Romance with Udaipur continues...

 As years pass by and I grow older

As time ticks off never to return

I preserve my life in my heart's secret folder

Beautiful Memoirs that no one can spurn.

                                                              By Aritra

I am a traveler at heart, the minute beauties of a place attract me. Eating noodles while shivering in north east, drinking tea and eating roasted corn in a wet day by the western ghats, the taste of port wine by a serene beach in Goa or walking through the narrow lanes in Old Udaipur is what attracts me. A heart to heart connection with the place. And hence I consider 12th November 2015, my birthday, as one of the best days in my life so far.

UDAIPUR CITY PALACE

INSIDE THE PALACE

INSIDE THE PALACE

INSIDE THE PALACE

LAKE PALACE

INSIDE THE PALACE

The day started with the most awaited visit to the The City Palace. What do I write!! The painted walls, the glass and crystal maze, the silver chariot or preserved weapons, all speak about the Royal Maharana Era, which continues till date. Rana Sriji Arvind Singh Mewar is the current and 76th custodian of the Mewar Dynasty. The palace is a magnum opus created by the expert hands of Indian artisans years ago, which continue to spellbind Indians and foreigners alike by its art and magnitude. And then we went to the Vintage Car showroom, owned by the current Maharana, a lavish spread of vintage Mercedes and Rolls Royce, a treat to fantasies is what I can write for it. Then to Moti Magri overlooking  the Fateh Sagar Lake to see the unique alloy statue, of Maharana Pratap on his favorite horse Chetak, commemorating The battle of Haldighati. Our last destination for the day was Saheliyon ki bari, a garden laid by Rana Sangram Singh for the forty female attendants, who had come as dowry with the queen. It is a beautiful place with fountains fed naturally by the lake waters and kiosks. 

SAHELIYON KI BARI

MOTI MAGRI

Satisfied with whatever history that we gulped in together with the traditional Rajasthani Thali for lunch, we headed towards our hotel to shed off the physical stress our body had accumulated. Stress buster was most definitely a longed for afternoon siesta, which is like an unattainable dream in city life. After drowning ourselves in pillows we slept like logs and got up feeling low, this usually happens after a long sleep in the afternoon. But it was my birthday, I couldn't afford to feel to sad. Springing back to life was not a choice but a compulsion, driven by which I decided to dine by Pichola lake.

ME AT HARI GARH

LAL MAS

Unfortunately to our utter disgust, we found out that all the fine diners by the lake were already occupied. But as they say " God always has something good in store", and if it is your birthday, he gifts you something to be cherished. Google helped us find the destination for our dinner date "Hari Garh" in old Udaipur, it had good ratings in TripAdvisor. So we headed towards it.

The journey to the place was intriguing, narrow lanes, huge iron doors and ladies with typical round "Mang Tika", yes! I was in Rajasthan, the royal, the traditional and the colourful Rajasthan. I think our journey to Hari Garh was one of the best experiences during the trip.
When we entered the restaurant through a huge palacial door, a lavish comforable spread of couches met our gaze. But they asked us to go to the top floor, under the sky. The iron stairs took us to that awe-inspiring expanse, with comfortably placed couches with pillows. Each couch had a small wooden plank, with a candle lit lamp on it. The royal waters of Lake pichola flowed rythmically by, the stars , the moon and the Deepawali crackers cast a maddening dazzle on it, while we witnessed it all from the soothing light of the lamps.
It was a magical night, my birthday night and a delicious night as well, as yummy "Laal Mas" with soft rotis made our dinner gluttony-worthy.

UDAIVILLAS

UDAIVILLAS

SUNRISE BY THE JETTY

AT THE JETTY

Days passed by, the next morning, the last in Udaipur saw us fresh, we went for an early morning stoll to the Udaivillas, which is a part of the Oberoi property. It was magnificient, regal and reminded us of "Kabira..........", as the wedding part of superhit "Ye Jawani hai Deewani" was shot there. There was a jetty from where we witnessed the morning sun cast it's splendor on the silvery lake waters, it was a beautiful morning.......

Udaipur will always continue to cast its romantic shadow on my heart, my best birthday celebration so far....

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta