India - Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan & Kerala

DELHI

Vibrant. Colorful. Diverse. Embracing. When thinking about India, these are the words that come immediately to mind, even though our visit began with tragedy. Three bombs shattered the festive atmosphere in Delhi as Indians prepared for the joyous Diwali festival, killing 59 people and injuring about 200 others when Pakistani Islamic terrorists detonated them outside a railway station, in a busy market, and on a bus the day that we arrived in India at the end of October. We’d just spent about 20 hours in transit and were out of touch with the news, but the young man from the travel agency who met us at the airport lost no time telling us about the tragic events earlier that day as we were chauffeured to our hotel. I’d traveled to India for the first time just five weeks earlier on a business trip to Mumbai and Bangalore and was eagerly anticipating our holiday based on the tantalizing glimpse of the culture that I’d gotten during that brief visit. While saddened by the terrible toll on the families afflicted by this heinous act, news of it did not diminish our desire to explore the country further. It was after midnight by the time we checked into an elegant room at the Imperial Hotel, and we succumbed to much-needed sleep. After a wake-up workout in the hotel’s small but modern exercise room and a delicious buffet breakfast in a light-filled atrium, we met our guide for a city tour. Due to the bombings the government had closed some of the more popular sights, such as the Red Fort, but there was still plenty to see. Beginning with settlements as early as 300 BC, Delhi has grown into the home of 13.5 million people on the site of 7 ancient cities, each featuring the palaces of its Muslim conqueror. The British shifted their capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911 establishing a governmental area to the south of the old Delhi area known as New Delhi, where the seat of government still resides after India’s independence in 1947. India’s population is so vast that although more than 80% of Indians are Hindu, India has the world’s second largest population of Muslims after Indonesia (nearly 130 million) and about 25 million Christians in addition to Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis. While field hockey is the official national sport and football (soccer) is very popular, locals joke that cricket is the national religion. Indians speak 18 official languages, hundreds more minor languages and thousands of dialects. Indians will advise you in all seriousness that English is the only language common to all. Vikas, our handsome young guide, bragged that Delhi is the 4th greenest capital in the world and the 2nd most biodiverse. As we noticed that first day and confirmed during the rest of our travels, India seems to be blessed with a large proportion of highly attractive people. We suspect that baldness genes must be largely recessive among this population and that Indians would have no idea what Americans mean when lamenting about “bad hair days”. We started our tour in New Delhi, admiring Sir Edwin Luytens architecture and the imposing government buildings constructed of Rajasthani sandstone. The presidential palace grounds cover 3300 acres and include elaborate gardens, fanciful elephant topiaries, a dairy farm, and the 145 meter Jaipur Tower, a gift from the Maharajah of that district. We walked down the broad, lawn-lined avenue named Rajpath to the India Gate, a triumphal arch built in 1921 to commemorate the Indian soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and other conflicts. Army, Navy and Air Force flags fly at full mast and an eternal flame burns in memoriam. We arrived just as Navy servicemen wearing crisp white uniforms with white spats over their highly polished shoes were turning over the guard to an Air Force squadron in sky-blue shirts and dark blue pants. The sailors, accompanied by a brass band, marched in tight formation, their left arms swinging straight up to shoulder height. Five palaces surround the gate. Once residences of the Maharajahs of India’s most populous cities, they are now government buildings. As we headed to visit Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in