Happy New Year

New Year is already here..:-) A month already gone by..Wow u realizing it today..Cribs another voice inside..But I was too wrapped up shouts back my inner self ;-) and the fight goes on...

This New year was spent travelling to rajasthan..for many it's a dream destination somehow never was for me..But after the visit I still can't get it over my mind..

The long lonely landscapes to aravali's in the background,rana pratap's famous haldighati & the battle seasoned forts of Chittor to the jauhar of padmini and palatial beauty of Udaipur...I still keep running over it again and again in my thoughts..

Was supposed to be just a long weekend but then hubby got a week's vacation and we decided it was time for a rajasthan tour. Our first stop was Chittorgarh I am still mesmerized by the beauty of the fort and the aura of history that just goes with it..

Saw the simple looking padmini jal mahal (right bldng of the 2 in pic)..last three steps where padmini sat and khilaji saw her in a shininng kansa plate(no mirrors mannn) in adjacent building. well for amateurs..here goes the story..Rani padmini's beauty was beyond words and khilaji was the maharuler(villian as in our stories). He told chittor ka raja he will leave chittor if they show him rani once which of course is so beyond rajputana tradition. Hence the mirror show of rani.But now as khilji saw rani once he of course wanted more(well as every villian wants) which led to the battle with only one end and that was chittor's fall.hence the jauhar the ultimate sacrifice(u go on pyre as suhagin and ur husband goes to fight for death)..

Cld not help but overdramatize the story watching too many movies nowadays. I can't believe it hubby has not heard the story ..But it was amazing.

Victory tower..Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hein we replayed it here :-)

MeerBai's temple another treasure..I thought it was all in our dadi maa bedtime stories but here it was right in front of my eyes where meera drank the poision only for it to be turned into amrita.
Road drive from chattisgarh to Udaipur was a zoom zapak drive.I didnt know such roads existed in India.No habitation around 100 km driveway. One of the common scene that greeted us u wld be cattle grazing in the ground and ladies of house just sitting on their hunches by roadside in the sun , looking content or blank I wish I knew.
Amazing how sometimes scenes that touch u most, just passes by.. It now seems like a movie with no prints ..yeah I got no pics :-) But my memory is serving me perfectly fine so far,so there it runs in my mind..

There is a sharp contrast as u move from Chittorgarh to Udaipur. Suddenly from a battle driven huge lonely rocky terrain u reach land of lakes,beauty and palaces.. First rendezvous was the night light and sound show at City Palace..Amazing it feels as if the whole fort has come alive to tell u the story of it's creation and tradition.

I can see how the janata wld have felt about such a transition in those days..How and why did Rana pratap had the courage to leave life of such luxury is a question that still wonders me.It was Pratap's father who did the transition from Chittor to Udaipur..

Ropeway's top view of Udaipur was amazing..Glittering with jag mandir and city palace in view..

Haldighati terrain was as the name says all haldi in color..One can even visit chetak's(that's was pratap's famed horse) samadhi too..What delighted me to no ends was we could spot the naala(in the left pic) which chetak crossed and saved his raja's life though it led to chetak's demise..Surprsingly not too highlighted as a tourist destiantion, it was cherished discovery for me..
Phew Sweet memories :D

Jan has been busy making every wekeend to my parent's house on one pretext or other..Celebrating lohri after a decade since I had left home was special moment as well.Not much to it except its kindaa bonfire but the tradition and home coming feel of it makes its lovely. First lohri for hubby as well :-)

Life has been interesting journey so far and I wish it unravels itself as beautifully as it has so long..

Wish you all a very Happy New year

Note:Pic at the top are the view we got all along the highway..I love dilli ki sardi :-D