Of Bucket Lists and the Hazards of Fireworks (Agra, Jaipur, and Diwali)

Life Goal Achieved!

No first-time visit to India is complete without a trip to see the Taj Mahal – and although we were feeling a bit dubious about the other highlights of Agra, we couldn’t move on without taking the chance to check it off our lifetime bucket list. The Taj is actually a mausoleum built by Shah Jahan, a Mughal emperor, for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died birthing her 14th(!!!) child, which should give you a sense of the larger-than-life nature of everything to do with the Taj. Viewers pass through a gate and – all at once – see the amazing dome, the geometric gardens, and the towering spires. This is one of the rare tourist sites that easily lives up to the hype even when you arrive with sky-high expectations.

You can imagine the Taj Mahal as one giant photo booth, with the proviso that you must win your spot in the booth with a combination of luck, sharp elbows, and a disdain for personal space. Everyone’s in the same boat and wowed by the view though, so it’s the most cheerful (light) shoving match you’ll ever engage in. When you get a spot, you take advantage of it

So meta. The Taj has been perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the selfie culture

Due to the Islamic prohibition on depicting the human form, buildings are instead adorned with stupefyingly intricate patterned carvings and calligraphy. Hunter Thompson would have had issues here

Standing next to the Taj is a beautiful red sandstone mosque – and on the opposite side, a mirror-image building purely to avoid disrupting the symmetry of the complex

The real rulers of the Taj Mahal these days are of course the monkeys. They pretty much do their own thing, but occasionally make a charge at a tourist or two

The Rest of Agra

After the Taj Mahal, we did a fair amount of walking through the markets of Agra in an attempt to understand the city a bit better. While the area around the Taj is a tourist bubble, packed with tacky souvenirs and aggressive tuk tuk drivers, most of Agra is strikingly different. The city is an industrial and agricultural hub, and the dusty, practical urban landscape is clearly not maintained with visitors in mind.

Marigolds and other flower decorations. At this point we were nearing the festival of Diwali, where these decorations feature prominently, so they’re all over every market

Zebulicious. Unfortunately for Ethan, cows are not for eating in most of India, the taunting of which was to eventually overwhelm him

A platoon on patrol

Agra does have another gem to offer up, in the shape of the Agra Fort. This was pitched to us as a worthwhile side trip when visiting the Taj Mahal, but we found it to be truly awe inspiring in its own right.

The Agra Fort, which bowled us over with its beauty and vast scale

The Diwan-i-Aam, or Hall of Public Audience, in the Agra Fort. Mughals had an almost classical obsession with symmetry and lots of columns, admittedly with their own eastern flair

A Jessica provided for scale. In its heyday this chamber would be covered with tapestries that would billow beautifully in the wind

 

We had mixed results with audio guide tours of major sites, but the Agra Fort’s was great. The narrator took us through tales of royal scandal, intrigue, and hilarity with a grandfatherly Indian-English accent

Geometric forms, symmetry, sandstone, and fountains

Living quarters are replete with ornamentation, and fountains feature prominently in many rooms

This wouldn’t be too out of place in Tuscany – but at a much larger scale, and far more exciting due to the elephant fights regularly held here during the Mughal reign

One of the several mosques built within the complex for the use of the emperor and his retinue

Shah Jahan was usurped by his son, Aurangzeb, and imprisoned for the last years of his life within these apartments in the Agra Fort. His only consolation was to stare out from these balconies at the Taj Mahal and dream of the past

Train Journeys – A Logistically Bipolar Experience

One of the first things any prospective Indian tourist hears is that they need to experience traveling by train. Trains are a central component of Indian life, and the construction of the train network played a big role in the centralization of the disparate empires, princely states, and trade cities of India into a single nation. We took more than a few train journeys and, although the trains themselves were mostly comfortable, clean and quick, we experienced an array of emotional ups and downs as we spent many hours attempting to navigate the deeply puzzling reservation system.

