A Journey Across The Sand Dunes of Rajasthan 3

By Manuwant Choudhary

Delhi journalists are going crazy and they all want to quit their jobs to write Sonia Gandhi's book !

But with 44 seats (43 according to Mani Shankar Aiyar since he does not consider Shashi Tharoor a Congressman), one wonders if the book will do well.

Remember, Narendra Modi's book flopped !

I would say let the Mani Shankar Aiyar's write for Sonia.

Actually I have never really cared for VIP culture so when I saw this shiny black ambassador with a red beacon waiting for me at Jaipur airport I nearly looked for another vehicle.

But a red beacon looks so much better than blue...after Supreme Court orders even senior IAS officers cannot use the red beacon.. Patna now looks like its full of flashing ambulances!

The only books that sell are the one's on sex and religion...

Leave the crooks, India is a land of sufis and sadhus.

And the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer is uplifting.

I had visited Ajmer many years ago..it has a lovely lake and the view from the hills is amazing... yet I never thought I'd visit again.

But here I was..all VIP arrangements made...phone calls to the dargah..our car allowed to take the narrow lanes right upto the gates.

Then we see some commotion as to who would take us in...some white kurta-pyjama clad...men stood and spoke softly...then a young man...with perfectly stitched kurta-pyjama...a pony-tail and a skull cap over it...took us in...

There was something about him...the way he walked...his shiny brown-black hair, his soft eyes and he looked straight at you...

We were taken first to buy the chader....and offerings and we were accompanied by enough men...but suddenly our guide placed the chader on my head.

I felt like Katrina Kaif (but I do not earn crores like her and no film to release).

But I do wonder why even Akbar , the Mughal Emperor, walked from Delhi to Ajmer to worship here.

The story is that Moinuddin Chisti was born in 1141 in Chist in Herat, Afghanistan.

His parents died when he was 15 and he inherited a windmill and an orchard.

One day a revered Sufi saint Ibrahim Qunduzi visited him and he offered fruits from his orchard and in return the saint gave him a piece of bread.

The khwaja entered a strange world after eating the bread.

He disposed his property and distributed the money to the poor...and went towards the middle east for higher learning.

On enlightenment he was called `Gareeb Nawaz' or Benefactor of the Poor. And the Prophet Mohammed appeared to him in a dream and told him to come here...

The Khwaja promoted understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

For him religion meant helping those in distress and every human being should `develop river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality'.

Our prayers over, our guide left us at the gate...giving his visiting card he says "You see, phone calls don't matter here..the Khawaja already decided that we were to meet...."

His card said he too was a Chisti, a descendant of the Khwaja....

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes Of Rajasthan 2

By Manuwant Choudhary

Its really not the throne that makes kings...its the qualities he or she may have.

So I do not agree with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he suggests that the Maharaja of Air India be replaced with an `Aam Aadmi'...

If Air India continues to offer sloppy government babu-type services with awful food....it will never regain its former glory.

The Maharaja symbolises something out of  the ordinary.

So at Jaipur's City Palace when you see the giant silver vessels the Maharaja took to England by ship just to carry Ganga Jal (the only water he consumed) you kind of get a feel for what our former rulers were all about.

Today our Ganga is just too polluted.

Prime Minister Modi even before his swearing-in took an oath to save the Ganga.

He was all over twitter but now he is silent..maun..like Manmohan Singh...so much so that Outlook has carried a story titled UPA 3!

During elections he promised to make all Indians happy in 60 months !

But Natwar Singh has written a book "One Life Is Not Enough"!!

I don't trust either.

I too am interested in India's future but for that I look at young Indians not to our leaders.

And the market.

Our bazaars have existed since ancient times even before the `rupiya''when we did barter...a goat for four hens...

Roaming the bazaars of Jaipur I thought about what is really Indian about India?

I am not against the air-conditioned malls or the superchains..but I wish in doing so India does not lose its own culture..

What is it that we  can offer the world?

And how by allowing the winds from foreign shores we can become richer like the Hindu-Islamic architecture of Jaipur's City Palace.

At Gem Palace, a high street jewellery store, I really wanted to be rich!

It has amazing Indian designs so I promised the lady I will return once my blog hits a jackpot like Flipkart !

A visit to Bapu bazaar is a must ...and I really liked the numbered shops minus the hoardings...

A market is a place where one person cheats the other....but shopping in Jaipur you will never feel that way.

For the really adventurous there is Sikar bazaar (which looks like markets in Bihar) but their banners read "All Products Below Sale Price"!

