Needless
to say I was thinking about traveling to India, but after browsing in the
Internet and looking though all the tourist reviews I gave up that idea. But my
pen friend from India had a really tempting offer to be a guest at the Indian
wedding. Apart from this he proposed to travel to other places for sightseeing.
So I made up my mind and went to India on my vacations.
December 6, 2008
My first day in India. I arrived early in Delhi.
I had to take a domestic flight from Delhi to reach Ahmedabad, where my friend
met me and we went to Vododara by car. On the motorway there were booths for
paying fares, where traffic officers gave sweets along with the change. On our
arrival we had little time to get prepared before the wedding began. After
checking in at the hotel with an interesting name “Kalyan” meaning wellbeing,
prosperity, we went to buy ethnic clothes for me.
The shop
seemed to be small but the variety of clothes there was huge because all the
walls were cramped with colorful layers of clothes. One can spend there hours
sitting on comfortable low seats with cushions watching how shop assistants
unwrap one packet after another.
So after all
preparations we were on the spot. It was a wide ground in the schoolyard
covered with decorated tent to protect from the scorching sun. As my friend
told me there should be about 300 people where the majority was relatives. Men
were dressed casually but women were fantastic in colorful saris with lots of jewellery
and bangles on their hands gathered in a unique design to match colors of
clothes. Their hands and even palms were also painted in natural colors of
henna.
I had to
mention that only a few people knew about my arrival, and of course people
there were really surprised to see me.
It’s really
difficult to comment on the ceremonies conducted at the wedding, they were long
like Indian movies with a deep meaning sometimes so deep that some people even puzzled
to explain the custom and just follow the procedure. My general overview is the
following. All the ceremonies started with worshiping God and conducted in the
face of God; accompanied by giving presents, dancing, and singing.
My friend also
participated in onе of the rituals on that day where he was given a loop of
cotton threads to wear on his body across the left shoulder. According to him,
he had to undergo this ritual because only then was he allowed to participate
in another ritual next day, where he should handover of his sister’s hand to
the groom. He is supposed to wear such loop of threads for the life time and change
it every year on a specific day of Hindu calendar. . All the ceremonies were
conducted on the decorated stage.
December 7, 2008
The second day
of the wedding. Everybody was waiting for the groom, who came from another
city. Then an exiting and joyful ceremony of his welcoming followed. Afterwards
the main ceremony of marriage began.
At the final
step of the wedding ceremony the newly married encircled the fire four times. I
was there among relatives and friends who were showering flowers and flower
palates on them. I was informed that at each circle they took a pledge which is
usually narrated by the priest who is conducting the wedding. On one of such
rounds they got stuck as my friend made an obstacle for them and agreed to let
them go only after bargaining. The final stage of that day involved seeing off
the couple who headed for the groom’s city to make arrangements for the
reception on the third day. It was surprising to know that these
customs/rituals and ceremonies may vary depending on the state, the cast, the sub
cast, the area, the community and even the family. On the second day of the wedding
there were more than 500 people.
In the evening
my friend offered to go to the cinema. I was surprised when almost in front of
the entrance everybody was checked with a metal detector. Another quite a surprising
thing for me was during the film when they made a break to enable the visitors
to get more provision of coca cola and pop corns for the next part of the
session-a very nice and unobtrusive way to make money.
December 8, 2008
(morning)
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Then in the
evening we headed for Ahmedabad (A’bad) for the final day of the wedding called
reception, organized by the groom’s parents. There the newly married and the
groom’s parents were welcoming all the guests in a big hall. But before it we
attended my friend’s uncle place to change clothes. Here I learnt another
custom. They didn’t want to let me go without eating anything and of course
without a gift. The gift was an envelope colored in an Indian style knotted
with a golden cord with my name on it. It contained 100 and 1 rupees. The coin
was placed in a separate pocket inside made especially for this purpose. There
is a rule: as the money they give as a gift should not end in zero, because
zero is nothing (no matter how many numbers before it ;)).
So this part
of the wedding was rather modern or so to say in a European style. The hosts stood
on a small stage welcoming guests who were queuing in the long line. They gave
gifts congratulating the couple and then the photographer made general pictures.
