On the day we were supposed to drive by to Delhi, Charlie had an appendectomy! The surgeon was Dr. Atul Gupta, but there have been many other doctors, nurses, and caregivers. The experience has been mixed, but we’re grateful that he has been cared for. Mary Lynn has been staying at the hospital while I’ve been with Veronica at the hotel. At this writing he is bearing some pain and still recovering. Here are some pix of Charlie & his appendix…

 

Some miscellaneous pix from around town and not included previously…

 

 

Some old walls with attractive cracks, other people’s art, flowers on sale, and a fort in a lake…

 

Study Questions:

1. Research appendices. What are they, why do we have them, what happens when they go bad?
2. Research natural art. Why is it cool? Or, you like which random pic, why?

During the night, the stomach ache Charlie had been informing us about got worse. His symptoms seemed like appendicitis, so at 4:00 in the morning Mary Lynn & he took a tuktuk to a hospital, and then to another one where he was admitted. You’ll learn about the outcome in Jaipur, Pt. 3.

After breakfast, Roop Lal, our driver, took Veronica & I to the hospital as Charlie was in the midst of tests, and then we marched on to take our planned tours for the day, staying in touch by phone. Mayurraj, our tour guide (who you can see in Jaipur Pt. 1) first took us to a beautiful Hindu temple and a step well near the Amber Fort…

 

Then we went to the Amber Fort. Built in the 1500s on a hilltop outside Jaipur, it is magnificent from inside and out. Featuring several courtyards, views of lakes and mountains, and surrounded by a long and enormous wall, “Amer” Fort is really a palace rivaling the Red Fort of Agra, etc. Loved the building decorated with a mosaic of convex mirrors and jewels, as well as the garden in the lake (which was supposed to be for saffron). Some pix…

 

After another break in the afternoon and a visit to the hospital where Charlie was still having tests, we went out on a planned supplemental tour activity to shop and take a cooking class. We were met by Nidhi, who took us to a spice shop, a vegetable market, and a private home for a private cooking class focusing on the cuisine of Rajastan. Among the unusual delights: fried grapes! Check it out…

 

Study Questions:

1. Research Hindu temples and/or step wells. How are they built, why?
2. Research the Amber Fort (link and beyond). Interesting parts?
3. Research Indian/Rajastani cuisine. What would you like to cook?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After one night in Agra, we drove to Jaipur for three. After a first night at Dera Rawatsar, another comfortable, small guest house, we went on a tour the town. First, we visited Jantar Mantar, a fascinating astronomical observatory park first started in 1727…

 

Then we went to the Maharaja’s or Rambagh palace in the city. Unfortunately we could not take photos inside, nor in the weapons museum which was particularly interesting. Here’s what we could take…

 

After going back to the hotel for a nap and dip in the pool, we left in the late afternoon for an elephant safari. We drove out of town into the countryside and a fair stretch on a dirt road through the biome of Rajastan. Eventually we came to a touristy, but nice compound where folks ride elephants then have a nice dinner outside surrounding by monkeys, various birds, and the lilting strains of a lone musician on hill (a la the British Raj perhaps?). So we did and here are some pix…

 

Videos may be added when smokin’ hot wifi becomes available…

Study Questions:

1. Research the Jantar Mantar (see link). What kind of astronomy could be done in the mid 1700s? Relate astronomy to astrology, how are they linked, especially in Indian culture?
2. Research the time of Maharajas. How did they live, what were their priorities, what were the roles of wives, concubines, and court personnel?
3. Research elephants and how they’ve been domesticated, especially in India…

We woke at 5:30 to meet our guide in time to get to the Taj Mahal for sunrise. Our tour guide from the day before at Agra Fort took us through explaining not only the history, but the architecture, materials, and construction of this magnificent building. (20,000 workers for 22 years!) Across the river is the site for the black matching Taj Mahal that was never built.

 

We returned to our hotel for breakfast, then left for Fatehpur Sikri, another fort complex on the way to Jaipur. Built by Mughal emperor Akbar, it served as the capital for only a few years (1571-1585) being abandoned when the well ran dry. A different tour guide, a beautiful place, but fanatic street vendors at the mosque. Note the interesting juxtaposition of the Star of David and the swastika. Both symbols predate and have nothing to do with the Jews or the Nazis.

More pix of Fatehpur Sikri…

 

Here are some random pix of a festival happening in Agra and from the road…

 

Study Questions:

1. Research the stories behind the Taj Mahal. How was it built? Why was it built? What happened to the builder?
2. Research the Mughal emperors. Why was Akbar akbar? Where was he before and after Fatehpur Sikri?

Our flight from Chandigarh to Delhi was easy breezy, and put us in town on the early side. Spent the after noon and the night in a lovely little guest house called The Colonel’s Retreat in a residential neighborhood (according to our taxi driver, for retired military. Next morning – after meeting the colonel himself – we were driven from Delhi to Agra and are staying at another lovely little home stay call The Coral Tree. After relaxing there for a couple hours, we went for a tour of the Red Fort of Agra and the Taj Mahal at sunset. The first set is in and around the Coral Tree home stay and the Taj Mahal from across the river, etc…

 

The Red Fort at Agra is somewhat comparable to Forbidden City in Beijing. It is a vast palace with room after room of imperial splendor, but it takes some imagination to appreciate. First, back in the day, much of the carved marble and sandstone were painted not plain, and the inlays that are left need to be seen up close. Next, according to our guide, we tourists only had access to about 15% of the fort which was substantial (the rest is occupied by the Indian Army). It is evident that this bastion of the Mughal empire is enormous and was intricate. While impressive, the history of neglect and looting in the aftermath of its heyday require that imagination and some understanding of what was there to feel the splendor. Our guide Yogesh did a wonderful job conveying images of a time gone by…

Agra Fort continued…

 

Study Questions:

1. Look at the links about the Agra Fort and the Mughal Empire. What’s interesting or important, and why?
2. Which pictures give the most information and why? Compare to Google images and discuss.