the country, Vikas told us that cities ending in the suffix pur (such as Jodhpur and Jaipur) originated as Hindu cities and those ending in the suffix bad (such as Hyderabad) were Muslim. We caught a glimpse of the Red Fort, Lal Qil’ah, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, of Taj Mahal fame, to be his palace when he established his capital of Shahjahanabad in Delhi. The gold, emerald and ruby peacock throne was looted in 1739, and as a result of that and subsequent invasions, no treasures remain in the fort. In the 1650’s A.D., Shah Jahan commissioned Jama Masjid, whose vast open courtyard is large enough to host 25,000 worshippers. As we traversed the courtyard, we heard that the mosque contains a shrine with a hair from Muhammad’s beard, a pair of sandals, as well as the prophet’s footprints in marble. Constructed of red sandstone and black and white marble, the harmonious architecture features a two-story arched entry flanked by a colonnade with10 scalloped arches and two 130-foot minarets. Three black and white striped marble domes, a larger one in the middle with 2 smaller on either side, are visible beyond the entryway. Men in white robes rested on the perimeter of a rectangular reflecting pool and prayed in the quiet interior corridors. A lively market flourished outside the mosque grounds selling pomegranates, custard apples, pear, pineapple and banana in addition to fireworks for the festival. Vendors squeezing limes for juice perfumed the air with their refreshing fragrance. We continued on to the tomb of the second Moghul emperor, Humayun, dedicated by his widow 9 years after his death in 1556. The opulent Persian style is similar to the Taj Mahal and is reputed to have been its inspiration. Geometrical pools and square gardens divided into four quadrants surround the handsome mausoleum built of red sandstone with white marble accents. We were surprised to see marble Stars of David with lotus flowers in their center embedded in the walls. We learned that this is a holy Hindu icon that consists of two intersecting triangles representing man - knowledge and woman – wisdom. The dignitaries within are buried north to south with their heads in the direction of Mecca, though only replicas are on view, the real crypts remain hidden. Near to Humayun’s Tomb, stands the tomb of Isa Khan, a chief minister in the service of Kher Shah, the Afghan ruler who defeated Humayun and exiled him to Persia. Less grand than Humayun’s, the octagonal sandstone structure is still pleasing with an arcade of arches topped by a large dome surrounded by smaller domes. Qutub Minar, at 72.5 meters (139 ft.) the tallest stone tower in India, was erected in stages beginning with the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, Qutb-ud-din Aybak in 1193 and ending with the 5th story in 1368 courtesy of later successor Firoz Shah Tughlaq. Originally intended as a victory tower, the fluted red sandstone minaret has a series of intricately carved balconies and is beautifully inscribed with Arabic verse and text from the Qu’ran. The complex in which it is located, includes the Alai Darwaza gateway built in 1310, one of the oldest mosques in India with dozens of beautifully carved columns, the tombs of Iltutmish and Imam Zamin, Alauddin Khalji’s madrassa, a 27 m high incomplete tower named Alai Minar which was intended to surpass the Qutub Minar, a sundial, and a 21 ft. high iron pillar that has not rusted during its 2000 years. Pale green and blue parakeets with black and white collars and vivid red beaks nested in the cracks of the sandstone edifices and playful squirrels striped like chipmunks chased each other around the grounds. After lunch, we visited Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial. The museum was closed due to the terrorist incident, but we strolled in the garden on the banks of the Jamuna River and admired murals illustrating his illustrious life. A simple black marble monument with an eternal flame immortalizes the great pacifist leader. We had an excellent dinner in our hotel at the Spice Route restaurant, which offers an eclectic menu of Pan-Asian cuisine. The restaurant is lovely, elaborately decorated with murals, thick painted wood columns and a carved ceiling.