In one of such pictures I was also captured looking like a “white crow” in my
white suit. There was also a Swiss table containing only vegetarian food. The
only dish I remembered was the name of one salad “Russian”. One man came up to
me and asked if it was similar to really Russian salads. I should note that the
taste of it was more or less like our traditional salad Oliv’e but it lacked
MEAT.
December 8, 2008
(night)
My friend
wanted to show me one miraculous sight at the neighboring town. For that
purpose one of his relatives helped us with the accommodation and placed us in
the government guesthouse in Gandhinagar. So after the reception we drove
there. There to shorten time we saw one very funny modern Indian movie Chini
Kum (With Less sugar); of course it was in Hindi, but I had a native speaker
beside me who had patience to translate it for me and we laughed a lot. I
highly recommend this film. In fact if somebody manages to find it - tell me, I
would love to watch it again.
December 9, 2008
(up to evening)
In the morning
after visiting my friend’s uncle, who helped us, for masala tea we headed for
Swaminarayan Akshardham, a huge 23-acre complex, which was built in commemoration
of torture bearer of Indian culture, Bhagwan Swaminarayan(BS). To enter there
visitors must pass through a strict security. The focal point of the entire
complex was the grand Akshardam Monument, built of pink stone without steel. At
the centre of the monument there was a big serene golden mutri (idol) of BS, on
the upper floor there were lotus-shaped displays revealing words of BS. My
friend translated and explained almost all of them. The monument is surrounded
by beautiful lawns, amazing parks and red stone colonnade. There were also a
few exhibition halls presenting messages of India’s heritage. Here again we
were always bumping into endless flows of curious pupils this time with their
teachers who also showed interest in me and my friend, whose English speech
caused confusion and doubts about his origin. Being near me he was accepted as
a foreigner as well.
In one of
those halls I clearly remember one sculpture presenting a man building oneself
out of rough stone. The sign says “A man is the maker of his own happiness”.
Akshardam is considered to be the eternal abode of God. It’s a place of eternal
peace and happiness. Unfortunately all my belongings were left at the cloak
room, so I have no photo of this magic place, although you can glimpse at it on
these site www.akshardham.com
December 9, 2008
(evening)
I also want to
mention one nice incident in Vadodara. This town is situated in Gujarat, where
alcohol is strictly prohibited. So we went to Café Coffee Day with my friend’s
friends. When I was looking through the list of coffee drinks I noticed “Irish
coffee” and among the ingredients there was Irish whisky, which is quite evident
for this drink but illegal for this place. I wondered how it was possible
there. But they pointed at the bottom of that menu, where was a small reference
saying that Irish whisky was nonalcoholic. I was totally puzzled, because it
was difficult to understand it. Can you imagine nonalcoholic vodka in Russia?
December 9, 2008
(Night)
Train to Jodhpur. Our traveling began.
December 10,
2008
We stayed in
Durag Villas Guesthouse. The rooms there were very cozy and spacious with nice
interior. The only drawback was the lack of hooks on the walls especially in
the washing room where there were no curtains to separate shower from the rest
of the place. So after having a shower everything was wet. May be there were some
special techniques which I should have learned to avoid this.
To begin with
we visited Umed Bhavan palace - with
part of it converted into a luxurious Heritage hotel, the access to which was
not allowed. Only a small part converted
into a museum was available. There was nothing interesting to see: ordinary
crockery, collection of clocks and posters telling the story of constructing
this palace and some vintage cars outside. So we finished with this place quite
quickly. Despite that in order to get there we paid around 30Rs, the drivers
beside this palace tried to charge 100Rs, so we walked down to the ground and
caught another three wheeler to reach Mehrangarh fort. 
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There we had a
nice guide Mr. ParvatSinh who showed us around and kindly made photos. He had a
nice habit to repeat words frequently, like “here you can see palanquins of
different-different colors” or “from this side you can notice a
beautiful-beautiful view of blue houses of Brahmanas (the priests)”. There I
saw for the first time how they made those bangles from lac. An attempt to buy
them I left for the next visit to this town. The fort also had a small picture
gallery, where all the beautiful-beautiful ancient paintings of the king’s life
were skillfully done with natural paints. Many pictures were about a king with
ladies so in the end I tempted to be another lady who is captured with the
king.
