed price was bent) they were still too rich. Out of courtesy I suffered through a tour of the rest of the shop. The gemstones looked deeply suspicious.
The drive through the old city was insane. I didn’t think it was possible, but Jaipur was even busier and more packed than Delhi. The Muslim neighbourhoods seemed particularly crazy with piles of smelly fish and crates of
Jaipur
incarcerated poultry. Relief washed over when I arrived at the hotel, a converted Maharaja’s palace in part of which the Maharaja still resided. Very civilized.
Until I saw the price of water: 80 rupees from the mini bar, 50 from the hotel. Now, I know this is between $1 – 2, but believe me it doesn’t take long to adjust to local pricing. I walked to the street to find water for 15 rupees, the going rate. Suddenly, and very common for India, I had an escort. What did he want, I wondered.
He walked me to the corner where he took care of the water transaction. What did he want?
Aha, the pitch. He had a textile shop around the corner, commission free, minimal overhead, low prices. I was reluctant. Then he pulled out his business card. Oh, the confidence and respectability a business card engenders. I bit. Twenty minutes later I was off to the tailor’s in his tuktuk, a tiny sewing operation barely six feet wide. A little voice in the back of my head reminded me of the red leather coat I had made in Argentina in 2007 which I still haven’t had the heart to wear. I ignored it, to my peril.
On the way back to my hotel he says he wants to take me for beers and dinner. As if. The dude’s lower teeth were black!
I elected for dinner on the roof, arriving just as the dancing show was beginning. The young performers were lovely and very engaging, inviting me to take their pictures and genuinely interested in the photos I was taking. Then, whoops, I was swept up to participate in the dancing. I’m sure the other diners were ecstatic at seeing a large, ungainly white woman thud around the dance floor while they were trying to eat.
Finally allowed to rest, I finished the rest of my meal with the objective of escaping before the puppet show started. With relief I left just as they were emerging.
Jaipur
Shopping mecca
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