The Accidental Superhero

I was really really (yes double really!) looking forward to my trip across Rajasthan ; though in the summer month of April yet excitement to the hilt. As the days of my travel were approaching, I was busy preparing my “things to carry” list mentally. Had everything in place, the clothes, the shoes, the sunglasses, scarves, sipper, sun screen, books to read, things to munch, my minimal makeup stuff, my maximal accessories trinkets, power bank, camera and of course the people I wanted to oblige with my graceful company and the wonders of warm Rajasthan! But as luck would have it, due to sudden emergency in the family I had to rush to Rajasthan totally unprepared and much before the scheduled tour dates. The personal emergency was a personal tragedy and I decided to cancel my tour. As the date of the tour approached, my husband asked me to reconsider the original plans and suggested that I start the tour a little late but not cancel it entirely. Having learnt to cope up with the tragedy, I too was contemplating to take the tour convincing myself that “life has to move on” and “this will keep me distracted”.

So finally, the tour was to begin for me at Bikaner instead of Jaipur which was the original start point. I took a flight from Jaipur to Bikaner, thanks to this certain airlines who have just started this new connectivity. And thus began an adventure like none other! Firstly, my “things to carry” list was gathering dust somewhere in my home back in Mumbai, and secondly I was absolutely blank about the places I was to visit as all my preparation was lost in all these days of being away from my laptop. However, the spirit of exploring Rajasthan was still alive and excitement automatically chased that spirit.

Here I was on my way to Bikaner on my maiden trip in a propellor-wala Chhotu aircraft watching the ground below all through my flight. But hey, where is the runway in Bikaner and where does the pilot think will we land without one!! Oh I sight a tarmac expanse, more like a basketball court, this must be the airport. And yes! It is the airport. Get off and walk off please kind of an airport. No am not complaining, I love to walk, but 40 degrees Celsius isn’t a very pleasant temperature to walk in. “And which conveyor belt will my luggage arrive on? No ma’am, it will arrive at the luggage bay, not the luggage belt ; identify yourself through your boarding pass and collect it.” Well ok, I don’t mind that either.

Luggage collected and excitement in place, I board my ride which would practically be my home for the next ten days. Wonderful air-conditioning and comfortable seats, this answers my question of this ride being so popular for long travels. Did I mention about the book I picked up from the airport in Jaipur? Well, something from the “things to carry” list had to be added, right? Forget the fact that I could only manage two pages of the new book, owing to the unstoppable tiresome travel that lay ahead of me.

Day 1 and we commence our adventure with a sumptuous lunch at The Gajner Palace in Bikaner. Tranquility and peace prevails at this most beautiful palace by the lake side with a black buck sanctuary next to it. A little storm and a few clouds kept the heat away. After the lovely lunch with litres of chhachh (my doc friend advised me to guzzle lots of liquids during my trip), we moved ahead heading towards Jaisalmer - the golden city with the golden sand dunes. 

The weather kept us duly entertained with glimpses of kaali peeli aandhi, little shower and breeze all along the way. The sun kept playing peek-a-boo. We reached Jaisalmer by dinner time and headed straight to a lovely hotel for yet another feast. Life was looking all good - so far. I clicked away to my heart’s content all along this trip and might soon become a photographer, a lousy one though :). A hearty meal and a comfy bed in the best of the best places in Jaisalmer is all I wanted at that moment. Woke up to a beautiful view to a very pretty swimming pool. Took a leisurely round of the hotel before, you guessed it right, heading for breakfast. Thus began my first day of my fun-filled trip. We headed to the world famous Khuri sand dunes in Jaisalmer enroute visiting some artisans and potters’ villages. This is when I started missing my “things to carry” things which I did not carry with me. Unsuitable wardrobe and absolutely incorrect footwear, no shades and no scarves and the scorching sun shining right above our heads, we visited the villagers and then the dunes. Everyone likes the sand roasted peanuts in winters, now I know what hell the peanuts endure after stepping onto the sand dunes, or I should rather say, stepping into the sand dunes. You can not be ON them, you are always IN them. And they conspire with the sun as their partner to burn down every thing that touches them. I felt the first tug at my heart when I thought of my sneakers sleeping peacefully back home in Mumbai. Wish you were here!