After the
excursion we went down to the clock market (the name after the clock tower)
trough cramped, twisted and narrow lanes, where everybody even children who
notice me cried, “Hello!”.
December 10,
2008 (night)
Train to Jaisalmer .
December 11,
2008
The train took
us to Jaisalmer. At the railway station the owner of the Hotel Jaisal Palace
where we stayed picked us up.
After having a
nap we had our breakfast on the roof top restaurant that had a clear view of
Jaisalmer fort as well as the sight of the old city. First we visited Jain temples
totally made of stone. On the main entrance to the temple there was a bell to announce
your visit and attempt to worship God.
Along the walls there were carved-out sculptures of Jain idols and Gods
sitting in the same posture called Padmasana, that I tried to imitate on one of
my photos. Some idols are enshrined in cells. And the grand “cell” was in the
centre, where people were worshiping God with lamp and fragranced stick. One is
supposed to go round so that it was on your right side not vise a versa and of
course barefoot. A grand hall was supported by decorated pillars and nicely
carved out arches and ceilings with carved-out figures of dancers and musicians.
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Finally we
reached the Palace museum of the fort. This time we took audio guides and went
through different-different places.
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December 11,
2008 (evening)
On our trip
back to the hotel the manager was awaiting us to go to the desert resort in the
village Khuri. On arrival we dropped our luggage at the camp in the mud huts
and rushed to camel safari. As for me it was a really scary experience. So on
our way back after roaming around in a desert I was willing to go back on foot.
However I managed to gather all my courage to repeat this trip back again. At
night there was a small festival organized with folk music, dance; tourists
were served masala tea and fried snacks, and at the end there was traditional
Rajasthani dinner with sweets of wheat floor called (CHURMU) in the local
language.
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December 12,
2008
Next morning
we were on our journey back to Jaisalmer city. The manager kindly dropped us at
some points for sightseeing. There were peaceful Gadasisar Lake teeming with
cat fish; Royal Cenotaphs – royal cremation place with architectural monuments
built over the place of cremation. Then we had time to attend havelis. These
are sumptuously decorated mansions that the merchants of Rajasthan built as
their residence about 300 years ago.
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And again back
to railway station to catch the train to Jodhpur. I must note that in order to
get the right seats in a comfortable coach, my friend had made the bookings
three months before the departure day.
December 13,
2008
Another
morning and another place to see in Jodhpur: Jasawant Thada - Royal cremation
place all in white marble and Mandor Garndern with its abandoned temples which had
beautiful stone work with the most exquisite designs luxuriant in
ornamentation. The temples were followed by some another abandoned site which
is declared to be a site preserved by Archaeological Survey of India.
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As it was
planned in the evening we headed for the market to search for bangles made of
lac. Here you have to be a good haggler and have a large storage of time to buy
anything at a bargaining price. We lack both these features, so we agreed more
or less quickly, though the cost was not that high. The hawkers’ stands with
those bangles were cram-full of them from the bottom to the top, and men there
were patiently unwrapping whatever they had to propose.
December 14,
2008 (early morning)
The next point
on our trip was Abu road, but the train was three-hours delayed , so we stayed
in a waiting room.
Well the
experience of visiting railway stations was not the most exciting though. We
got there in the early morning when all the local residents were sleeping tight
of the floor of the main hall, so as not to bother anyone I had to carry my
luggage in hands not to roll. The waiting room had all basic facilities, WC to
be more precise. What amused me was that people were doing their washing even
outside those rooms, like cleaning teeth.
December 14,
2008
Finally after
reaching Abu Road at about past noon we took a taxi to Mt. Abu. The driver also
proposed his services to drop us at major sights.
So after
landing in the reserved hotel we went on to explore new places. The first were
Delwara Temples. These were five Jain temples, built in different centuries
(XII-XV). Only the first two built wholly of white marble were having exuberant
carvings and ornamentation on the walls, doors, pillars, ceilings containing
various reliefs depicting scenes of Gods and Goddesses, marriage processes,
royal courts, endless music and dance figures in finely carved-out sculptures
realistically modeled and neatly polished. None of the designs were repeated.