My mouth waters at the sights and smell of some amazing streetfood...Dosas and Golgoppas !!!

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes of Rajasthan 1

By Manuwant Choudhary

Jaipur, India's Pink City, is a precious gem but for me its even more so not because of its wealth but because of Gayatri Devi.

Unfortunately, I never met her but she is someone I respect and admire.

So walking around the City Palace I thought about how Jaipur must have been when she was around.

When she played polo or just sat in her chiffons at the polo ground, or drove around her city without a purdah.

Jaipur's Hawa Mahal was definitely not for her.

A princess loved by her people.

It must have been quite a moment when Gayatri Devi decided to join the Swatantra Party to oppose the socialist policies of the Congress Party and I imagined the celebrations at her victory.

Its no surprise that John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline headed straight for Jaipur to meet Gayatri Devi instead of Indira Gandhi.

Indira was jealous and so she jailed Gayatri Devi.

And I just read in The Economist how Gayatri Devi poured expensive perfume in the gutter at Tihar jail and the aroma spread to the entire prison, which was uninhabitable at the time.

I miss Gayatri Devi.

History fascinates me and I wonder why India's erstwhile royals are not honored enough.

They were truly great, even in their excesses.

The first time I visited Rajasthan was nearly 30 years ago. We travelled on single roads in an ambulance - a matador - if I remember clearly. And it was so slow...chugging up the slopes of might Chittorgarh Fort.

But what a climb and an amazing story....on either side were homes of  the gypsies settled by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru who tried to convince them that they have won Delhi.

The gypsies were true supporters of Maharana Pratap and when he was defeated they swore never to settle down and lead a nomadic existence to build public opinion..until they defeated Delhi.

Jaipur in order to protect its fortunes supported Delhi and so was never respected but Gayatri Devi broke away from this tradition and she chose to oppose Delhi.

A visit to Jaipur can never be complete if you don't visit Amer Fort.

Now there is a sound and light show which is worth it.

Do not go for the Rs.200 English show because the Rs.100 Hindi show is better.

The voice-over is by non other than Amitabh Bachchan.

And he sounds so much better talking about the Kuchchawa clan and Amer than talking about Modi's Gujarat.

Just sit back and relax...and Amitabh will tell you how the Kuchcawaha clan migrated from Sasaram in Bihar to Madhya Pradesh and finally to Rajasthan where they built this fort.

Surrounded by hills on all sides...he takes you across 700 years and it all seems so like today.

And my mom got to see her Jodha-Akbar TV series Live !

Ekta Kapoor's Jodha Akbar serial is definitely more popular than Narendra Modi's banterings.

And Paridhi Sharma looks more like the real Jodha than Aishwariya Rai !

Just then a pleasing breeze blew across the mountains...amidst sounds of tinkling of temple bells and azaan from a mosque at Amer Fort.....just as it was....

After Voting Modi They Now Line Up For Phoonk Baba

By Manuwant Choudhary

Move over Narendra Damodardas Modi, in my part of India whats hot is Phoonk Baba ! (Phoonk means to Blow)

Sitting in a tent on a National Highway this Baba is drawing out the crowds from remote villages.

He does not charge anything but only asks people to come to him with mustard oil and ganga jal (water).

Then periodically he steps out and one my one blows at his devotees, hence his name...

The devotees return home.

I am not sure if they are cured of their problems but this Blow Job is peculiarly popular and just shows the mindset of Indians in the 21st century.

A colleague asked me how Narendra Modi won this election.

And my answer was that partly its because of media pripoganda and also since Indians are not just deeply religious but they can be communal as well.

And he had his answer. He told me, "You know when we visited the villages this time people asked us why the Nitish Kumar government was only building walls for Muslim cemetries, and nothing for them."

Of course, Hindus are cremated and hence don't need walls but that does not matter.

Its no surprise that the Shiv Sena MPs thrust rotis into the mouth of a fasting Muslim but I wish they would think about offering a roti to a hungry person. of any religion.

I think the Sikh Gurdwara langars are amazing, they offer food to everyone irrespective of caste, class and religion.

I remember as part of an inter-faith program visiting a langar in Dadar - Bombay.

It is one of the best lunch I have had.

And cleaning your own plates cleanses the soul as well.

Coming back to Phoonk Baba the story doing the rounds is that as he crawls on the highway (phoonk-phoonk par kadam rakhna), he will meet his sister coming from the other direction and people say that one of them will become stone !

No photography is allowed but I managed to take a few before I was stopped by his men.