One look at the ‘Taste of India’ cafe and my sleepy mood was shaken away and made me head that way. The Khara Bath, Idli Vada and the like on their menu are something that I really needed after waking up at an unearthly hour and dragging myself up to the airport to catch my 6am flight. Finally someone understood that people who get into airports are normal human beings eating normal food, and don’t relish living on re-heated and overpriced stale sandwich and machine coffee.
Though the new Bangalore airport was never in news for good things, it does have many good things to go with it. The Taste of India cafe is just one of them. I was sick and tired of having to live on inedible trash served in small kiosks at the old airport. Could not they serve Idli, Vada and Dosa instead of acting like they live somewhere in Europe or North America? You could ask for an espresso but filter coffee was a no no. Things still haven’t changed when it comes to filter coffee, but the Barista outlet at the airport lounge is good enough to make me happy.
The biggest problem with the airport is something that people have been whining all the time – it’s the distance. Having to board a flight at 6am meant lot of curses to people who booked my ticket, getting up at 2.30am, get ready and run to the bus stop to catch the 3.30am bus. Lucky that I am, one of the airport buses of BMTC starts from a bus stop just 5 minutes away from home. Otherwise it had to be an expensive cab ride all the way, or starting much earlier to get to a bus stop. Thankfully we have frequent services from BMTC without which it would be a difficult affair to get to airport.
Once on the bus, the conductor sat next to me and started a casual conversation, not realizing that 3.30am is not exactly a great time for some chatter.
“yelli hogthaa ideera?” he asked. “where are you going?”
He laughed when I said Delhi, and responded with a joke that is now time tested – “two hours to the airport and two more hours of flying!”
I guess you have to make some sacrifices if you want a new airport. Globetrotting Bangaloreans thought it is ‘cool’ to complain about the old HAL airport even when it functioned smoothly, and kept asking for a new swanky airport. Though, in its last days, the old airport was getting too crowded and a new one was becoming a necessity. There were frequent delays in take off and landing as the planes waited for their share of the runway.
Bad things about the airport stop with the distance and time taken to reach there. Its structure is simple and functional – there isn’t anything convoluted and arty in the building that hinders normal functioning at any point of time. Queues are short and move quickly for check ins and security clearances. The self check in koisks make life easier. There is some sensible food available once you get into the lounge, and there is enough space and seating for all. Free WiFi comes handy if you have a long wait for boarding your flight. It’s full of conveniences and free of hassles.
To conclude, the distance is a big put off. But once you get there, everything is as good as it should be. Filter coffee would be a definite bonus, if the Barista at the lounge is willing to sell it.
Travelling in Rajasthan in February 2008
Jaipur >> Shekhawati >> Pushkar >> Jaisalmer >> Jodhpur
+ Previous: The Marwari Language
+ Next: Havelis of Shekhawati
The first thing I sight in Mandawa town are a pair of peacocks strolling freely on the main road. They don’t seem much different in their attitude from roosters in villages that fearlessly wander in search of something to peck. They laze on the unmetalled road undaunted, callously moving to a corner when my bus roars into the scene with its high decibel engine. The driver honks at men, cows and peacocks alike, warning about the entry of his brute tin drum that cares little for anything on the way.
Mandawa’s two main roads are just wide enough to let a bus barely make it through, squeezing between gutters on either side. If two wide-bodies of equal might encounter each other in this constrained space, they get into a battle of furious honking until one of them surrenders and retracts. The small town often gets filled with the noise of bus drivers in conflict that gets broadcasted to everyone in town.
The town has peacocks not just wandering on the roads, but also painted on the walls of its crumbling old havelis (mansions) that are covered in colors from corner to corner. In fact, Shekhawati region that encloses Mandawa is sometimes referred to as the world’s largest open air art gallery. Large havelis dot the town that once used to house big families of traders, with each inch of the walls elaborately painted with floral designs, images from Indian mythologies, and portraits of people who framed the history of Shekhawati.
Shekhawati’s good days date beyond two centuries when traders from Delhi used to take this route to reach ports of Gujarat. Passing traders brought prosperity that came in the form taxes collected from wayfarers. Increasing disposable income lead to flourishing population of artisans who decorated the towns with rich colours and painted houses of merchants living opulent lives.
But Shekhawati’s date with fortune had to end with the changing political landscape in Delhi as well as in neighbouring regions of Rajasthan. Kingdoms of Bikaner and Jaipur on either sides of Shekhawati lowered taxes and wooed traders. And later, in the days of dominance of the British, the Mughal empire crumbled and old systems of trade ceased to exist. But the infallible and enterprising Marwari merchants survived the blow and migrated to the new centers of trade – Mumbai and Calcutta. As they prospered in the new cities in the 19th and early 20th century, they propelled money into their homelands to build lavish Havelis that stood as symbol of their pride and success. With local artisan employed to beautify these buildings, Shekhawati emerged as the open art gallery that it is today.
It is easy to stumble upon these richly painted havelis in Madawa. I walk past a few of these crumbling colourful structures as I get down from the bus and onto the dusty street, trying to find my way to the hotel. But the surprise comes when I set into the veranda of my hotel whose walls make a good attempt to match the decor of the old Havelis. Its concrete walls are typical and boring and doesn’t have much in comparison to the thick plasters and wooden supports of the havelis, but the frescoes on them make an honest attempt to brighten the atmosphere. Next to the bed in my room is an erotic image – not usually seen on the walls of havelis – of a young Rajput royal man with his lady, in their intimate moment. I do not know if the uneasy expression on the face of the young man in the painting is a failure of the painter or a job very well done, but the painting definitely surprises me in a time when eroticism is becoming less acceptable in India than in the ancient times.
Thus began my explorations of painted towns of Shekhawati.
Continued at Havelis of Shekhawati
Called ‘Neelakantha’ in Kannada, it is also the state bird of Karnataka.
