Jaipur: Kings, Congress and Crime

Jaipur, known as the Pink City, was the next stop on our Rajasthani adventure. Built in 1727 by the Maharaj Jai Singh II, Jaipur was created to honor not only the religious and historical aspects of Rajput society, but was also intended to reflect the scientific expertise and knowledge that had bee aquired over the centuries. Jai Singh was obsessed with scientific advancement and philosophic  thought, and he wanted his new city to reflect this dedication, so he requested that his chief architecht be tasked with creating a capital that displayed extreme symmetry and beauty mixed with an understanding of astronomy and science. So he built not only his own palace, numerous temples and properties, but an astrological observatory as well.

Today, Jaipur is a buzzing and occasionally chaotic mix of the old, and the new. Bazaars, selling everything from brooms and copper dinner ware, to marble statues and saris are nestled between ancient palaces and temples. Tuk Tuks zoom around cows, rikshaws and the occasional BMW 6 series car, while women in gloriously colorful saris and chania-chories weave thier way through fruit and vedgetable stalls, trailing thier barefoot children behind them. Anything and everything can happen in Jaipur. And with a soaring crime rate, it's the perfect place for a man of questionable methods to make a place  for himself.

After a short and sweet train ride from Ajmer, we hopped off the Aravalli Express Train and landed on the Platform  in Jaipur. Almost instantly we were struck by the craziness of this city. Hundreds of people were running around on the platform, and in the chaos of it all, i found myself chasing behind my parents who were following our coolie down the line. But falling behind them a bit gave me a good vantage point to see what was going on in front of me. I suddenly spied a skinny man who was walking behind my parents, watching thier every move. He was slowly navigating himself towards my dad, who in his endeavor to watch our bags, was slightly unaware of anyone watching him. Instantly i knew what was gonna happen. The man was watching my dad and following him down the platform with an obvious intent on his face. I ran up from behind and deliberately stepped right into him, pushing him so that my dad saw his face. He stopped and glared at me, and I said (in the most menacing voice i could reckon): "Back off, or you'll regret it!" That allerted my dad that something was happening, and he looked at both of us. The man started stammering, pretending to be a taxi driver, but we all knew taxi drivers are not allowed on the platform, and he was there for another purpose entirely. So I glared at him, and told him to back off again, and he immediatly hurried away, not talking to anyone else. I was pretty angry by that point, but also very thankful that i saw the guy in time, cuz otherwise we wouldve been stuck. Turns out Jaipur has undergone a huge increase in pickpocketing and robbery over the last year or so, and the rail stations and bazaars are the most likely sites of robbery. So me and my parents devised a warning signal to one another incase we notice anything sketchy goin on. And i typically don't carry any money whatsoever, because my accent (and obvious foreigness) already makes me a bit of a target. We've been pretty careful so far, typically only carrying enough money for the day, and locking all our valuables in the hotel safe etc, but it only takes one moment of inattentiveness, for you to lose everything. So even when we travel on the train or in cars or anything, we tie down our bags and keep any valuables (like my tablet) under our pillows.

Anywho....back to Jaipur. After spending a restful night at the less than glamerous Clark Hotel (we eventually switched to the Jai Mahal as it was cleaner and more comfortable). We headed out to do some shopping in Jaipur. I wanted some figurines, and my mom was considering buying some dishware, so we wandered around Johari Bazaar, famous for its arts and crafts. I didn't end up buying much apart from a pair of Jooties (handmade sandles) and a brass statue of Ganesh (Elephant god), as i was starting to run out of space in my suitcase, and we wernt exactly finding what we were looking for. The trouble with travelling for an entire month, is that you quickly realize you're extremely limited on what you can actually drag home with you. So we've decided that if we find something nice taht we really want, we'll ship it back, but in terms of trinkets and random crappy little souveniers, we'll prob hold off this time around. And as ive collected a relatively sizable rock collection (and am loath to part with any of it) i'm trying to be extra careful...hahahah...but don't worry...im all about quality rather than quantity. So we won't miss out on too much!

On thursday night, Rahul Gandhi, grandson of India's former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (no relation to the Mahatma), was giving an election speach in Jaipur on behalf of the Congress Party. As a result, the streets were fully decorated with Congress colored flags (green and saffron), and hoards of youth driving in (and on top of!) Jeeps and busses and rikshaws were parading through the streets. India is in full election mode right now, so numerous politicians are travelling around speaking at rallys and congregATIONS, and the Indian news media is full of commentary and political pundits yelling back and forth at one another. Honestly, it makes the American Election seem like children's play. The Congress party is up in arms right now, because they are in direct competition with India's Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by Narendra Modi (who, from waht i can tell seems like a pretty decent dude...but more on him in my next post.)...so India is very charged right now, and it seems as though the people are ready for a change (can i get a Hallelujah!).

On the 26th, we decided to do a little bit of site seeing, and touristy stuff. So we hit up Jaipur's City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal. To be honest, having seen so many palaces and forts in the last few weeks City palace, and Hawa Mahal were somewhat boring.  They are famed for thier beauty and architechture,....

Crap!we're at our station....to be continued!