You see, the Indian train system is entirely built around flexibility. Trains open for reservations a couple months before the actual journey, and the cost of canceling a ticket is negligible, so everyone reserves a ticket. The result is that those considering a journey will see every train fully booked, and it is generally only on the day of the actual journey that it’s possible to figure out whether you make it off the waiting list or not. While the odds of making it off the waiting list are often quite high, this is utterly maddening from the perspective of those – like us and perhaps every other traveler we’ve met – who need to arrange activities, places to stay, tours, and transport links around a specific journey on a specific day with certainty. An entire cottage industry of statisticians, astrologers, and augers has arisen around predicting your odds of getting off the waiting list given a specific train and list position, but that’s little comfort when you have decent but not certain odds for the last train of the night and no alternative plan if you’re stranded. We beg of the Indian Rail system to increase their cancellation penalties. Oh, and in order to even register for the system you need to engage in a two-week personal email exchange with an anonymous bureaucrat.

The “new” online reservation system in all its glory. It actually works pretty well once you learn to navigate, but the payment system for international credit cards bears more than a passing resemblance to a Nigerian prince scam

The flip side of the train experience is that once you have a ticket, everything is great. Trains are typically more-or-less on time, cabins are very comfortable for their cost, and the food is generally quite tasty, especially for those of us used to airplane food and dubious Amtrak microwave meals.

It certainly beats walking!

Train meals can be intimidatingly large- full set meals with multiple curries, sides, and desserts. It certainly gives you something to do, although the tempo of meals can be hard to keep up with (tea, then dinner, and then a snack for a trip of only a few hours). If this isn’t enough for you, many private companies offer on-train meal deliveries

Comfy and stuffed with food. The voyage itself is like a reward for making it through the quest of booking the train

An Adopted Family in Jaipur

Another of the “can’t miss” items on any tourist’s list in India is a homestay with a family, which gives a much better impression of life in India than a hotel. We stayed with a lovely family in Jaipur who showed us the ropes of Indian festivals and taught us the basics of Indian cooking, meditation, and fireworks usage. In addition, we made friends with several of the other travelers staying there and explored Jaipur for a few days with them. We were staying during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights (on which more later), and our hosts were extremely generous in terms of involving us in the family Diwali celebrations, explaining what was going on, and ensuring that we had a great time.

Ethan being chided for lentil cowardice during a cooking lesson – to properly remove any impurities from lentils, you need to flip them in a tray. This requires a bit of conviction since if you don’t catch them right they end up in your face or on the floor

Ethan’s chapati-making technique received some criticism from the ladies of the home due to his glacial pace, but the finished product isn’t terrible, is it?

  

The finished results of our cooking class, including chickpeas, dal, paneer, and fixins

Our host family also took us to a few key spots around the city of Jaipur including the famed Lassiwala, who has spawned more than a few copycats. Although lassis aren’t the prettiest of beverages, they are great for cooling off – either from heat or spicy food – and are served in these earthenware cups that you can satisfyingly smash after imbibing in the style of Russian vodka drinkers.

The maestro in the flesh (curd?)

  

We promise it tastes better than it looks

Deals, Deals, Deals

Jaipur was where we made our first concerted effort to learn the dark art of Indian haggling. In the days leading up to Diwali, the market inside the walls of the Pink City does a brisk trade in flowers, gold items, clothing, food, and sweets. We figured this would be a great time to get over our western awkwardness and work up to proper bazaar dealmaking. A few key rules were quickly established: 1. Don’t bother critiquing the product, since they know it better than you – it’s best to bemoan your own lack of funds; 2. Do your research – since there are hundreds of stalls selling similar things, it’s worth engaging in a few practice sessions to establish the going rate; 3. Take a while browsing and asking questions – by the time you’re striking a deal the vendor has put in some work and really wants to make a sale; 4. Always be prepared to walk away – they will usually call you back (in fact, this turned out to be our best strategy).

