12/31/10 - Getting to Jaipur

Fatehpur Sikri

About an hour outside of Agra, we visited a famous fort called Fatehpur Sikri, built in the 1500s.  It was more like a walled city than a fort.  We saw the remains of many buildings, from a mosque to the ladies’ quarters.

Gujjars Block the Road to Jaipur

Our biggest scare of the trip occurred on the road to Jaipur.  We had been warned that a group of people living in this area, the Gujjars, were engaged in a protest against the government.  They wanted to be recognized as a tribe, in order to get some benefits from the government.  The government was dragging its feet.  So in protest, the Gujjars had blocked the rail lines and they were also rumored to have blocked the roads.  

We started driving to Jaipur at about noon.  For the first half hour or so, the road seemed fine.  Then the problem came:  a large group of stones placed across the highway.  There was no way to drive through.  All the cars had to turn around and go back to the nearest country road that branched off from the highway.

Our driver did not want to take this country road detour.  He warned us that we might be on the road until late at night, and that there would be no food and no bathrooms along the road.  Yikes!  We called our travel agent and asked him what to do – should we skip Jaipur?  The travel agent downplayed the problem and told us to push forward.  The delays would not be so bad.  Anxiously, we directed the driver to keep heading toward Jaipur.

The country road that we turned off on was a tiny dirt lane that was barely wide enough for one car.  It was immediately crowded to bursting with all the cars, trucks, and tour buses that had been on the highway.  Then we started to encounter traffic coming the other way!  Progress was extremely slow – we sat motionless for long periods of time while a tour bus figured out how to navigate around a truck, and so forth.  Meanwhile we provided entertainment for all the village people lining the road – grown-ups stared at us, and children smiled and waved.

Eventually the traffic cleared and we were able to move forward at a more normal pace – keeping in mind that we were on a dirt road. We started to enjoy our unexpected tour of country life.  We drove past mustard fields and tiny villages built out of what looked like adobe and thatch.  Women in bright saris worked in the fields.  A group of men played cards in a courtyard.  I was struck by the beauty all around us, from the blooming mustard to the graceful design of even the humblest human artifacts.  Although this lifeway was very rural, it seemed much more appealing than the conditions of the urban poor.

To our surprise, the little dirt road took us back to the main highway after only about 20 miles.  Once on the main road, we stopped for an outdoor lunch at simple restaurant; the weather was perfect and the food was excellent.  

Afterwards, as we continued down the highway, we encountered only one other roadblock. This time the detour only lasted about eight miles.  And after that, it was smooth sailing all the way to Jaipur, which we reached at about 5 pm.  So everything worked out fine in the end.  In fact, we were grateful for being exposed to village life in a way that we never would have been without the Gujjar protest!

Gerda and T.K. Unnithan

Our first activity in Jaipur was to visit friends of Shobhana’s family, Dr. Unnithan and his wife Gerda, who is originally from the Netherlands.  Dr. Unnithan is a professor of sociology at the University of Rajasthan, and Gerda is the founder of a medical clinic for the poor, especially women and children.  They were lovely people and most hospitable.

Gerda gave us a fascinating tour of the medical clinic, which was adjacent to their home.

1/1/11 - Jaipur, the Pink City

A Planned City

We spent the first day of the new year touring Jaipur.  The old city center was lovely.  It was designed in the early 1700s by a maharaja named Jai Singh and his architect.  It is organized into a 3x3 square of city blocks separated by wide, gracious avenues.  The architecture features delicate stone latticework.  In 1876 the whole town was painted pink, the color of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales, and the tradition has remained.

Jantar Mantar

Jaipur’s founding ruler, Jai Singh, was fascinated by astronomy and astrology.  In the early 1700s, he sent scholars around the world to collect the latest scientific knowledge, and then built this amazing set of astronomical tools.  They have a curiously modern aesthetic, almost like Art Deco.

The Bazaars

Our guide took us on a walking tour of the bazaars, to get a flavor of old Jaipur.  

At the end, our guide took us to a small Hindu temple whose roof offered a great view.  The temple itself was interesting too, from the richly decorated interior to the holy basil plant growing in front.

Internet Cafe

We made a brief stop at an internet café because the university guest house where we were staying did not have internet access.  Given my interest in technology use, I was intrigued to observe the café.  It did not seem to be getting a lot of business, but that might have been because we were there on a Saturday.

