Category: Features

Soaking in the desert sun

There’s something about the splendour of Rajasthan that constantly beckons me to that State. My first trip was to Udaipur in January 2017 (Palaces, Lakes and Memories). The second was to Jaipur and Ajmer during the monsoons in August of the same year (A Royal Retreat). After four years, I got to travel to the blue city of Jodhpur and the desert city of Jaisalmer in the autumn of October 2021 and once again to Ajmer in November 2021.

My friend and I were looking for a relaxed, unhurried vacation, and Jodhpur and Jaisalmer gave us just that. There are many things to do in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. Though both are ‘touristy’ cities, they were less busy, in part to Coronavirus (The Face Mask). In both cities, we stayed in superbly maintained heritage properties that were once palaces that housed the rajahs and ranis.

Left: Room with a view at Killa Bhawan, Jaisalmer; Right: In the courtyard at Nachna Haveli, Jaisalmer

Ajmer was chock-a-block though, with the faithful lining up to pay their respects and ask for wishes at the resting place of the benevolent saint Moinuddin Chisti (Gharib Nawaz-Benefactor of the poor) (A Royal Retreat).

At Ajmer Sharief dargah

Only living fort in India

The Jaisalmer Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is India’s only ‘living’ fort, made in 1156 by king Rawal Jaisal. It was a unique experience for us as we climbed the narrow staircases to the beautifully appointed rooms which afforded us the best views of the fort and its bustling daily life. Walking around the fort in the late evening and in the morning gave us a sense of the lives of those who live within these walled compounds.

Jaisalmer Fort

Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhawan

Rajasthan is full of forts, palaces and folklore, and is a treasure trove for history buffs. The Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur covers an area of 1,200 acres and is on a hilltop. Rajput ruler Rao Jodha constructed it in 1459. The well-maintained fort even has a lift that takes one directly to the roof.

I thought it was a castle, but it’s just a fort. I had to de-moat it. 😉 At: Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

They converted a portion of the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur into a luxury hotel. The royal family lives in one section and another portion is a museum filled with artefacts of the royal family.

Outside the Umaid Bhawan Palace museum in our block-printed cotton dresses from Jodhpur

‘Ghostly’ village

Disclaimer: We did not experience any paranormal activity. 😉

About 55 minutes (35 km) from Jaisalmer city, is the abandoned and ‘haunted’ village of Kuldhara. The archaeological site has dilapidated buildings and ruins from a faraway time. Established around the 13th century, it was once a prosperous village inhabited by Brahmins. They abandoned it by the early 19th century for unknown reasons. The legend claims that, while deserting the village, the Brahmins imposed a curse that no one would be able to re-occupy the village.

In the doorway of an abandoned house at Kuldhara

Border

A three-hour car ride through sand dunes and huge sand mountains of the Thar Desert brought us to the Longewala post of the India-Pakistan border. The border is further ahead and inaccessible to us. The wire fencing and the iron gates in the middle of the vast desert feel unreal.

The fenced Indo-Pak border at Longewala post

The drive was scenic, with hundreds of white windmills dotting the brown landscape. Now and then, the stark background was broken by a burst of colour from the colourful attires of the women living in the many villages dotting this road.

Windmills along the route from Jaisalmer to Longewala post

En route, we stopped by at the famed Tanot Mata mandir, which was attacked by the Pakistan Army during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, during which 3,000 bombs were fired at the temple. However, as per local folklore, the bombs either missed their target or did not explode.

Bada Bagh

Highly recommended to us by our friends in Jaisalmer, the Bada Bagh (enormous garden), houses a set of royal chhatris (cenotaphs) constructed by the Maharajas of Jaisalmer in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Carved out of sandstone blocks, with intricately carved ceilings and pillars, these cenotaphs are for the kings, their queens, and other royal families.

At the Bada Bagh, Jaisalmer

Shooting! Scoot

Royals loved hunting, and how could we have not tried our hands at some shooting? We did not kill any animals, though 😉 We were lucky to have friends who own a skeet and target shooting range. Shotgun in tow, we went out and tried shooting at the skeets.

At JSM Shooting Range, Jaisalmer

Shopping

Camel leather accessories and yellow stone products (utensils, jewellery) are the picks of shopping in Jaisalmer. The typical ‘block prints’ on the oh-so-comfy cotton clothes in shops and the many curio shopping around ghanta ghar (clock tower) in Jodhpur make this place a hit for shopping.

Food

You cannot return from a trip to Rajasthan without eating their laal maas (fiery mutton curry), Ker Sangri  (a vegetable made using dried Ker Berries and Sangri beans), Dal bati churma, street food such as kachoris and the different halwas. 

Laal maas

All my four trips to the State have been with different friends (A Royal Retreat, Palaces, Lakes and Memories), and after every trip, my heart yearns to go back to experience the other delights of this enchanting state of India.

A big part of the charm of these cities lies in its wonderful people and their never-ending hospitality. We are never too far away from that beautiful hotel with panoramic views, or a ‘must-visit’ place suggestion, and the unending gastronomic delights on every terrace.

Location:

Jodhpur is the second-largest city in Rajasthan and is well-connected by air from all metros. It has a good road network and a train station. Jaisalmer has an airport with limited flights and is approximately 280 km from Jodhpur by road. Ajmer is well-connected by road from neighbouring states and also by train.