AGRA

Monday morning, we arose early to catch a 6 a.m. train to Agra. We decided on the train instead of driving because I’d read that it is faster and more comfortable. The train was well equipped, with good seats and in-seat power. Porters offered newspapers, tea and sweet crackers followed by a hot breakfast consisting of a vegetable croquette and sliced white bread. The sun rose in a hazy sky illuminating fields of grain dotted with clusters of shanties. Our driver was waiting at the station with a clean, well-maintained Skoda, a Czech vehicle. He drove us to the hotel to check in before our tour. The Oberoi Amar Vilas is the only hotel with a view of the Taj Mahal, and we splurged on a room with a balcony and that signature view. Our guide met us in a cushy lounge at the hotel, and we headed off to see the Taj Mahal. On the way he told us that Agra, on the right bank of the Jamuna River, was the 16th Century capital of the Moghul Empire. Currently, besides tourism, its chief industries are silk, embroidery and leather. If you ever visit India and are considering skipping the Taj Mahal, seriously reconsider. Yes, you’ve seen the photos, but they don’t come close to capturing the magnificence of the most over-the-top tribute to romantic love in the world. The mausoleum is dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s beloved second wife, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child at the age of 38. She made her husband promise not to remarry, to care for their children and to erect a mausoleum in her honor. Completed in 1648, it took 22 years and 20,000 workers to build. The main entrance gate, built of brick-colored sandstone, towers 30 meters high. A passage from the Qur’an is inscribed on the gate. All of the letters appear to be the same size; however, this is an illusion. The height of the characters varies depending on their distance from eye level. Your first view of the tomb, which is meant to resemble a crown, is at a distance through the portal as you emerge into the lushly landscaped park. Positioned on a platform at the end of a grand esplanade, surrounded by 4 minarets, and glowing as pure white as newly fallen snow, the Taj duplicates its incomparable image in a long reflecting pool as smooth as glass. The white marble, transported by ox and camel carts from Rajasthan, is reputed to be the hardest in the world, with such low porosity that rain cleans it naturally. It isn’t until you draw much closer that you perceive the gray tint of the stone and the elaborate decoration that covers both the exterior and interior. The 162.5 ft. tall minarets are intentionally angled slightly outwards so that in the event of an earthquake, they will not topple inwards onto the mausoleum and damage it. 3 balconies ring the minarets with chattris (domed kiosks) on top that mirror the similar chattri on the roof of the Taj. The entire complex is designed to be perfectly symmetrical, from landscaping to the buildings. A mosque on the left side of the tomb is replicated as an ornamental building on the right side purely for balance. There are 22 domes on the site. The principal dome at 35 meters high is meant to invoke an inverted lotus flower. It is a double dome, like that of Humayun’s Tomb, to increase stability and provide perfect harmony inside and out. The finial on top of the dome combines Persian and Hindu iconography, the crescent moon combining with other elements to evoke a trident, a symbol of Shiva. The base of the Taj features a large central arch with smaller arches flanking it, a design that repeats on all 4 sides of the building. The Shah planned to build a complete duplicate of the Taj Mahal in black stone on the other side of the river, but was imprisoned at age 67 by his third son who was alarmed at the amount of money his obsessed father was spending on this construction. He died in captivity 8 years later. At the foot of the stairs leading to the mausoleum, you must place cloth covers over your shoes to protect the marble flooring of the monument. From the platform you can clearly see the exquisite carvings, painting and the marble and semi-precious stone inlay that decorates the arches, columns and roof edging. Because anthropomorphic designs are forbidden by Islamic law, marble, agate, jade, jasper, malachite, lapis and coral are artfully carved into in the form of calligraphy, flowers, fruit, vines and geometric shapes in repeating patterns. The gray and black zigzag pattern on outer columns gives the illusion that they are concave when they are flat in reality. When you enter, the Queen’s tomb is in the center of the room, and the King’s is higher up on the left-hand side behind a marble gate. Although the bodies are buried in identical marble caskets in the basement of the mausoleum, these replicas are installed at ground level for visitors to view. The white marble is stunningly inlaid with precious and semi-precious gemstone poppies, hibiscus, roses, lotus, lilies, jasmine, honeysuckle, fuchsia and chrysanthemums. Every surface of the chapel is richly decorated with carvings and inlay, including a 14-chapter prayer of sorrow and grief. After admiring the magnificent details of the Taj, we crossed the lawn to the mosque, which is constructed of red sandstone and white marble and includes some of the architectural attributes of the mausoleum, such as lotus-shaped domes, the floral inlay design above the main arch, the repeating smaller arches and