We ended up with two authentic Indian tunics and some shiny new adornments for the Diwali celebrations, and although we guessed that we’d still paid “tourist” rates, we managed to whittle the prices down by a satisfying amount (at least enough to bring forth a scowl from a few of the salesmen as we made our purchases).

Jaipur is known as the Pink City – the terracotta pink paint throughout the historic center has been preserved by law since 1876, when the city was transformed for a royal visit (pink is the traditional color of hospitality)

Much of the city was already beautifully decorated for Diwali when we arrived in Jaipur – some merchants are famous for their over-the-top lights, bunting, and statues

Chaos descends, as tourists and locals alike engage in some pre-festival bedazzling and last-minute shopping

Squeezing our way through the narrow alleys of the market – at least Ethan is always easy to spot above the crowds!

One of the many clothing stalls – typically you are invited into a comfy seating area to discuss your requirements, before being shown pile after pile of options which are somehow conjured up from a hidden closet (several times, this involved a helper dropping packages down through a hole in the ceiling)

Vendors are remarkably relaxed about supervising their stalls – often heading off for a nap / lunch and entrusting their goods to other stallholders in the vicinity. We found ourselves pondering how quickly we could escape if we grabbed that tray…

There were flower sellers everywhere ahead of the Diwali celebrations – marigolds aren’t normally sold by the ton, but it seems this is the special exception

Proper nutrition is important for haggling success – this brobdingnagian papad was a particular highlight

Royal History

Central Jaipur was built relatively recently (in the 1720s, so recently in India terms) – the real historic heart of the area lies at Amer, which was inhabited ~750 years before that. Amer, and later Jaipur, were part of a separate princely state which was maintained until India’s independence (in various forms and through various deals struck with the Mughals, and then the British), and overseen by its own royal family. The Amer Fort was the first example of Rajput architecture we came across, and it completely blew us away.

Amer Fort was mostly built during the reign of Raja Man Singh I in the late 16th century 

One of the most impressive things about the Fort is the piping system running from Maota Lake, which delivers water to the gardens as well as supplying a rudimentary air conditioning system around key buildings using an ingenious system of pumps

The Ganesh Gate, leading to the private palaces of the Rajas – the latticed windows above allowed the royal ladies to watch displays in the courtyard below while preserving their modesty

The Diwan-i-Aam, or the Hall of Public Audience (note the similarity in design, if not scope, to the hall of the same name in the Agra Fort)

The exquisite Jai Mandir, covered with mosaics of mirrors and colored glass designed to glitter in the candlelight

A lush garden separates the Jai Mandir from the Sukh Niwas, or Hall of Pleasure

Taking in the spectacular view, overlooked by a friendly local

Back in the city center, we discovered a wealth of 18th century treasures – our favorite by far was the Hawa Mahal, or the Palace of Winds, designed for the women of the royal household to engage in one of India’s top activities – peoplewatching.

The tall facade of the Hawa Mahal is covered with screens and tiny, shuttered windows which allow residents to peek out to the busy the street below

A view from the top – likely a little more chaotic than it was 200 years ago

The view in the other direction isn’t bad either! 

The entrance, leading to the City Palace. In contrast to most of the structures we’d seen to date, the Rajput palaces reflect Hindu traditions – although the influence of typical Mughal features is unmistakeable

The interior rooms are filled with beautiful light thanks to the bright window panes

The height of the palace (and its narrow base in the middle of a cluttered market) lends it some amazing features, with turrets aplenty

We were making the most of having some extra friends with us in Jaipur, hence the prevalence of couple photos…

The City Palace itself stands next to the Hawa Mahal – although now mostly a museum, one section is still preserved as a residence for Jaipur’s former rulers

The Diwan-i-Khas, or Hall of Private Audience, shows signs of European influence, but retains the classic pillars, arches, and intricate ornamentation typical of older palaces

One of four outrageously ornate gates which represent the seasons – this one is the Rose Gate, which relates to winter

On of the coolest sights in Jaipur is the Jantar Mantar, a massive astronomy facility built by Jai Singh II during the early 18th century. It contains a series of sundials and other instruments for tracking the position of the sun and other heavenly bodies over the course of the seasons. We spent most of our time there with pained expressions on our faces, struggling to recall the basics of trigonometry and celestial geometry. After all, who knows offhand the difference between the celestial equator and the ecliptic? Although we could only guess at what most of the instruments did, it was amazing to see devices of such scale built to track astronomical bodies in the absence of optics.

