Sunday 29th October 2006: Udaipur

Yesterday, Saturday, was divided between work and pleasure. Work consisted mainly of... But wait, it's a Sunday and everything in me is rebelling at the thought of having to think about work. In a few hours I will have to set off back to Kojawara in any case, so let me think about pleasure a little longer. Yesterday it involved a rewarding roam around the old city, discovering a labyrinthine Muslim quarter full of playing kids, sitting old folk and gorgeous, crumbling havelis (Rajasthani merchant houses, replete with scalloped arches, latticed windows and the odd cupola); drinking tea and eating roti with an elderly Jain couple who were full of warmth, especially given the fact that our acquaintance had begun by me asking if I could pee in their overgrown, rubbish-filled courtyard; chatting to Bablu in his rooftop restaurant, mostly about his complex but curiously innocent-sounding amorous life, while admiring the wonderful views of many of the major Udaipur landmarks; falling freshly in love with Lake Pichola and the mesmerising Lake Palace, beauty enhanced by the evening light; venturing out onto the other side of the lake and being greeted joyously by most of the people I met; accepting a lift on a stranger’s motorbike and whizzing along the shore of Fateh Sagar (another lake), perfectly lit up in the sunset and bounded by receding layers of blue-grey hills to the west… confronted by Udaipur how is a hopeless romantic like me supposed not to write reams of overripe and unoriginal bilge that probably best resembles the disgusting, polluted shore of much of Lake Pichola, which must look truly hideous when the monsoon fails! [9]

Evening light, Fateh Sagar

   We had a jolly volunteer party in the evening giving the girls, masterminded by Ellen who turns out to be quite something in the culinary department, an opportunity to try out some of the recipes they had learnt on a cookery lesson in the old town. The triumph was a delicious hybrid between a naan and a pizza. The party was the first chance I'd had in quite some time to catch up with Yogesh, with whom I discussed reservations a few weeks back. He is now in the thick of a research project about honey production, and talks at length about methods of farming bees. I am beginning to suspect that he has a crush on Priya, the pretty volunteer from Harayana, as they seem to spend a great deal of time together, often in earnest conversation. This theory took a slight knock yesterday when he told me that he is in love with a girl in Orissa, to whom he is all but engaged. Karan, likewise, seems to be in Priya's thrall, an observation that makes me question an earlier speculation that he was gay. Whatever the truth of either of these possibilities, I am no closer to working him out, and I am beginning to find him a little irritating although I would be very hard pressed to pinpoint exactly which facet of his unfathomable personality is responsible for this.


Footnotes:

[9] On a return visit to Udaipur in March 2009 I saw this very phenomenon and realised that I had in fact been extremely lucky to see the lakes so full on my 2006-7.

Next Post - Monday 30th October 2006: Maal (will be posted Sunday 30th October 2011)