the chattri atop columns at the 4 corners of the building. There’s a beautiful view of the river from the far edge of the platform. Our guide took a break while we wandered the grounds at our leisure. It’s impossible to top the grandeur of the Taj Mahal, but Agra Fort is still an extraordinary sight. Built in the 16th C of red sandstone, you penetrate the crenellated walls of the fortress via a drawbridge over the surrounding moat. Our guide pointed out the battlements where soldiers poured hot oil on attackers and where they rolled boulders down sloped ramps if the enemy managed to advance that far. The great Muhal Emperors, Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb resided in the fort’s palatial precincts when they ruled the country from Agra. This is where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb, and it’s rumored that the tower in which he was confined had an excellent view of the Taj Mahal. Once you pass the gate, you enter the courtyard through an arcade of scalloped arches, to find precisely designed geometrical gardens and a white marble palace within. Velvety red coxcomb flowers border the edges of the vast lawn. There are several structures in the fort, including great halls, golden pavilions, the harem quarters, mosques, a drum house for the musicians and the glass palace – a royal room whose walls are covered with mirror mosaics. The throne room features white marble with precious stone inlay and a view of the Taj. Marble columns throughout are inlaid with stone flowers and topped with intricately carved capitals. Warm and cool water were run through pipes behind the wooden walls of the palace to control the inside temperature. An open-air pavilion with a swing afforded a place for the Queen to catch breezes from the river during sultry days. We were only allowed to visit a small section of the fort, but it was enough to gain an appreciation of its splendor. As we made our way to the car, Stu spotted a small group of women, resplendent in brightly dyed saris, balancing ceramic bowls filled with spices on their heads, whom he immediately dubbed “The Spice Girls”. We had a very good lunch consisting of chicken tikka served with a spicy green garlic sauce, malai kofta (vegetables) and garlic naan at Riao restaurant, where an exceedingly helpful waiter enhanced our dining experience. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony of our room at the hotel, enjoying the view of the Taj Mahal and of the activity on the grounds. There were many interesting birds on the property, including an electric blue kingfisher. We were amused to see a young man in uniform walking a well-groomed langur on a leash. The monkey would have been almost as tall as he on its hind legs, with a whip-like tail, long white fur and black face and ears. We dined at a restaurant in the hotel, an experience greatly improved by the live music – a man on drums and a woman playing sitar. Otherwise, the meal was not high on our list to recommend and the service left much to be desired. Especially when compared with lunch, which was a fraction of the cost. We have to admit that the best feature of the hotel was the view of the Taj. The rooms were fine, though not nearly as nice as those in other Oberoi hotels, and the staff was amazingly sweet, but seemed to require better training. We would stay there again, however, if you’re a stickler for service, you may feel that this property doesn’t offer sufficient value for the price. The next morning, we ordered breakfast on our patio to enjoy the Taj view one last time before leaving Agra.

FATEHPUR SIKRI

Our guide accompanied us to Fatehpur Sikri, after which he returned home and left us to the care of our driver. Fatehpur Sikri, now abandoned, was the first planned city of the Moghuls, built in 1571 by Emperor Akbar and serving as the capital until 1585. Built predominantly of sandstone, the buildings surround an airy open courtyard. From the upper floors you gain a beautiful view of the grounds set among sparsely vegetated hills. The architecture is lovely, with details such as elephant head and lotus flower carvings on column capitols, intricate carvings and paintings, including Akbar on horseback and other battle scenes. The bottom floor of the Panch Mahal, a five-story palace, features 176 fat columns incised with a lotus design supporting a ceiling of scalloped arches. Akbar had created a new religion, which did not survive his demise, and included icons representing multiple religions in the design. No furnishings remain, but the richly painted, carved and inlaid walls, both inside and out, speak of its former opulence. In the House of Commons, our guide told us that elephants crushed convicted criminals. A hamam (Turkish bath) was situated adjacent to the Muslim wife’s palace, a colorfully and ornately decorated building. The Hindu wife’s palace, equally flamboyant, was opposite the kitchen. The summer palace faced the lake to take advantage of the cool breezes, while the winter palace was at the opposite end of the courtyard. Our guide told tales of harem dancers, humans participating as game pieces on a court-sized game board, and singers entertaining the emperor and his entourage from a platform in the middle of a pool while the women watched from screened galleries. During its prime, this bustling metropolis housed companions and assistants of the Queens as well as government officials, the royal medic and the King’s retinue.