Climate:

In October, Jodhpur has an average temperature of 36C. The weather in Jaisalmer in October is 37°C. The average temperature in Ajmer in November was 28.8°C.

Tip: Book a cab and driver for the entire duration of your trip.

-Tamanna S. Mehdi

What was it all for?

August 15, 2021

India celebrates its 75th Independence Day today. Reams of newspapers, hours of TV broadcasts, hundreds of reels, posts, and tweets are being dedicated to freedom and our right to it as envisaged in our Constitution.

Also today, over 2,000 km away in the land of the famed kabuliwalas, freedom (even though unsettled), for lakhs of people is perhaps just about to be lost. As breaking news comes in of the Taliban capturing its’ final bastion, Kabul in Afghanistan, the lump in our throats and the fear in our hearts that was building up over the past months for the Afghan people has just exploded.

Pictures of international governments evacuating their embassies, flying out last of their staff, and reports of thousands of locals scrambling to get the paperwork to leave their country from the only exit point, the Kabul airport is streaming over news wires.

Afghanistan was hoping to come out of a deeply troubled history of terrorism, militancy, and a civil war… however, the dream of a prosperous future of the peace-loving Afghans, looks all but over. Who can ever forget the horrific images of women, children and men being flogged, hanged and shot-at-will for frivolous reasons in football stadiums before the US invaded Afghanistan? They feel like they are coming back to haunt us again.

We are sitting in the relative comforts of our homes, (The ‘lockdown’ that has ironically displaced many) manifesting to the Universe (Taming the Lions, Break over….almost) about the Coronavirus vanishing (The Face Mask), beach vacations (Logged off, Shut Down… Went Outside, Let’s wander where the WIFI is weak), dream jobs and houses, better salaries, or that fast car (all valid, of course). However, I wonder what the Afghans want from the Universe: The safety of their families or maybe just to see a new dawn?

Map of Afghanistan

For a media article that I had written for ‘The Pioneer’ (Published!) in 2018, I had interviewed a group of students from Afghanistan studying at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. They were from Panjshir, Laghman, Bamiyan, Kabul, Kunduz, Logar, Nuristan, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak and Takhar. Some of these areas have seen widespread persecution and desecration of their cultural symbols for years.

Mahdi Ebrahimi, a Hazara from Bamiyan, one of the most affected regions recalled how they were forced to flee to Iran for many years before the Taliban was overthrown in Afghanistan. Mahdi said to me: “Unfortunately a lot of the culture is lost, but Bamiyan is still a beautiful valley with many natural lakes that attract tourists.” Abdul Zubair Nasraty, from Panjshir, recounted to me his miraculous escape when a bomb exploded at the janaza (funeral) he was attending. “I am lucky to survive, but some of my relatives died that day,” he shared.

Not one of the 25 students I spoke with that day, not want to return back to their homes after completing their education here. They wanted to go back, so they could ‘rebuild’ their country and restore it to its’ former glorious days.

Maswood Sadawat from Laghman said, “I just want to study in a peaceful space, get an Indian degree because it has a great reputation in Afghanistan, go back and be a software developer.” Hikmatullah Ahmadi from Kandahar said the same: “I want to go back. I want to serve and develop my country.”

Women students Aziza Ahmadi and Nadila Bakhtayar both from Kabul also spoke to me. They said, “Our parents fully supported our decision to come to India. But not all girls are so lucky.” Like many Afghans, Aziza’s family lived in Pakistan for years, before moving back to Kabul. “The situation is still turbulent and my family has now immigrated to Turkey,” she had said. Nadila dreamt of being a businesswoman in Kabul.

I remember feeling as hopeful as they were for their future, but in sharp contrast today, there is a sense of total despair. With the Taliban’s hard-line rules and their history of a total clampdown on women’s education and liberty, what happens to the dreams of thousands of women in Afghanistan?

As I type out this blog, I cannot begin to comprehend what these lovely students and their families are going through right now.

Debates will go on for a long time about what the US achieved by this 20-year war. As we read about the latest developments, most of us feel what this soldier who served in Afghanistan then, but is no longer with the US Army, told Clarissa Ward, CNN International correspondent: “I don’t feel so much angry, as much as I feel what a waste, what an unbelievable waste.”

– Tamanna S. Mehdi

Published!

I have been writing a lot lately. Features, news stories, interviews…in the past two months, I’ve written a little about a lot. If two months back anyone told me I would be getting published on a web page or working at a newspaper, I would have most likely dismissed it. And 6 months back, this was not just a distant dream; it was highly unlikely that I would be doing anything at all.

But, cut to September. After the opportunity I got a few months back writing for http://www.voxspace.in, I work now at The Pioneer. A chance conversation with a friend set the ball rolling. The Universe does work in indefinable ways (Taming the Lions). Even in this digital age, there is no greater joy for me than to see my articles being printed in a daily newspaper. After all these years and quite a few by-lines later, seeing my by-line in print today feels like it is the first time ever.

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http://www.voxspace.in

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In The Pioneer, Hyd, 6-9-18

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In The Pioneer, Hyd, 6-9-18

I have just re-started. I still have a long way to go. I’m daring to dream again.

But today is all about this. For everyone who has helped me get these opportunities, for all of you who help me with the research and the invaluable ‘connects’, a big Thank You!

Tamanna S. Mehdi