Home Visit

We met in the hotel lobby at 9 a.m. to drive back down into the old "Pink City" of Jaipur, where we visited the astronomical observatory -- a 300+ year old collection of sun dials and similar instruments for measuring time of day, dates of equinoxes and solstices, etc. 

Also prominent were devices for sighting various stars and planets for use in astrology, as the science and the myth were not clearly distinct when this equipment was built. One giant sun dial can show solar time to within two seconds, but only on a sunny day. And of course, Standard Time and solar time are not the same. On this day, Standard Time was running 34 minutes ahead of the sun.

From the observatory it was a short walk to the City Palace. When the Maharajah wasn't up at the Amber Palace on the mountain, he ruled from a somewhat less opulent set of digs within the city wall. Descendants of the royals still live here, but the six family members have scaled back their personal living quarters to a mere 104 rooms on the upper levels. The rest is open to the public as a museum, with admission fees being the primary support to keep the place maintained. The City Palace's traditional Indo-Persian architecture makes it a favorite film set for Bollywood movies and TV commercials, and this also brings in some income. 

The museum galleries featured royal clothing and other textiles dating back 300 years, family portraits, a large collection of antique weapons and battle armor, and royal furnishings, including solid silver thrones and other knick-knacks. Security guards and museum docents are dressed up in 18th & 19th century traditional uniforms. The Maharajah made friends with the British, securing a hereditary governorship of this state during the colonial period. Since independence in 1947, however, they've been just another Indian family.

Lunch today was officially "on our own," but we all went together to a very nice Indian restaurant recommended by our guide. It was good to get real Indian food instead of the crap they've been feeding us (Chinese, Italian, etc.), even if they did take all of the spices out of it for the Americans. we ate light, because we knew a big meal would be coming up in the evening.

Silver urns used to hold Ganges water.

We got another rug show in the afternoon. This was wool rugs instead of silk, but the pitch is pretty much the same. Less pressure to buy at this place, but as is typical, most did (but not us).

Part of the sales pitch: Use a blow torch on the rug, wash it off, it's good as new.

Part of the sales pitch: Get the customer to help make the rug. Ask for money for the photo.

After some rest time at the hotel, we met again in the lobby to head out for our "home-hosted dinner," a key part of every OAT trip. After getting a little lost, our driver finally made a phone call to our host family and got directions. We were only a little late. Our hosts were a traditional middle-class family consisting of dad, mom, and 30-something son. The older daughter is married and there were photos of a grandson. Dad is apparently retired, but we never got a very direct answer on his occupation. He had a degree in English literature and did something that had to do with selling land -- either real estate or development. 

The son is a production assistant with a film company, and has worked on a number of feature films (both Hollywood and Bollywood) as well as a number of commercial spots for TV, documentaries, etc. The mom, apparently, worked in the kitchen. Period. She did not interact with us except to serve us, and she did not join us at the table for the meal. Conversation was lively. The dad clearly was well read on all manner of current events, and the son had lots to contribute about his movie experiences. The meal was excellent, and the driver did not get lost taking us back to the hotel.

Our hostess in her kitchen