JAIPUR

 Today, November 1, was the holy festival of lights, Diwali, the day that commemorates the triumph of light (good) over dark (evil). The holiday celebrates the rescue of Rama’s wife, Sita, from her kidnapper, the evil king Ravana, a popular tale from the Ramayana that is often interpreted in dance and art. As we drove to Rajasthan, we observed stalls piled high with marigolds, which are strung up and draped on carts, storefronts and everything else including people, and sweets, which are shared in the celebration. Graceful women balanced ewers on their heads as they walked to temples to pour water on the statues. We saw fruit carts straining under their load of apples, bananas, oranges and pomegranates. People piled into flat beds hauled by tractors, an inexpensive, but uncomfortable and risky, mode of transportation. Over a decent lunch at the Motel Gangaur, our driver, informed us humorously that 3 things are essential for safe driving in India – good brakes, good horn and good luck. We arrived in Jaipur, known as “The Pink City” due to its rose-colored buildings, late in the afternoon and headed straight to our hotel, the Oberoi Rajvilas. It’s a beautiful property featuring Rajasthani-styled bungalows surrounding flowered courtyards scattered among acres of landscaped gardens with domed pavilions and reflecting pools. Our private garden was visible from the sunken marble tub in the bathroom. I took advantage of the well-equipped gym but none of the sybaritic spa services. An events coordinator had invited us to join them in a Diwali ceremony at a small temple on the hotel grounds, so we cleaned up and met a small group of hotel employees and guests there. The temple was ablaze with light from candles and oil lamps. Men and women formed separate lines and filed into the temple to hear the prayers and receive a blessing in the form of a colored string tied around our wrists and a smudge of color on our foreheads. We learned the origins of the holiday and that Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, will experience 10 incarnations, 9 in the past and one to come. Among the 9 were Rama, Krishna and Buddha (Lord Siddhartha). As we walked back from the temple, fireworks exploded in a frenzy of light and joy. We dined outdoors and enjoyed a skillful dance performance incorporating flame pots. We started the next day in Jaipur, which was founded by the Maharajah Jai Singh II in 1727 when he moved his capital there from Amber. The town is reputed to have been painted pink in 1853 in honor of the visiting Prince of Wales and has retained its rosy glow ever since. There are 7 entrance gates to the walled city, topped with battlements and painted with white scrollwork. Jaipur was the first planned city in India and is well laid out in a grid with good underground drainage. Shops compete for an award for the best Diwali decoration, and they were still decked out with flowers and banners. A grinning flower vendor placed long leis of marigolds around our necks when we passed his kiosk. The renowned Palace of the Winds, Hawa Mahal, is a five-story crown-shaped stone façade, enabling the ladies of the court to view the activities on the main street from behind intricately carved screens without being observed. On the pavement nearby, one of a pair of snake charmers coaxed a hooded cobra out of its basket by blowing into a gourd pipe. The lovely pink Monsoon Palace of the Kings reflects its elegant symmetrical image on the still waters of an artificial lake. The Amber Fort (aka Amer fort), about 11 km from Jaipur, is built of white marble and red sandstone and features some fine carvings, paintings and halls of mirrors. The courtyard was used by the Maharajahs’ army while the royal entourage lived in the fortified palace and the public inhabited the valley outside. We entered the Hall of Public Audience, where citizens could lodge complaints and seek justice and where criminals were tried. Our guide told us that criminals could be tied to an elephant’s tail, where they would be vigorously whipped when the elephant ran. The exterior of the hall in red and ochre sandstone featured carvings of elephants, roosters, wading birds and other animals. Within, white Makrana marble columns, the same high-quality Rajasthani marble used for the Taj Mahal, with lotus flower and elephant face carvings, held up the vaulted ceiling. Woolen carpets and oil lamp chandeliers added color and light. Saffron used to be grown in the garden of the King, but due to climate change, we’re told that it is only grown in Kashmir nowadays. The King’s palace is elaborately painted with carved screens over the windows and images of Ganesha in the arches over the doorways. A star-shaped pool is at the center of a flower garden in the courtyard. The Hall of Pleasures features sandalwood doors with ivory inlay, light and dark blue geometrical patterns on the walls and lime and pale green plastered arcades with etched designs. The tower affords