It’s difficult to convey an adequate expression of the great beauty. I am
unable to express that out of the art perfection and refinement even in
Russian. One can imagine the wonderful execution with rough and rustic instruments
of those days. The other temples were constructed with sandstone.
Then the
driver took us to the Sunset point as it was already around 6:00 p.m. From that
point we could see a lovely view of the setting sun.
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And the last
place to see on that day was brahma Kumari’s Hall of peace, where one of the followers
conducted a lecture to us describing that “There are no God in all the deities”.
Another
memorable event happened after the excursions finished. My friend had never
drunk any alcohol before and was eager to taste at least some wine. So the
driver dropped us near one luxurious hotel (“Hill rock”), we climbed up to the
restaurant, where we were the only visitors. Actually we had two options: to
buy something in a street booth and drink it in our rooms or visit one of such
restaurants, as only there alcohol was available. The range of wine to offer
was very poor: the menu gave only two options - red wine and white wine, so I
assumed that at this restaurant the wine should be good and chose only colors.
Finally they served us white wine but with salty peanuts, along with other dish
we ordered. I have to say that whatever we buy we share, even if we had
different dishes, exceptions were when I ordered non-vegetarian food. So to sum
up, despite the wine was really good my friend didn’t seem too enthusiastic
about it.
December 15,
2008
The next day
started again with visiting temples. The first was Gurushikhar – the temple of
Dattatraya - a god with three heads symbolizing lord Brahma (The creator), Lord
Vishnu (the Sustainer or Nurturer), and Lord Shiva (The destructor – of
devils). There we met people who were probably passionate collectors of coins because
they came up to us without any confusion asking my origin and of course if I
had some coins with me. There in one of the rooms with holly ashes left in big
heaps after the flavored sticks were finished we passed by one of the brahmans
there who made a mark on my forehead and gave large cubed sugar (Saakar in
native lang.) which was supposed for worshiping God, but I was just curious to
taste it, you know like small kids who frequently visit places where they are
sure to get sweets. And of course I forgot that I should have taken it by the
right hand. On our way to another sight we went trough different view points to
observe beautiful nature. The driver pointed to the Lovers’ viewpoint but
didn’t stop the car because there was one young man with beer standing there.
He seemed to be concerned not to spoil the trip.
Then we
visited Adhdhar devi temple which had numerous steps to reach it, and after that
visited another place where followers of Brahma Kumari were making a wonderful
Garden with points for meditation. Yeah…nearly forgotten…the photography there
was “Strictly” prohibited, but brave visitors were making pictures of every
flower on their way.
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And the final
point was boating in the Naki lake, making circles around prominent rocks.
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On our way
back we had lunch at a restaurant serving south Indian cuisine, I was so hungry
that I ate everything and even asked to add more before eyes of astonished locals.
So we ate: mashed potatos wrapped in rice pan cakes (Dosa), rice pan cakes
staffed with vegetables (Uttapa), steamed rice cakes (Idli). All these we cover
with mixture of spicy garlic paste, coconut paste, curd, corianders paste and
took liquid pulses with vegetables (Samber) to wash down with and ended with
mouth fresheners.
Indians often
serve a selection of mouth fresheners after a meal, at their home, at parties
as well as at most Indian restaurants. They freshen the mouth and breath, help
with the digestion and have some cooling and anti-flatulent properties. In
their simplest form, mouth fresheners can be any one of these things; green
cardamoms, plain fennel seeds, sugar coated fennel seeds, lemony fennel seeds,
chopped-flavored-softened and sweetened betel nuts of various shapes and sizes,
‘dhana’ or roasted core of coriander seeds, ‘misri’ or sugar crystals. Usually
there are more than one ingredient mixed together.
So Abu was the
last point of our trip. And then we started our journey back. While waiting for
the train still there at Abu road station
I refused to sit in a waiting room, instead we stayed right on the
platform. My friend looked concerned because it could be disturbing to be
there, and he was right. Here I learnt another
thing that if you are in a public place available for all the passers-by it is
better to put luggage or whatever you have around you because there will be immediately
someone curious who will sit near you or nearby for talking asking or just sitting
and watching.