While had planned to stay with the Sodhis for three nights, they told us of Jat protests in Haryana which had recently stopped trains and blocked roads. So Yuvraj made a plan for us to drive to Chandigarh and stay with his uncle, then drive around Haryana to Delhi the next day. (As it turned out the protests spread, the danger factor increased, and no taxis to Delhi could be found. So we flew from Chandigarh to Delhi.)

This first set of pix is of TV news reports about the protests, Yuvraj negotiating with police after they had stopped his friend’s car for having no papers and carrying our luggage, Indian bikers at a McDonalds, and views from the road…

Yuvraj took us to the Chandigarh Rose Garden (the largest in Asia) and it just so happened there was a flower show! Had fun in the playground, got interviewed by Global Punjab TV, then went to a shopping area (I think called Sector 17?) where we had a nice lunch…

Some panos of the park…

After lunch we went to the Lake Sukhna where many folks were boating, and we saw an impromptu children’s performance. In addition to three rescue dogs, Yuvraj’s aunt & uncle have a pet squirrel. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of “Poochi,” but here’s the view from their apartment. Here are some pix…

Some vids…

 

Study Questions:

1. Chandigarh is a planned city. Research planned cities in general or Chandigarh in particular. How is it done? What are the considerations? What works and what doesn’t? What’s interesting in Chandigarh or urban planning in general?
2. Choose between protesting or rose gardens. Research and discuss…

In addition to seeing the ancestral memorials, we visited a nearby farm, chatted with the people and some cows, and enjoyed the many flat acres of wheat & rice in rural Punjab…

Had a good time meeting some of the locals in Guru Har Sahai. Most of these pix were from a “tuition” or after school study hall next to Fort Pothimala…

Here are some more pix around Guru Har Sahai (driving thru town and a visit to a shoe shop)…

 

Study Questions

1. Research farming practices worldwide and India in particular. Or, how does a country of well over a billion people feed itself? Discuss the Green Revolution. Discuss old & new farming practices.
2. Research education practices worldwide and India in particular. Or, how does a country of well over a billion people educate itself? Discuss the Information Revolution. Discuss old & new education practices.

 

In addition to performing the duties of being the 17th descendent of the 4th Sikh Guru, Yuvraj runs a television station started by his father. There’s an office next to the house, a few obsolete satellite dishes on top, and several rooms for repairing equipment and broadcasting via cable to over 300 surrounding villages. Here are some pix…

 

Since generations of Yuvraj’s family has lived in the area, his ancestors have been cremated and memorialized in what amounts to a memorial cemetery…

 

Study Questions

1. Consider TV. How has technology changed the world? Or, how has a modern lifestyle effected a more old fashioned one? Or, what should people be watching (or not)?
2. Research burial practices worldwide and India in particular. What’s interesting or unusual to you?

 

After two nights in Amritsar, we hired a car to drive us to Ferozepur. There, the brother of our La Honda friend Ruby Sodhi, Yuvraj Singh Sodhi met us and then drove us to their family home in Guruharsahai, a town in Punjab not far from the Pakistan border. Yuvraj had kindly invited us to stay at their compound, Fort Pothimala, with his mother Harjit, and their staff.

Yuvraj is the 17th descendent of the 4th Sikh Guru Ram Das Ji, and his family has lived at Fort Pothimala since the 1700’s when Guru Jiwan Mal moved to the area and named the town after his son Guru Har Sahai. Inside the compound is a building that was started in 1705 and is covered on the inside with a vast number of 300 year old murals depicting various aspects of Sikhism.

First, some pix of Yuvraj, Harjit, their home, family photos (especially of Guru Haresh Singh Ji – Yuvraj’s father & Harjit’s husband), paintings, and Fort Pothimala…

 

Next, here are some pix of the old building at Fort Pothimala…

From the inside and on top with Yuvraj…

The murals themselves with some close ups…

Doors, ceiling, etc…

Looking out at Guruharsahai from the roof of the Pothimala building…

 

Study Questions:

1. Research Sikhism. Briefly describe its history. What are the fundamental tenets, principles, and practices of the religion?
2. Research religious symbolism and religious art. Why is this important?
3. Research building and historical preservation. Why is it important, and how can it be done effectively?

Before going to the Golden Temple during our one full day in Amritsar, we went to the India-Pakistan border at Wagah for an amazing show. It was sort of like the changing of the guard at Checkpoint Charlie, with elaborately dressed guards doing elaborate marching exercises complete with shouting, drums, music, and a loudly patriotic crowd. Fascinating, here are some pix…

 

Here are some videos of the event (post pending)…

 

Here are other pix around town, including Khalsa Women’s College…

 

Study Questions:

1. Research the Partition of India and India/Pakistan relations. Discuss your findings.
2. What is the meaning and purpose of the Wagah border ceremony?
3. Compare Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride to a tuk-tuk ride in Amritsar. Which is more fun?