Rewind: A Rajasthani Reunion

Summary: There’s nothing like meeting up with old friends and making new ones. It doesn’t matter what you do (or don’t do) together; I found that during Jackie and Jeremy’s recent trip to India.

Imagine the warzone also known as the Jaipur train station. People running into each other from all directions. Unidentifiable sounds, each louder than the next. And, amidst the chaos and mayhem, a weary, dirt-ridden videshi survivor emerges, oblivious to everything around her. Her few hairs are frazzled. She wears two packs – one on the front and one on the back – to shield her body from foreign contact. Her head emerges like a turtle’s, eyes barely able to see over the front pack.

Upon seeing her, one doesn’t know whether to pity her, to help her, or to hug her. Jackie, in her characteristic inability to decide, settles for all three, and I take it. And so the adventure begins.

We spend the rest of the day in the van, taking a 3-hour detour to visit a village Mayank works with before reaching his ancestral home. (Check out the organization he founded, Greenlight Planet, competitor to Stanford alumni's D.light for providing a safe, affordable alternative to kerosene lamps.) Village visits always make me happy, because folks are so warm and friendly. They invited us to stay the night, which I found to be a tempting offer given the prospect of the nighttime village-road driving that lay ahead.

We finally reach the haveli at night. To give you a sense of the history and character of this place, the haveli has been passed down through Mayank’s family for 8 or 9 generations. None of his family lives in the house anymore, but a ‘skeleton staff’ maintains it and the properties nearby. After an amazing traditional Rajasthani meal, we set about exploring the different levels of the house, finally settling on the second floor by a fire, gazing at the stars.

Back in the day, Mayank’s family basically ran the village; one can think of them as feudal lords. As such, they set up a trust to help those in need. The trust has since manifested in social services such as a health clinic, a school, and a computer training center. Originally planning to leave by 11 am, we finally hit the road at 2 pm, after a tour of the village and the family properties. (Indian time.)

Enter Mandawa Palace. I don’t know how so many people find things “off the beaten path,” but to my knowledge, this place was at least a 4-hour drive from the nearest city, and it was flooded by European tourists. Tourists sun bathing by the pool, unnecessarily showing way too much skin.

By the time we reached Jaipur at night, we were all wiped, testy, and nauseated. My proudest achievement of the trip was the next 40 hours – Jackie, Jeremy, and I didn’t leave the hotel at all. In fact, we only left the room four times, for food. (We considered room service, but thought that might be a little excessive.) Recovery is hard work – not only were we recovering from the car rides, but also from sleep deprivation, weak immune systems, and Delhi Bellies. In retrospect, I wish I’d bugged the room, because it was one great conversation!

In my mind, our trip ended there, because everything else is a blur. In fact, those 40 hours themselves were a blur, and I’m no longer sure it happened. Perhaps it was all a dream, a dream from which I awoke with a smile.