Adventures in Udaipur

Hi everybody,

Greetings from Udaipur in Rajasthan, India! Yesterday and today, Team India spent time touring historic Udaipur including the City Palace, Crystal Gallery, and several other museums and historic sites. Udaipur was the capital of the Mewar state, which successfully resisted the 16th century Mughal invasions. In many places, I've seen it said that the ruling house of the Mewar state is the longest reigining in the world. The people of Udaipur are very proud of the history of their state, which remained independent until 1948 when it voluntarily joined the newly formed Republic of India. So, that's the historical background of where I am today. Tomorrow, Team India leaves for Ahmedabad which is a city larger than Udaipur and to the south, in the state of Gujarat. Our hosts told us that the food in Gujarat is less spicy than the food in Rajasthan. Evidently, each region and state in India has its own cuisine for which it is famous.

This morning, our host mother taught me how to cook puri, which is a flat bread that is deep-fried in ghee, or butter. She also showed me her spice collection. I've been learning the names of several Indian dishes. There are many kinds of flat bread. Puri, and roti which is roasted, nan which is baked and served with butter spread on top, and paranta which is stuffed with vegetables, especially potato. Sweets served include ladoo, which is kind of hard to explain. It's a round ball made of little round balls of puffed something (rice?). There's jalebe which is the funnel cake dipped in sugar syrup that I had at the wedding reception. There's kheer, which is sweet milk with rice and is served in a brown cup called a mudpod. I don't know if the spelling's right on that last one. Then there's ras malai which is a small, round cake soaked in sweet milk. This dish was served the other night at the country club along with some very spice entrees like chicken tikka and all kinds of paneer - vegetables. The sweet and cool cut the bite of the spicy dishes. It was a great combination. There's also mango pickles. It's hard to explain the taste, but it's like mango soaked in spices and served as a kind of chutney. Finally, dal, or lentils, are served at most meals and are best eaten over rice. Much of the cuisine here is oily. My host mother explained that she uses sunflower oil mostly when she cooks, though groundnut oil also seems to be common.

I'm still trying to figure out the traffic situation. At first glance, it seems like total chaos with cars, motorcycles, three wheel taxis, and pedestrians moving from all different directions at one time. There are many roundabouts and few traffic signals. I haven't seen any police cruisers at all. But there seems to be some set of unwritten rules that govern traffic in Udaipur. The first rule seems to be the rule of positioning. To get from Point A to Point B, you have to position yourself aggressively and block on-coming traffic, which is expected to yield to your secure position by moving around you on one side or the other. Like basketball, you do a kind of pick and roll technique where you use other motorists (or pedestrians) as blockers as you move to your next spot. The second rule seems to be a vehicular pecking order. Cars are at the top of the hierarchy, followed by motorcycles and then bikes. Three-wheel taxis count as cars, and buses and trucks are considered big cars. Pedestrians usually yield to traffic, and traffic usually yields to animals. So, I guess animals really are at the top of the hierarchy. If you drive in Udaipur, you must have thick skin because everybody honks at you. But you can't take it personally because it's not a sign of exasperation or anger. And though there have been many opportunities where road rage would have been legitimate, I've seen no instances of it. Honking seems to be a way of announcing your presence to on-coming motorists, or to motorists in front of you who are blocking your way. It's a way of saying "Here I am."

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post any pictures, but I'm working on it. The scenary here is quite beautiful. Udaipur is surrounded by mountains, and the view from on top of the City Palace or my host family's third floor terrace is quite spectacular.

It's now about 12:40 AM local time, and it's been a long and busy day of sight-seeing and meetings. I did get a chance to talk this evening with an older gentleman who marched with Gandhi in the 1940s during India's independence movement. He spent over a year in jail without charges as a result of his activities. He's most recently been involved in several local projects using microloans, which are small loans given to locals - many of them women - to establish small businesses (usually crafts) at very low interest as a way of boosting local economies. Many families have been lifted out of poverty through these programs. The founder of the microloan program (from Bangladesh, I forgot his name) was awarded the recent Nobel Peace Prize for his work. Anyway, that's enough for tonight. Thank-you for checking in and for taking the time to keep track. I don't know when I'll be able to post next since I don't know what technological capabilities exist in other cities and we leave Udaipur tomorrow. So, it may be several days before I'm able to post again. Feel free to leave comments and ask questions if you like, and I'll try to find out the answers for you.

So long for now, PW