The main sundial towers over all of Jaipur

Jantar Mantar also includes a group of a dozen smaller observing instruments, one for each sign of the zodiac

One of the most impressive instruments is this hemisphere, which provides a coordinate system to map the positions of heavenly bodies. It’s part of a matched pair to provide the observer room to walk around to perform measurements – its sibling has the exact inverse arrangement of walking pathways and measurement surface so that between the two, the observer can map the entire sky

 

Diwali

The highlight of our time in Jaipur was the Diwali celebration itself. Never had either of us seen revelry on such scale. Aptly named the Festival of Lights, Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and is seen by Hindus as an auspicious time, so people wear new clothes, clean their homes, and make major purchases. The level of decoration is unparalleled, and as you’ve probably guessed by this point, fireworks play a huge role in the festivities.

Most houses and all of the major buildings are adorned with lights in the lead-up to the celebration

The major celebrations took place on day three of the five day festival.  We began the afternoon with the making of traditional rangoli – patterns of colored powder and flowers on the floor, illuminated with small candles or oil lamps. There was a competition between all the guests in the homestay, and although we didn’t win, we’d like to think we made a good effort.

A rare moment of team camaraderie, punctuating a general state of dispute around our artistic direction

Our finished product (a stylish representation of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and a major focus of the festival)

As the sun went down, lights went on and candles shone from every corner of the entranceway

Once the house was looking suitably festive, we moved inside for the puja (prayer). Our host family were wonderfully welcoming, and not only let us join in with the ceremony but spent time explaining the story of Diwali – we even gave the singing our best shot, despite understanding zero of the words.

The family’s living room shrine, around which the puja took place

Of course, the highlight of the evening for most is the fireworks. We had known already that fireworks were a major feature of the evening – what else, for a festival of lights? However, our UK/US upbringings in no way prepared us for what was about to unfold. In India, people do not do things half heartedly, and it seems that the entire nation wants to get in on the fun. Organized events are for amateurs! We spent the evening feeling as if we were in the middle of a warzone, and trying not to show any weakness as the home fireworks got increasingly large and unpredictable, and the beer continued to flow. Western caution aside, though, the result was truly dazzling, and amazingly fun.

During the daytime, we visited one of the many pop-up fireworks shops in town, wads of cash in hand

A bewildering array of fireworks – even our host was at a loss, so our group’s strategy was to pick pretty much at random

You are my fire. Although we didn’t notice any familiar faces among the “Backstreet Boys”

To say that Ethan was excited would be a gross understatement 

As we gathered in the driveway, drinks in hand and sparklers at the ready, it dawned on us – the fireworks were going to be set off in the street

Several glorious, severely hazardous hours of firework fun ensued. These Catherine Wheels were the warm up round – they would spin around dangerously close to our exposed, flip-flop-shod feet

Before long we became involved in a serious face-off with the neighbors across the road, who seemed to think they had louder and scarier fireworks than us. Fortunately, we had a showstopper up our sleeve for the finale. Unfortunately, they sought revenge by letting off a 100-foot-long cracker series at 5am which sounded alarmingly like machine gun fire while still half-asleep 

By late in the evening, the street was littered with debris, and brave / foolish passing drivers were having to weave their way past explosions and scattered beer bottles (which make great launches for rockets). The following few days are typically periods of severe air quality warnings in major Indian cities, requiring people to stay indoors

The firework frenzy was taking place absolutely everywhere – something that was apparent from the noise level, but only truly hit home when we took a late night drive up to the Tiger Fort sitting above the city