When I left off, I had written about my time in Agra. I left Agra late in the evening and took a train to Jaipur, where I arrived in the middle of the night. I sleepwalked my way to a hotel, and woke up the following morning in a new city.
Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajasthan and a city of over 3 million. Rajasthan is somewhat of an anomaly among north Indian states - unlike most other parts of the North, the Rajputs who ruled the state managed to fend off Mughal attempts to conquer it the 17th and 18th centuries. Jaipur was established by the Rajputs as a capital city and fort in the early 1700s. If Rajasthan is an anomaly among north Indian states for its fierce independence, Jaipur is also an anomaly among Indian cities. Jaipur was the first and remains one of the few planned cities in India. Unlike most cities in India which have developed in a haphazard and organic fashion, the streets in Jaipur are laid out on an orderly grid, with the palace buildings at the heart of everything. Much of the city is still within the original fort walls. The city also lies in a basin, so it has grown vertically rather than sprawling outwards. After Delhi and Agra, both of which are spread out and easy to get lost in, the ease of getting around Jaipur was refreshing.
I had only a day in Jaipur, so I had to really pick and choose what to see. I started with the main historic buildings in the central city. I went first to the Hawa Mahal, or the Palace of the Winds. It is so named because the building's architecture is designed to harness the wind and provide a cool sanctuary.
I went next to the city palace, a complex of royal buildings in the central city that are now a museum dedicated to the history of Rajasthan. The highlight was definitely the intricate painting in the archways. Unfortunately, I couldn't go in the main building, the Chandra Mahal where the royal family lived (when they weren't in the Hawa Mahal, I presume). It was closed for some reason. I did pick up an anecdote about the building though. Apparently, a prince, facing an advancing army of invaders, decided to commit suicide in this building by venomous snake bite. His 21 wives then all committed a sacrificial rite consisting of burning themselves on his funeral pyre. Geez! Wikipedia corroborates this tale, so it must be true.
I spent the early afternoon walking around the city. Here are some pictures of the streetscapes.
You can see the deliberate planning here. All the shops are uniformly sized and the addresses are numbered in a logical fashion (most addresses in India are something along the lines of Near Regal Cinema, or Behind the Bus Stand, I pity the mailmen). Incidentally, Jaipur is also known as the Pink City. I'm sure you can see why.
Here's part of the old fort wall. Most of it is still intact, and much of it now forms one wall of a building.
Around dusk I went up to a temple in the hillside. The temple is actually dedicated to the Sun God, but most tourists call it the Monkey Temple, because its crawling with monkeys. The view from the hillside was nice, though hazy.
Monkeys!
In the early afternoon I met a student named Adil. He gave off a very genuine, friendly vibe so I stopped to talk to him. We hit it off and he ended up inviting me over to his family's house for dinner. His dad owns a jewelry business (Jaipur is a gem and jewelry capital) and they gave me a little tour of the shop. Unfortunately, most of the workers were gone by this point in the evening, but one gave me a brief demo of gem cutting.
Adil lives with his family in a very central part of the city. He has a large extended family (six uncles, I can't recall how many aunts), all of whom live close by. We went up on the roof of his family's house and he was able to point to all of his relatives homes. Nobody lived more than 10 blocks away. His family has also been in the same home for 5 generations now, and as the family has grown, they have simply added additional stories onto the roof of the home. Its now 5 stories tall (one for each generation, I suppose) and the view from up there is exquisite. The pink of the city at dusk is incredible.
I ate dinner with Adil and his father, Yusuf, in the office. They live right next to the business. Before we ate I got to see some sample of the jewelry and got a brief tutorial in types of stones and evaluating stone quality.
We ate a big meal of chicken biryani and then sat around talking for hours. I ate about 5 helpings, until I realized that in order to signal that I was done eating I had to leave some food on my plate. You really have to eat until you are full! Adil, Yusuf, and I ate alone, which has left me curious about the family structure ever since. I know the family is large, but I didn't meet anyone else. I've been left wondering if they didn't want to overwhelm me by introducing me to 15 people, or if it is common for the father and oldest son to eat separately. More than anything it was an experience in being gracious and culturally sensitive. I could sense that the women in the family lead a very separate life from the men. I strained my mind to allow the coexistence of my thoughts of how wrong this is and also the thoughts of how little I know about exactly how their family works.
More than anything, though, I felt immense gratitude and friendship. In that one evening I made a contact that could last for a lifetime. They assured me that I was always welcome in Jaipur and in fact we have corresponded some since. I was sad to have to rush out, but alas I had to catch my overnight train to Ahmedabad.
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