Forts I Saw

 India has so many forts, and I have seen a few impressive ones, including Fort-palaces which were like cities once. One in France was Mont St. Michael, in Northern France-Brittany- along similar lines. The ones in the U.S. were unimpressive, and small.

Jaisalmer and Jodhpur are probably among the impressive ones I remember, along with Jaipur's Amber Fort. Golconda is also nice to visit.

Others would be Sinhagad near Pune, and one in Kolhapur that I forget the name of. Bekal Fort on the West Coast of India was good too. Have seen the Agra Fort and Delhi's Red Fort and Purana Qila (ruins, mostly) also.

I only saw Solapur's fort and Gingee Fort in Tamilnadu from a distance. While passing by on road trips.

I think Milind Gunaji has written a book about Maharashtra's Forts too. Should read it some day.

More Udaipur Pics

Here are some more pics of Udaipur, one of my favourite Indian destinations-

The Beauty of Udaipur

We went there a couple of times in the last five years. I am very impressed with Udaipur, more so than Jaipur, for some reason. So I am revisiting some places and quirky pics taken there. Enjoy!

My Avatars on Earth- 7

 The other avatars- Golf Trainer (above), In Step with the Family (below)

 Above, The depressed listener of modern Hindi songs/remixes/non-music

 The pagdi-wearer with swag in Kuldhara Rajasthan (above), and a chilled-out specimen on a boat in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam (below).

Rajasthan Over the Years in Pictures

 First, Udaipur, then, at Jodhpur (with Sita Mishra recently), and with Prarthana in the traditional colourful headgear on a roadtrip.

 Stayed in this haveli with Manoharan for admission work, 2009. A shot of the ceiling, below.

and the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.

Jodhpur, Mehrangarh, with Neveen Das, my Ph.D. student then.

 Chittorgarh victory tower, above, and a camel ride, below in Jaisalmer. 2015.

Rajasthan is fascinating, and I have been there several times.

and finally, the swag at having done it. Kuldhara, the mysterious deserted village near Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer in Pictures

Barring the victory tower from Chittaurgarh, the rest are from Jaisalmer area, the sand dunes being about 30 kilometres away from town, and the lake right in the town. The place I am posing in front of is called Vyas Chhatree.

Of Jaisalmer and Rajasthan

We drove, a group of six, to Jaisalmer to visit the sand dunes. So now, we can claim to have "dune" it! Or, the dudes who dune it, in Americanese.

We stuck to the highways, except where it was inevitable. Advice from  faculty colleague from Rajasthan helped us select the best routes (via close to Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, and back via Jodhpur, Udaipur) and some of the highways were fantastic. Reminded me of the long circular drives where we went to around 20 US states each time (we did that twice)-Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon and South Dakota's Mount Rushmore remain etched in memory. Roads have a spinoff effect, and can take the country ahead. So does the metro railway, and Mumbai has developed due to its famed local trains more than anything else. Commuters like a predictable journey time.

Anyway, back to Jaisalmer. Dunes are fun, and every park should have a sand dune in my view. Camel rides are fun too, though some camels look starved. They should be fed well. We also did the dune thing, that is, stayed in a tent for the night, and listened to Rajasthani folk sing their thing and dance their tunes out in the dunes. Ok, I am almost dun with the dunes. For now. More later, with pics.

Udaipur Musings

It's fashionable to muse these days. And I can't afford not keeping up. So here goes, after the trip into Udaipur.

Why is the whole city white? And Jaipur pink? Was it through an order from the respective kings?

Such lovely art that shows up wherever you go- on the ceilings, walls, and anyplace you can draw. Why is it that we have lost the art of 'the everyday art'? Rembrandt and so on are fine as creators of the masterpieces, but we need more daily doses of it from being creative ourselves.

How did these guys actually fight wars riding horses wearing 20 kilos of armour and holding shields that remind you of that of Chief Vitalstatistix? I find it difficult to go to work if my shoe feels heavier than usual. Brave!

Why do they allow cars in the city? It's such a pity. It messes up the otherwise beautiful place.

Why don't we operate more ropeways in our towns and cities? They might boost tourism in lots of places that have a view to offer.

Lakes add a lovely touch to any place. How many new lakes have we built in urban areas in the last sixty years?

Maybe more thoughts will occur; maybe not.

Modify Your Life

There are lessons galore to be learnt from the Modi campaign (and others) and results.

1. Hard work pays off- not that it's going to impact us too much.
2. Good ads must be simple, understandable. It helps if you see them baar baar (again and again).
3. If you speak, you must make sense.
4. If you interview with Arnab Goswami, what were you thinking?
5. U.P. can be turned around. It's for real, not Maya (illusion).
6. Maharashtrians can think beyond "Pawarplays".
7. The minds of Rajasthan are not a desert.
8. The Bihari has faith in 'Nitis' but not necessarily Nitish.
9. Dilliwalas can do magic (jadoo) with a jhadoo- even make it disappear.
10. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (cute dimple wale nahi)- the message is the medium.