Rich and Poor

In Jaipur, we saw extremes of wealth and poverty.  In driving around, we saw mountains of trash, as well as many tattered cardboard shacks lining the roads, homes of India’s poorest inhabitants.  But we also drove to a 5-star hotel, Clark’s Amer (in order to access their internet wifi connection), which took us through a wealthy area lined with expensive car dealerships, restaurants, and hotels.  This neighborhood could have been lifted out of Beverly Hills.  It’s interesting to note that we didn’t take any pictures of these extremes in Jaipur!  I’m not sure why.  However, Tricia did take a picture of a shantytown from the airport runway in Mumbai.

Our Guide and the Issue of Commissions

We really liked our Jaipur guide as soon as we met him.  He was charming and engaging, and eager to share his love of Jaipur and his extensive knowledge about the city.  He proudly told us he was a member of the Rajput, the warrior class, but he himself had a warm, peaceful personality.  He was carefully dressed in a jacket and cravat.  All morning, he took us around to fascinating sites.  

The guide also taught us how to cross big streets in a situation where the traffic never stops.  He would line us all up along the edge of the road, holding hands.  He took the end position closest to oncoming traffic.  Then he would carefully watch the cars until he saw an opportunity, and then have us all dash to the middle of the road.  There he would run to the other end of our human chain, so that he was closest to traffic headed the other way.  Again he would carefully watch the cars and then initiate our final dash to safety.

Much as we liked our guide in the morning, he disappointed us in the afternoon.  For lunch, he did not want to take us to the restaurant recommended by Gerda Unnithan – he said it was on the other side of town and that the shopping we wanted to do was on this side of town.  So instead he took us to a local restaurant where all patrons appeared to be western tourists.  Likewise, he resisted taking us to the stores we wanted to go to, instead taking us to stores of his preference, run by Kashmiris.  The guide in Agra had also encouraged us to go to Kashmiri-owned stores of his choosing, although in that case we didn’t have any other stores in mind, so the problem was not as stark.

We learned from these experiences.  It seemed obvious that the guides were getting commissions from the restaurants and shops, and that we needed to be more assertive in going to venues of our own choosing.  We needed use the recommendations in our guidebook.  At the same time, when we cut off our guide’s efforts to take us to more stores, we could see that he was unhappy.  And I started to worry that the guides might actually need commissions from the shops to make up a reasonable salary.  The whole system was frustrating… We were later told by a different guide that the guides received no payment from the travel agency, only from the shops.  It was hard to evaluate the truth of this claim.  

We also learned that the shops that the guides wanted to take us to were usually owned by Kashmiris.  We came to recognize the style of these shops: they carried goods from all over India, especially from Kashmir, rather than focusing on local products.  The goods were high quality and expensive.  The stores were large and offered nice bathrooms as an inducement to visit.

1/2/11 - Arrival in Kerala

Flight from Jaipur to Kochi

In the morning we flew from Jaipur to Kochi, via Mumbai.  Kochi is one of the main cities in the state of Kerala.  The trip was easy and painless.

First Impressions of Kerala: Less Poverty, More Coconut Trees

Driving from the airport to our hotel, we could immediately see big differences between the states of Kerala and Rajasthan (where Jaipur is located).  For one thing, there was much less trash on the roads in Kochi.  And we did not see the extreme poverty that was so evident in Jaipur.  These differences have a fascinating background:  in 1957, Kerala became the first place in the world to democratically elect a Communist government.  The Communist party has been a major force in the state’s politics ever since.  It has given Kerala a high literacy rate, less poverty, better health care, and other social services.  In all of these areas, Kerala significantly outperforms other states in India.  Ironically, I saw more billboards in Kochi than anywhere else; capitalism also seemed to be especially well developed in Kerala.

In terms of geography, Kerala lies along the west coat of southern India.  So it is tropical and beachy, with lush greenery and lots of palm trees, especially coconuts.  Visually, it reminded me of southern California, Florida, and similar places.

Boat Ride at Sunset

In the evening, we were given a boat ride on the bay to watch the sunset.  I was happy because I love being on the ocean.  We had a whole boat to ourselves – albeit hardly a fancy one.  We motored around looking at various islands and boats, and then focused on the picturesque Chinese fishing nets at sunset. These are large nets that are raised and lowered by a series of pulleys. The technique is said to have been introduced by traders from the court of Kublai Khan.

After the boat ride, we spent some time wandering around the adjacent Fort Kochi neighborhood, which appeared to have a lively night life. We walked down lanes lined with little stores and restaurants, looking festive with Christmas lights.  We also saw a park along the water’s edge, packed with folks who were talking and laughing, hanging out on a Sunday evening.