This blog is going be like one of those films that keeps going back and forth. Now in the present, the next moment in the past and at times also in the future. Thankfully it is just going to be about the Jaipur I saw some three odd yeas ago and the Jaipur I witnessed over the past weekend.
Jaipur, might be widely known and called the pink city but pink mind you is just one of the many psychedelic colous that make up this super vibrant city. Most simply put a blast of way too many colous, fighting one another for supremacy and ultimately melting into one and presenting a vibgyor feast to the eye.
We spent hardly a few hours in the city between our transit to Delhi from Ranthambore and in that little time the amount of bright colous I saw is going to keep me overwhelmed till until Diwali comes to and end at least. Having alighted at the station we walked down to the bus stop to enquire about the status of Delhi bound buses. Post that the only justified thing to do in the little time we had was to eat and shop.
Having sampled golgappas just outside the station we were horribly hooked and looked forward to sampling many more. We riksha-ed down to Johri bazarr full of fine splendour and bright lights. Shops after shops of bright coloured saris, lehengas, dupattas and dress materials beckoned us on but we gave it a miss as it was a wildlife trip and we meant to keep it that way. From the Babu market corner we bid adieu to our Ricksha uncle and walked down. A total shopping sabbatical was simply impossible to I bought my self some fabulous bangles at throwaway prices. A small stall with a happy to help seller boasted of designers you would just not want to leave without. I bought three types and can't wait to flaunt them.
A walk to the ATM, two golgappa samplings and a little more shopping later we decided we had had enough and should be getting back to where we belong. After a quick and almost good dinner at a highly recommended place in Johri Bazar called LMB we hurried back to the bus stop and boarded our snail mail to to the capital.
A word of caution here, if you not really the back breakingly adventurous kind, have loads of money and are poor by tourist standards you should take a volvo to Delhi. We being sufficiently adventurous and without impossible time constraints tried to go economical and daring and almost broke our backs. No, seriously it is not that bad provided you don't get stuck right in between of a zillion giant goods trucks going god knows where at snails pace.
The last time round I was in Jaipur it was a different story all together. We were and behaved touristy all the time and went about sightseeing and shopping at must-be places across the city. Hawa Mahal, Chokhi Dhani Jal Mahal etc etc were places we saw among scores of others. What we missed entirely back then was the newer part of the city. Taking the liberty to believe that the flamboyance existed even then, this time round when I witnessed the huge malls and choicely scattered brand outlets from my bus making its way to Delhi I was pleasantly surprised.
So the old city nestling shops, houses markets and what not in its old maharaja style buildings has a ultra modern side as well. The traditional pink sity seems as though would die if torn away from whatever remanents of yesterday it is clutching and the new can give cities like Bangalore etc a run for their mall money any day. All that I saw, though only from the outside, looked swanky, up to date and worth giving a shot. So now other than repeating things and places I liked in Jaipur and indulging in the ones I missed I also have 'newer' things on the agenda the next time I go there.
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