Meandering: The Blue City

The photos explain why they sometimes call Jodhpur the blue city. It wasn’t meant to be blue, but once years ago, when the limestone buildings were whitewashed, they started to turn yellow and to correct it workers added a little too much indigo. Now, many retain the color on a voluntary basis, all of them in what’s known as the old city, contained within the perimeter walls of the massive Mehrangarh Fort which looks down on all of the sprawling city of Jodhpur in imposing fashion. I don’t see how anyone could ever have attacked and defeated the occupants of this place.

The best view of the blue city was from the massive fort, which is centuries old and undergoing eternal restoration, paid for in part by entrance fees. The fort was once the home of the royal Marahajah family, but once India gained independence from the British, they had to move out of the fort and into an impressive, but smaller palace nearby. They have no power, but are much revered to this day, so we were told by Senjay, our guide at the fort.

We met Senjay through Om. Om, was our driver and daily companion from Udiapur to Pushkar, via Jodhpur, where he lives. In the Indian world of haphazard driving, Om was a gift from the god s; a dependable, gentle man who shared his life story, snatches of history and Indian customs and a willingness to abide our desire to take photos and stop and look around every so often as we drove along. The road from Udiapur to Jodhpur was bumpy and long, and Om took his time to avoid the bigger potholes and avoid wearing out his car’s shocks. He has nearly paid for the vehicle, and hopes to make his car-driving business for tourists a fulltime occupation some day.

Senjay, Om’s friend, grew up in a village 60 to 80 kilometers from Jodhpur, and entertained us both with stories about the fort and his life. He was so careful to tell us to watch our step as we made our way up stairs and through hallway and such that Lee asked him if he had had a tourist stumble or fall sometime in the past. He answered by saying he himself once tripped and fell, and was so seriously injured that he did not recognize family and friends for 7 months afterward. He recovered by relying on his deep spiritualism and inner strength, and basically said the experience had transformed him. He eats only rice and a minimal amount of vegetables, he said. He also told me that when he was just six months old, his family had his astrological chart done and it said he would someday live to serve the Europeans. So, when he was 15 and learned what the chart had prophesized, he left his village and made his way to the fort to become a guide. He now supports 11 family members with his work.

He showed us around the old fort, which contained and array of stunning artifacts including chariots, carpets, weapons. Frankly,weI found him more interesting than the fort, even though it was an impressive architectural structure.

Afterward, Om took us to the downtown “clock tower” bazaar and then back to our home stay for the night. I had gotten sick on something the night before, and started out in the morning feeling a little weak and out of it, but by day’s end, I was mostly 100 percent.

We spent two nights at the Mihan Niwas, the homestay in Jodhpur. The family of M. Singh, the patriarch of the family greeted us in a most gracious manner as soon as we arrived, couldn’t have been nicer and the room we were given was spacious, beautiful, and with a bathroom as big as most people’s living rooms. His daughter-in-law prepared two amazing meals of five different Indian dishes for our dinner and kept us good company while we ate, along with her husband and sister-in-law. The family, all of whom live together, includes the mother and father, their two sons and daughter-in-laws and their unmarried grandchildren.

We’ve noticed that most hotels and homes in India do not, at least in all three places we’ve stayed in, have bathtubs, only showers with no doors and sometimes, no curtains. You simply shower in the bathroom and squeegee the floor and walls afterwards. There’s no central heating in these parts and it’s been cool the last couple of nights, low 40s, or even into the 30s in some areas. Daytime temps have been in the 70s and 80s however. Even so, we heard that school has been cancelled for the past three days due to the cold daytime temperatures. And now, as it’s become a little warmer, they’re having the kids come to school, but not till 9 a.m., because of the cold. Strange, but true. Sam