What’s more,
there were people drawing carts with food, ice cream and newspapers screaming
loudly beside every staying train. The other moment is straw cows or oxes. I
can’t forget amusement that I had when one such absolutely calm ox just passed
in front of us to check dustbins, like straw dogs do it here.
However apart
from this there was something I like: every platform had posts with electronic
tableau showing what range of coaches of the coming train is supposed to stop
there. So you don’t bother from which side of the train counting begins.
And one more
thing that is typical for Indians but I noticed it in the trains, when Indians
talk to each other in English. My friend explained that it’s a sign of pride
and respect here when a person knows English, and they try to show it, even if
somebody doesn’t know they try to use the foreign words in their speech. Even
the poorest fellow who sells in the streets is able to
say what he sells and how much it costs.
On 16th morning we were in Baroda.
December 16,
2008
Phuhhh! Let me
take a short break, and I will do my last breakthrough in an attempt to describe
my journey.
Despite only
three days left to describe I have a lot to say. There were still a lot to see in
Baroda, so when we returned we were able to visit some places, among them was a
magnificent Laxmi villas palace which still remains the residence of the
Royal Family. The palace contained a collection of old armory as
well as bronze and marble sculptures. Fatehsinh Rao Museum, located on the
palace grounds, presented the royal collection of paintings, beautiful
sculptures and other works of arts. The Palace also had a large golf
course.
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Another place
of attraction was EME (Electrical and Mechanical engineering) Temple. Unique in
concept and design, it’s covered with aluminium sheets. It combines features of
architectures of holy places in four major religions in India – Hindu, Islam,
Christianity and Sikhism. It’s run entirely by the army authorities so the access
with cameras was strictly forbidden. This temple was
in the nice garden that housed statues of different-different Gods and
Goddesses probably excavated from some sites of old civilization.
I
must notice that the policy about photography at the places of tourist and
devotees attraction is really straight: if it’s prohibited you will not go in
with the camera, you have to leave it in the cloak rooms so no chance to
smuggle it with you in comparison to Russia: no matter how many precautions can
be inside once we are in with the camera we can’t overcome the temptation to
make some shoots (I’m talking about myself).
After
sightseeing we go on to relative seeing. My friend’s aunt welcomed us at her
home of cause with masala tea and some fried and
roasted snacks. She is an English tutor so she could socialize with me well,
there she also introduced me to some spices how they are used and stored.
The
rest of the day was spent on buying souvenirs, gifts, spices etc.
There is another wonder of India I would like
to mention because it really impressed me a lot. Its traffic, which has its
private rules that there is even no need in traffic lights. The most popular
means of transport there are two-wheelers (motorcycles) and three-wheelers (a
common type of taxi with one pedal and steer). All cars are colorful with various
designs, like pictures of beloved movie stars, English words and other unthinkable
decorations. And what really amazed me was that most of the cars (especially
tree-wheelers and lorries) had the typical sings on back: “Please Horn! Ok”. So
you can imagine the traffic noise there, as nobody hesitates to horn whenever
there are any disturbers on their way.
By the way cows are also active traffic participants.
December 17,
2008
The next day
started with long and exhausting trip to Sardar Sarovar Dam. Despite the access
there was very limited (my friend’s uncle helped to get it) it’s prepared also
as a tourist’s place as well. There we saw the main dam view, reservoir, channel Head Power House, and Main channel. The road back was tiring: the day was sunny.
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So when we returned we spent the rest of the day to
make one more raid for other buyings and some embroidered items from cashmere.
In the evening we took a train back to Delhi.
December 18,
2008 18th
In Delhi we
stayed at a nice hotel near the railway station and had absolutely no desire to
roam around, as I was overwhelmed with impressions but a little sad that my
trip had come to an end. It was very early in the morning when my friend saw me
off before I went inside the airport building as nobody except for passengers
were allowed there. I don’t even remember what we were talking about as both of
us just tried to cheer each other and hide any trace of sadness from the
oncoming parting. I was really thankful to him, that he took so many
responsibilities to organize the journey and was so caring to me during the
whole trip. Thanks to his efforts I left with absolutely positive impressions
about India.
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