Jaisalmer fort, lotsa walking, sweaty feet, and sand of course everywhere. Next stop, tent stay in the Sam sand dunes. An early morning camel ride and off to some sight seeing on Day 2. Kuldhara, the abandoned village with its eerily eerie air, a few clicks with a centenarian flautist and a few sheep and we headed to the War Museum enroute Pokaran. Me, in my “sasural wale kapde” and “ghar wale footwear”, walked everywhere confident enough to not get conscious. Pokaran was a surprise to me, such a tiny hamlet with such magnificent places to see - a fort, royal cenotaphs and a vibrant bazaar. First the cenotaphs, they are visible from the highway itself. To get a closer look, and better pictures, we walked over in the wilderness towards where the cenotaphs were. The walk towards the cenotaphs was one arduous one with the blazing sun, hottest of hot sand, thorny shrubs and twigs and loose rocks dotted the path. But I had to get a closer look and a good photograph so I ignored all this and marched on, thorns poked through the soles of the footwear and sand burned my feet. The sand here was a mix of the desert golden sand and a little red dirt. Back in my AC ride and my feet were throbbing with all that effort they had to make. One look at my feet and I wanted to throw up - sweaty, greasy, dirty with black lines of dirt and sweat mixed lining the shape of my feet, pink footwear turned to some greyish pinkish blackish trash. Now remember this description as this is how my feet looked like every evening after much of sightseeing and travelling.

Our next destination was sand dunes of Osian, and then the lovely blue city of Jodhpur. I dressed in my brightest blues to match the colour of the city for the sight seeing trip across jodhpur and matched my clothes with my formal footwear too, the other pair of slip-ons that I had with me. Visit to the fort of Mehrangarh was one mesmerising experience, we must have taken more than an hour absorbing in the history and all the marvellous stories while clicking away all the exhibits at this thoughtfully curated museum. The walk down the fort was the most painful task for me though, owing to the wrong footwear I wore. I held onto the railings literally hanging onto the bars to take my next step. Somehow managed the ordeal and decided to shop for a good pair of shoes from the Jodhpur market. While touring Clock Tower area I kept looking out for the shoe shops all around, on Nai Sarak I found the store of the popular shoe brand and quickly popped in and out of it with a bright maroon canvas pair in tow. Happy with my new buy, I wore them as soon as I sat in my tuk tuk back to the hotel. Another extravagant dinner and a big smile on my face as I sported my maroon shoes with my blue dress! Three hours later I wanted to cut off either my feet or the shoes as these wretched maroon beings relentlessly gnawed at my feet. The moment I reached my room, I flung the marooners away and hugged my pinkie pies. 

From Jodhpur it was Mount Abu, Kumbhalgarh, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Kota, Bundi, Ranthambhore and Jaipur. Destination after destination, palaces after palaces, forts after forts, and one scrumptious dinner after another in best of the five stars all along the way but me and my pink slippers were inseparable. We didn’t care who was judging us, we were more than delighted to be in each other’s company. So the mornings began with clean feet and squeaky slippers and evenings saw us struggling to keep the human’s balance in the sweat and grime smeared feet and slipper combo. A feet and slipper wash ritual before bed time and we were ready to conquer another fort again the next morning. The loyalty and love for each other grew tremendously, after all they saved my feet from the thorn attack at pokaran and from baking in the hot sands of Khuri and from tumbling down the steepest fort of Bundi. A lesson we learnt together is that while you make new friends, you keep the old ; those are silver but these are gold. Our love has grown so strong that we have left our own versions of love bites on each other, my footprint is imprinted in their heart and their straps are printed on my feet!