Come, Walk with Me! (Book 1)

By Harpreet Kaur Kapoor

India is a fascinating country. For a person who is born and brought up here it may seem a mundane comment, but this is my viewpoint. Having lived in India for 40 years now, the different places and their people remain as fascinating as always.
Traveling has been a passion with me since childhood and over the years I have collected my travel experiences and feelings in the form of a book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harpreet Kaur Kapoor
• Release date: Mar 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452310497

Harpreet Kaur Kapoor

Hi as a writer I know I can improve, I would like it very much if you read my books and tell me what is missing and how it will improve my work. Your opinions matter to me. Please send them to my email id [e-mail],. My writing for sometime has come to standstill and your words may add some fire to it.Thank you all.I am a writer and writing has been my passion from my college days, but I have given it complete free reign over everything else, only in the last few years. As a journalist, I have worked in many newspapers and magazines and gathered over 13 years of experience. But I am still gathering experience for my writing. Every day is a learning experience and adds to my profile.

Book preview

Come, Walk With Me!

By Harpreet Kaur

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 Harpreet Kaur

I dedicate this book to The Rose and my teacher and my dog Jack.

India is a fascinating country. For a person who is born and brought up here it may seem a mundane comment, but this is my viewpoint. Having lived in India for 40 years now, the different places and their people remain as fascinating as always. Traveling has been a passion with me since childhood and over the years I have collected my travel experiences and feelings in the form of this book.

- Harpreet Kaur

Book I

Rajasthan

A meandering soul

Recently, I traveled to Rajasthan for a wedding where I was part of the few special guests invited for the same. We traveled by Ranakpur Express from Mumbai to Rani in Pali district of Jodhpur. The journey was a good 15 hours, starting at 3pm we reached on the next day at 6am.

The entire train had baaratis (wedding attendees) spread over many compartments including ours. Although invitees, they took care of us royally, food was served when we were hungry, tea was served promptly and dinner was packed in foil boxes and served hot. Watching the stations go by is a favorite hobby of mine, reading names, linking them to history or any historical fact is you may call one weird habit that helps me to keep awake and interested in the journey that is to come ahead.

In fact, truth be told, I am not much of wedding go-er and yet the nuances, the planning, the customs and smallest details that have to be taken care of is very fascinating for me. I enjoy studying them, the way people react, their expressions during the entire process, the way they are dressed, what is being said and done, how many people get served well, who are ignored, sorry I do have quite a bit of an eye for these details.

After getting off at Rani, we were all loaded into jeeps and vans and taken to my uncle’s friend’s ancestral home in Khimel. Through the road that has been privately built by Kishore Khemavat, the road is shaded with green Neem (Azadirachta indica) trees on both sides along the entire road. Rani is also famous for the best girl’s public school here called Marudhar Mahila Vidya Sangh, a hostel cum school.

Khimel is equidistance between Jodhpur and Udaipur. As is the case with many villages and small towns here in Rajasthan, they lie empty for the entire year except during festivals and marriage ceremonies. Empty but beautiful homes that stand quietly waiting for their owners to come and occupy them, I felt sad, I love these homes, with umpteen parrots calling out in unison hanging from the balconies, wires, with water and food filled stands placed outside. The jeeps quietly swished on the road covered in sand and rolled to stop close to the homes that were decorated with torans, streamers and wedding tents. Hot tea waited for all those who alighted from the vehicles. As we sipped at the hot tea in the cold morning, everything felt calm and beautiful. My love for Rajasthan increased that day. I had found peace within my soul that goes missing in the agitating and whirlwind world of Mumbai.

We waited our turn to be greeted in the traditional manner, there were women dressed in tradition ghagra choli chunari with their faces covered, singing and greeting the wedding guests and visitors to their home. As we entered they sang even more loudly and the eldest bahu (daughter-in-law) of the house applied the tilak (red mark, considered auspicous) on our forehead and fed us gud (jaggery) and ghee (clarified butter), the shagun (welcome) for wedding guests that all guests will bring good luck to the home and the couple that was to be married.

We stepped in and sat enjoying the small ceremonies taking place; the dholi (drummer) walked in and started drumming, for the dulha (groom) who had been traveling with us. This was his ancestral home. We would be traveling to the girl’s village in Kishanpura, some kilometers away from Khimel but a part of Rani.

After the shagun, we all went to the rooms provided for us, showered and changed and were immediately invited for breakfast.  Me, as usual, till the jeep could arrive chose to stroll out and visit the ancient temples located close by. Here there are some rare old temples. One belonged to Dedadevi (mother goddess I think) that was closed but it is around 200 years old with the swambhu (self occurring) image covered with cloth from behind and a lion sitting on its paws outside with an eternal jyoti (lamp) burning in the courtyard; there was a Hanuman temple close by and a very very old Krishna temple. In the open courtyard was another small hanuman temple under a tree.

The Krishna temple seemed over 800 years old. It had a huge fort like doorway with place to sit close built just inside the entrance. The entrance was barred with a stone barrier two feet high with a small stepping stone provided for one had to climb across it to get into the temple premise. It would soon be repaired. Inside was a courtyard with small rooms to each side but their roof had caved in. These rooms were used by pilgrims during festivals and straight ahead lay the temple. The main temple was a small square room with space enough to walk around it to perform the parikrama (circumbulation) and a huge brass bell hanging to one side. The temple, the only one of its kind, had huge tulsi (basil-Ocimum tenuiflorum) trees on both sides of the center temple, and is said to have been planted by the last ruler of Khimel aided by the Mehta’s of the region.

Close by is a beautiful stepped well also built by the Mehta’s, the business family according to many and according to others these were the last of the Chauhan rulers who changed their profession to survive and they took on the name of Mehta’s. They have built their samadhi close to the well. There are three chhattris here for four generation of Mehta’s.

This entire region of Rani, Khimel, in Pali, had once been under the domain of the Chauhan rulers. The well is huge, with water below; it is still a very cool place and regarded as the abode of the Mataji, whose temple is located close. Climb the limestone flight of stairs and the flat upper side deceives the visitor for then you climb down a flight of stairs and come up to a door cut in the limestone walls. Beautifully made, simple and yet elegant. Few design works at the edges will remind you of the elaborate work done on the vavs (stepped wells) in Gujarat. The well is quite deep and yet holds water, which is filled with coconuts and flowers at the moment and the water, is not drinkable. I found some beautiful peacock feathers just lying around and picked them as souvenirs for myself.

By the time we came out, our jeep was waiting for us to take us to take us for brunch, which included tea, farsan (mixed savouries), khaman (Gujrati breakfast item), upma (south Indian breakfast made of refined wheat grains) and mithai (sweetmeat). The initial wedding ceremonies were underway- a small havan (Vedic fire ritual) was being performed by the boy’s father’s brother and wife. They were dressed in traditional marriage clothes with shehra (flowers bedecking the man’s forehead) and goonghat (sari covering the face of the woman). After the havan the boy was brought out and the haldi (application of turmeric) ceremony was performed.

This is one interesting ceremony when the boy is given a chance to decamp from the wedding to take up sanyas (become a hermit) or step into a happy married life. He is dressed in all white and offers prayers till they stop and everyone steps in to cover him haldi, pulling his leg at the same time. The ceremony is diligently clicked by the official photographer, he does not take a chance and chooses not to miss any individual or person at the ceremony, for it could lead to heated arguments later. By the time they finish the groom has packed a small potla (bag) with clothes and food on a stick and is ready to run. As the application of the haldi ceremony gets over, he gets up quietly to make a run for it and everyone