Unearthing Rajasthan - part I

Getting introduced!

It was in 2002 that I travelled to Rajasthan for the first time ever. Making use of my summer holidays from graduate school I visited my then boyfriend (now husband) in Jodhpur to spend some glorious days of togetherness. Summer is definitely not the best time to travel to Rajasthan, so I can't tell I was looking forward to that trip. However, nothing daunts me from seeing the unseen (especially my unseen boyfriend for 10 months), and so there I was, tucked behind the rough seat belt of our Indica car, setting off from Delhi on the newly constructed four-lane highway to Jodhpur via Jaipur.

The first half of the road trip was uneventful. It was mostly recent Hindi songs blasting in the car stereo and me dozing off to a much required nap. However, as we approached Jaipur, the monotonous landscape of barren fields changed to a gradual layer of sand. The layers of sand deepened as we moved further into Rajasthan. Within a few hours, Jaipur welcomed us with a view of the majestic fort wall and a hilly windy entrance to the pink city. Since we were in a hurry to reach Jodhpur, we passed through the city toward our destination. From the quick drive through Jaipur, I did not see anything worth writing here. Nonetheless, the imposing Jaipur fort at the entrance left a permanent impression on my mind, and I knew I had to come back to this city to explore it further at some point of time.

We eventually arrived in Jodhpur after another 6 hours. This city is a medium sized district capital, and has a history of its own. After settling down in my guest house, and after getting over the exhaustion of a long journey, I spent a large part of the next few days of my stay in Jodhpur visiting the city hot spots. As much as I loved the fort, the shopping, and the food of Jodhpur, what intrigued me more was the strong presence of the military existing parallely with the flow of history and culture.

The drive out from the Umaid Bhawan palace goes through the army base, and ends in the air force base. The streets in this area are decorated with tanks and flighter planes, dotted with defense patrol posts. I had seen defense bases in other parts of India too, but nowhere else does it merge with the backdrop as much as it does with Jodhpur. The sun-light reflecting from the sandstone buildings and the golden hue of the soil have an amazing effect on the face of the men in uniform. It seems like the overwhelming presence of the forces has perpetuated the Rajputana heritage of the land or vice-versa.

People say that the Rajputs still send at least one of their sons to the military. Over the next few days, I got an opportunity to take a closer look into the "defense world" in Rajasthan. In my next post I will write more about this aspect of the Rajasthani life, which is actually deeply entrenched in its history too. And, has also much to do with the state's current socio-economic dynamics.

To be continued.