Jaipur Notes

Thanks to the Dusshera long weekend, I dashed off to Jaipur for a quick two-day visit. This was my first Uber Intercity trip, and I was impressed. The Delhi-Jaipur highway was marvellous (by Indian road-design standards). The only catch was that road trips rarely allow me to relax. One wrong-side parking, a stray animal or a sleepy driver is all it takes for catastrophe to strike. The Uber driver explained that the economics of long-distance Intercity fares make it attractive for passengers who miss their flights to destinations even as far as Bombay. He himself has driven passengers to Srinagar and Mumbai multiple times from Delhi.

I was visiting Jaipur after almost 14 years, except for a brief office retreat in the outskirts of the city sometime in 2019. Due to paucity of time, we ended up visiting the key tourist attractions. The Amber Fort is still lively as ever and is probably the best forts to see in India.

The two museums – Albert Hall and the City Palace – were stunning and also are two stories in contrast. The Albert Hall has an impressive collection of art, craftsmanship, antiquities and natural-history specimens. But the management and curation was a sorry sight. Despite an impressive collection, the museum seems to be caught in a time warp. For a destination that attracts so many foreign visitors, this shouldn’t be acceptable. What caught me off guard was the fact that the museum houses an Egyptian mummy! I never knew.

The memorial plaque at the entrance was a poignant sight.

The City Palace Museum on the other hand gave me hope. The stylishly designed entry ticket priced at 400 rupees which came with an information brochure showed that the curators meant business.

The palace has one of the best displays of arms that I’ve ever seen in India. The painting gallery had a spellbinding collection of miniatures from the Jaipur School of Art and should definitely rank among one of the must-visit sights to see in India.

Despite the all the historic grandeur on display in the forts and the museums, the city as such was in shambles. A 10-minute downpour had torrents of water gushing all over the streets. The buildings, like most Indian cities, were random and had zero aesthetics. (I’m not referring to the pink-painted center).

Every visit to Rajasthan (Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur etc) leaves me wondering why all this royal prestige, wealth and style never trickled down to the masses. Most of these kings were under the constant threat of annihilation which probably explains why forts were the centerpiece of their kingdoms. The tribute system of tax collection and ofcourse the weather and regular droughts would also have played a role in keeping the commoners impoverished.