a view of the servants’ quarters and the Jaigarh Fort up the hill. The oldest section of the fortress was built by Man Singh I, a great warrior and lover with 12 queens and a populous harem. Each queen had her own apartment, and the royal quarters included a pavilion for dancers and musicians with teardrop shaped columns. The summer palace of the King was decorated with small mirror mosaics in the shape of flowers, urns and geometric figures. Perforated screens let in breezes and copper pipes dripped water on curtains of coconut and palm fiber to further cool rooms of cream and gray marble with scalloped arches. The winter palace was known as the Mirror Palace and was covered with even more inlaid mirror decoration as well as stained glass. One of our favorite sights was the 300–400-year-old frescoes of Krishna playing a flute, in the company of his many consorts. Jai Singh was as interested in astronomy as architecture, and he built a large observatory in Jaipur that features a 90-ft. high sundial that also works at night based on the position of the polar star. In addition to the amazing sundial, there are a variety of other instruments, including one used to track planetary position and to predict the dates of eclipses, and one that tracks the passage of the sun from the northern to southern hemisphere using shade and light to indicate the sun’s position. There are also smaller structures dedicated to the 12 signs of the zodiac, since astrology was considered as much a science as astronomy. Without doubt, the most magnificent site in Jaipur is the City Palace. The Mubarak Mahal is the first of the seven opulent palaces within and contains the textile museum, which showcases royal robes of gold and silver brocade, court costumes, gold-embroidered pashmina shawls as well as polo and billiard outfits. Even the Maharani’s cow merited fancy headgear – a red mask accented with gold thread. The voluminous clothing of Maharajah Sawai Madho Singh I (ruler 1750-68), appeared to prove the claim that he stood 7 ft. tall, 4 ft. wide and weighed 550 lbs. The hall of Rajput arms and weapons in the Maharani’s Palace spells welcome with knives and good-bye with pistols. Daggers with crystal or ivory handles carved into the shape of horses, rams, lions, birds and roses, and gold sword hilts bedecked with rubies, emeralds and malachite were among the magnificent articles on display. Beautiful red and blue frescoes on the ceiling are accented with 24-karat gold. We stepped through a tall brass gate flanked by cannons into the courtyard where people congregated for an audience with the King. Even today a small flag signals the presence of the Maharajah. Just inside the gate, guards dressed in long white coats with shiny brass buttons, white pants and red turbans posed with 2 brilliantly polished silver urns in the Diwan-I-Khas, the Hall of Private Audiences. At 5’ 3” tall, 345 kg and a capacity of 900 liters, they are reputed to be the largest silver vessels in the world. The guards told us that Maharajah Madho Singh II would only drink water from the Ganges and commissioned these two huge urns to transport Ganges water on his voyage to England for the coronation of Edward VII. In the pink and white arcade with scalloped arches, rifles hung on the wall in a circle resembled a decorative sunburst, an innocent misrepresentation of their true purpose. The 7-story Chandra Mahal, or Moon Palace, is home to the current Maharajah of Jaipur, who used to be a Brigadier General as well as former Ambassador to Brunei. Stunning highly dimensional paintings of peacocks embellish the arches above the 4 doorways in the courtyard. The art gallery in the Hall of Public Audience features miniatures, carpets, paintings and ancient manuscripts on bark, leaves and paper. Other objects in the collection include an opulent gold and silver-plated howdah, a crystal Czech chandelier, ceramics and other treasures. After a delicious lunch of chicken biryani and vegetable curry at the Raj Palace Garden Restaurant, we headed to Jaigarh Fort (aka Victory Fort). High on a hill above the Amber Fort, Jaigarh hunkers, austere and forbidding with its plain tower and curved battlements. There is an armory and museum in the fort, but its chief attraction is Jaivana, the world’s largest handmade cannon, forged in 1720. Its formidable 20-ft. barrel is intricately carved and looks considerably more weathered than the huge green painted iron wheels it sits upon. Elephants and camels hauled all 50 tons of it up to the fort. It has a range of 22 km, but we were told that it was fired only once for testing. The cannon balls that fuel it weigh 100kg, about twice my weight. The most interesting objects in the museum were 14th C wine containers, shaped just like military hand canteens only about 3 ft. tall. Outside the fort, a langur with a solemn black face and silky white fur rummaged for food in a steel garbage can. We dined at our hotel, enjoying an excellent tandoori murgh.

