Schooling was our first priority of the day as the Australian academic year has started and the kids need to start working through their curriculum. Annika and I had a great Skype call with two of her teachers and she feels more comfortable about the whole program now. Tim was beavering away at his work, too. He was the one who really pushed to have a formal schooling program. However, Luke, the always resistant little character he is, gobbles up everyone's emotional energy protesting and FINALLY started a bit of work. He has learned and seen so much on our travels particularly in the smorgasbord of sensory experiences that is India.
Once again, a delicious breakfast, willing waiters and several games of chess over breakfast set us up for the day.
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| Impressive looking papadams |
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| Chili powder up Tim's nose and crunchy papadams! |
Our goal was to walk to the Hawa Mahal and also the architectural and
astronomical instrument complex (Jantar Mantar). Walking is the best
way to slowly absorb our surrounds. We saw a huge basket of papadams and
ventured to try these for our morning snack. Luke loved them despite
the sprinkling of chili powder.
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| Spices! |
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| Making milk curd! |
As we were walking past the pink palace
and the market area looking for naan bread, we met a local student who
had a great discussion with Karl about Indian history. He offered to
show us a bit of the back street area. We wound through the alley ways,
cows and motorbikes, to the silversmith area. We saw many little shop
fronts with silversmiths working, sitting cross legged on the floor,
with a lamp and tiny tools for their trade. They were happy to show us
their intricate work. Compared to Australia where a silversmith would
have an ergonomic stool and magnified, bright light source, these men
worked under less than perfect conditions to produce perfection!
We
were shown a shop and went in. We trusted our student friend and
indeed this wasn't a scam. To my delight, Karl bought me a beautiful
silver calcy pendant. I felt cherished!! There were so many beautiful
pieces choose from but I settled quickly for this one (1000 Rupee).
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| Bespoke jeweller. |
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| Outside the jewellers' shop |
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| Silver smiths at work - these two men had stunning blue eye and said they were Sikhs. |
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| Love the old buildings and wonky foundations. |
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| Typical alley. |
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| Beautiful painted archways are everywhere. |
Lunch in the back streets was potato (aloo) patties fresh from the enormous wok like pan!
Back on the main drag, we worked our way through the eager vendors of the market stretch offering clothes, musical instruments, Maharaja swords, copper and bronze goods and more. Such a rich, colourful, noisy trek, minding where our feet trod as we went. Luke managed to score a free silver cobra from a shop keeper. His blonde hair and curiosity serves him well!!
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| A common sight: cows lazing in the main street. |
We finally made it to the Hawa Mahal, the "Palace of Winds". It was called this because it was built as an elaborate screen and series of tiny windows so
the women of the royal household could watch activities on the street unseen from the outside. It is made from of red and pink sandstone, typical of this region. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. I loved the honey comb design and all the 953 jharokhas (windows)! The design also facilitates the cool air to flow through (Venturi effect) and it was indeed lovely and cool inside which given the summer heat where temperatures are commonly 45 C, it is essential.
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| The Wind Palace - Hawa Mahal |
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| Paneled doors |
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| From the 5th storey looking over rear of building. |
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| Stained glass arches |
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| More amazing stained glass |
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| Turrets to explore! |
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| Tiny mirror mosaic window. |
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| Room with a view. |
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| Looking to the courtyard |
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| Luke looking out of one of the tiny windows. |
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| Fort in the distance. |
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| Luke skipping through the arches! |
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| Attempted family shot. |
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| Window to the world. |
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| Wind Palace |
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| All squeezing through a tiny archway! |
Annika and I were accosted, in the nicest possible Indian way, to pose for a photo with a group of Indian women, out for a collective walk with their menfolk...we see few women and many men...and before we knew it we were surrounded by a swarm! We obliged and moved on! Why would they ever want a picture of us? India boggles my mind daily!
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| Women of India unite! |
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| Cherubic |
Next stop was the Jantar Mantar, (instrument calculation), an amazing collection of ancient architectural astronomical instruments, built between 1727 and 1734 by Sawai Jai Singh. It is a vast landscape of beautifully maintained huge stone and marble structures, built so large to increase their accuracy. some inaccuracy occurred due to subsidence of the foundations. The giant sundial (Samrat Yantra) is the world's largest sundial. The shadow moves a hand span every minute!! Fascinating! There are 14 geometric structure for
measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars' location as the
earth orbits around the sun, determining the declinations of planets,
and assessing the celestial bodies.
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| Giant sundial - largest in the world! |
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| Precision is the key. |
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| Wandering through the astrology bowls. |
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| What a setting! |
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| 27 degree...precisely. |
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| Chipmunk watcher |
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| Indian green parrots |
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Another handstand opportunity.
Once we left the Jantar Mantar, it was back to the streets and animals milling around. Why on earth do they feed the pigeons? There are so many and one "blessed" Karl's shirt which is always one of our fears near a flock!
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Goats in coats!
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| Feeding the goats |
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Don't know how helpful this cow would be!
We had the chance to spend the
evening with a generous, delightful family who welcomed us into their
home with open arms. The mother, Feroza, teaches community women
cooking and sewing, whilst the man of the house is a tailor. Their 11
year old son is a gifted tailor who insisted on making Luke a beautiful
linen shirt as a gift. This wasn't a scam, but genuine generosity. He
measured Luke and off he went and was back in an hour was a tailor
made, pressed shirt. Incredible! While he was cutting and sewing, and
he really did enjoy doing this, his gorgeous sisters, Rameeza and Aleeza
were decorating Annika and I with henna! After the henna and dried, it
was then wiped off with mustard seed oil. Beautiful! Then they
switched on their little television with some risk as they fiddled with
electric wires and put them directly into a power socket with NO plug
and a few sparks and the television sprung into action. the Bollywood
music blared and we danced with the girls. My youth was regained as we
laughed and enjoyed every moment with these gentle hospitable people.
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| Henna artist |
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Annika decorated with with henna.
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| Henna! |
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Henna complete and Rameeza
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| Luke in his new linen shirt and the amazing little tailor who made it. |
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| Embroidery done by the girls |
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While all the was happening, Feroza was cooking a splendid meal for us and in due course, they rolled out their vinyl tablecloth and set the meal before us. What a feast of rice, chapati, dahl, okra, mixed vegetables and chhole! We asked whether we could take a photo and apparently it is not right to photograph food so we will remember the feast without the photo! I had already taken a photo beforehand but honoured their request not to take anymore.
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| Dinner on its way...and there was plenty |
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| Wedding sari |
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| So lovely and so much fun! |
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| Annika in a wedding outfit and the gorgeous girls. |
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| Feroza's kitchen |
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| Tailor made vest |
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| Feroza and me |
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| Feroza, a lovely gentle lady and fantastic cook. |
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| Rameeza and Luke |
We had the most memorable evening, and despite Tim's fervent reluctance to go, even he enjoyed it all! We only got him there after Karl offered to buy some firecrackers for a bit of fun as they are freely available and go off all the time...and after all, boys will be boys and thrive on a bit of larrikinism!
Wending through the maze of alleys back to the main street in the dark would have been impossible and a bit scary without our student friend to guide us. He kindly showed us a Muslim engagement party, all in a tent on the street, men separated from women and naan bread in the huge portable ovens.
We hopped in a tuk tuk, surprised at the volume of traffic and people at 10PM, and arrived back at our accommodation. What a day! ....and who said a week was too long to spend in Jaipur?!
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