Jodhpurs, polo and fighter jets

On the road to Jodhpur we pass a steady stream of military vehicles heading towards Delhi. The continuous convoy of trucks, jeeps and assorted armoured personnel carriers congest everybody else’s  movement on this barely two lane carriageway. Our driver, Rajender, explains in broken English with a customary laugh that Jodpur ‘major military base’ and that ‘near Pakistan’. Rachelle’s worry factor escalates unecessarily when I explain that India & Pakistan have had ongoing border skirmishes since partition (though mainly in Kashmir) and that the border is close (actually about 250km away).

Sandeep, our latest guide, informs us that Jodhpur is known as the “City of Death”, I bet you won’t find that in any travel guides. Which despite the morbid overtones reflects the fact that all that invading armies found when they vanquished the city was fabrics and a distinct lack of water, which makes it hard to record the desert conquest as a success. Jodhpur is in fact better known as the “the blue city“, which upon arrival I had to seriously question.

1. Jodhpurs are actually traditional trousers worn at Jodhpurian weddings. They only became trendy when the Maharajah of Jodhpur took a polo team to Victorian England and thrashed a number of fancied aristocratic teams that the Europeans figured it must be all due to the clothing.

First stop, Jaswant Thada, the Jodhpurian version, according to Sandeep, of the Taj Mahal. An impressive marble cenotaph to the local maharajahs but whilst it peaceful, serene and smells of jasmine it is a shadow of the edifice at Agra. Unlike the actual Taj, no one is actually buried here as after everyone is cremated their final wish is for their ashes to be spread in the River Ganges (another reason not to wash, drink or swim in the Ganges).

   

 Next stop is the Mehrangrah Fort, every decent Indian city it seems needs a fort and a palace. To get there however you need to take a camel. Rachelle still suffering a traumatic childhood experience with a camel, which threatened to run off with her to the Israeli/Egyptian border, declines the opportunity despite our attempts at cajoling her. I mean the camel even winked at her with its massive eyelashes. So off I plodded alone on my colourfully bedecked ship of the desert.

   

 The Mehrangrah Fort towers majestically 125m above the surrounding city. According to a legends when the Maharajah built the red sandstone fort in 1459 he had to turf out the hill’s sole inhabitant, a local hermit, who cursed Rao Jodha yelling at him “Jodha! May your citadel ever suffer a scarcity of water!”. Jodha tried to appease the hermit by building him a house and a temple in the fort but was only successful in staving off a drought every 3 to 4 years. In order to ensure the prosperity of the fort; he buried a man alive in its foundations, on the promise that his family would be looked after by the Maharajah. Apparently to this day his descendants still live in an estate bequeathed to them by Jodha. 

   

 The fort is a better state of repair than most others due to significant financial bequests from the Getty foundation. Finally from the highest vantage point I espy the ‘Blue City’ – the old quarter where the buildings are painted a myriad of blues. Sandeep remarks that unlike Jaipur there are no edicts that you must have certain colour building, here someone started a trend and everyone copied it – nothing special.   

    
 

1. A little known fact is that the fort was one of the filming locations for the last Batman movie, ”The Dark Knight Rises” – take that Bane! 

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, actually we regularly order more than we can fit in our stomachs, it’s all so good, we’re of to the markets to see some colourful local action. Yes, Rachelle still hasn’t acquired enough jewelry or fabrics – have no idea where we are going to fit it all in our suitcases. Jodhpur is supposedly famous for its food and in particular its sweets 😛. According to the locals their popularity is well known, as you can find sweet shops named ‘Jodhpur Sweets’ in cities throughout India.

Last minute change of plans, we are off to watch a polo match. I mean what are the chances of there being a polo match being played at 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon but this is Jodhpur. Down a bumpy side road, tucked behind the airport, there is a full on polo ground, complete with VIP stands, scoreboards, catering marquees and sales pavilions. We arrived just in time for the second game of the afternoon – not even two minutes into the first chukka the first fighter plane rips across the sky, nobody bats an eyelid not even the horses. Midway through the third chukka and after about the twelfth war plane travelling at just below subsonic speeds blasts overhead the commentator casually remarks that the airforce appear to be busy this afternoon but then it’s on with game. This is truly a remarkable city.

  
  PS Helpful reminder to self – next time do not accept local Indian delicacies that have been sitting out on display in the markets for days…. Your tastebuds might appreciate it but your stomach will not. On the positive side it’s a remarkably quick way to lose weight.