JODHPUR

The drive to Jodhpur took us through colorful towns and markets blazing with color. Men and women arrayed themselves in gorgeous day-glo saris and turbans and oodles of gold jewelry. We were amazed at the great wealth of these people to afford so much expensive jewelry, but our driver explained that people here would rather invest in gold than deposit money in the bank and were literally wearing their life savings. Nose piecing was common and even the men wore gold earrings, often flower shaped. Women sold fruit and vegetables from round baskets and cows meandered along roads bustling with people, carts, bicycles and other vehicles. We had a home-prepared lunch at a farm overlooking a lake where birds and antelope played and checked into our heritage hotel in the early evening. Umaid Bhavan is a former palace built of yellow sandstone during the 1920’s in art deco style. One of the wings is still occupied by royalty. The main hall is splendid with a high domed ceiling, carved balconies and golden star-patterned marble floor. The surrounding gardens are home to a variety of birds, including well-groomed peacocks. We found that the private spaces were a bit shabbier than the public spaces as one sometimes finds in historic properties. There was no gym at the hotel, but the hotel offered a shuttle to a nearby Taj property where I was allowed to use their facilities. After a long workout and quick shower, as I was changing in the ladies’ locker room, a cleaning man walked in on me and refused to leave despite, or perhaps because of, my unclothed state. I locked myself in a toilet stall to finish dressing and managed to escape unmolested. It was quite upsetting, so I would not recommend using that gym unless you might enjoy this type of attention. We had dinner at a popular local restaurant named “On the Rocks”. Though it featured romantic candlelit tables in a leafy garden, it was primarily a family place. The food was very good, and we were served by gregarious uniformed military men moonlighting as waiters. In the morning our local guide, Pritam, picked us up at the hotel in a small Jeep and drove us out of town to visit some of the surrounding villages. He told us that 70% of Indians live in villages and that this is where one must start to relieve poverty. He said that Nehru believed in improving the economy from the government down, while Gandhi advocated building prosperity from the villages up. Driving down the road, we caught the attention of groups of boys who vigorously chased our vehicle, smiling and shouting greetings. When we stopped at a village of Muslim potters, we attracted more curious boys who were very pleased to pose for photos. While the boys wore standard western garb, the women brightened the scene in printed saris and scarves the color of lemons, fuchsia, tangerines and turquoise. The village manufactures clay pots for domestic use and one of the potters demonstrated his craft, adeptly hand throwing a small pot on a large unmotorized wheel. When we were able to tear ourselves away, we continued on to a Bishnoi farm. Bishnoi, which literally means 29 in Hindi (Bish = 20, Noi = 9), denotes the 29 principles of a religion established in 1485 AD to worship Vishnu and protect the environment. Some of the commandments relate to social behavior, such as prohibiting lying, stealing and criticizing others, and encouraging tolerance and compassion. Others specify rules of hygiene and diet, such as bathing daily and adhering to a vegetarian diet. The most forward-thinking tenets concern man’s link to nature and establish rules of conservation. The Bishnoi forbid cruelty to animals (such as castrating bulls) and the killing of trees as well as animals. They will even sacrifice their lives to save a tree, as 363 men, women and children did in 1730 to protest the harvest of trees by the local ruler. The farmer, clad all in white, greeted us warmly and introduced us to his family. His wife and daughter were busy separating grain from the chaff. Their 10-acre farm grows millet, sesame, green and brown lentils, small ovoid cucumbers and watermelon. Kair trees yield a fruit that is used in curries and to make pickles. We inspected millet pods, which resemble cattails, and learned about ghee, clarified butter that can last 2-3 years without preservatives. Wasting nothing, dried cow patties are used for fuel. The daughter led us to the kitchen where she demonstrated how to make roti (flat, unleavened bread) from millet flour. It is cooked on a flat iron griddle. Before we left, the farmer invited us to sit in a stone gazebo while he simulated an opium ceremony with Pritam. Called “the drink of Shiva”, opium water is offered to guests at a wedding and also shared after a dispute is settled. Preparation was ritualistic, involving a clay teapot and use of a wooden implement that looked like a scale with long cloth filter bags in place of the pans. They demonstrated how the drink would be offered and consumed since it would have been illegal to actually imbibe opium.