September 13, 2026
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| The old faithful for 12 years standing proud at Shivpuri |
In September 2026 we decided to go for a motoring holiday to Rajasthan in our 12-year old Duster. This was to be a long tour. We would enter Rajasthan through Kota/Bundi and go as far as Tal Chhapar via Jaipur. On the way back we would go straight to Bharatpur bypassing Jaipur and exit through Fatehpur Sikri and Agra.
This is a kind of loop and we would do the loop clockwise.
A few kilometers after Kanpur (which is after Benares and Allahabad on the old highway to Delhi - earlier NH2 but now NH19) there is a bifurcation on the road. The one going straight goes towards Ettawah and Agra etc. We would take the left one on the fork and go towards Jhansi/Shivpuri which is on the edge of MP and UP. From here we go next to Bundi via Kota. You enter Rajasthan somewhere soon after Shivpuri. Next comes Kota. If you go straight you end up in Udaipur. Turn right and you are going towards Bundi. Jaipur is farther on that road via Tonk.
Starting from Calcutta our days looked like this. Benares (2 nights) - Shivpuri (2 nights)- Bundi (3 nights)- Jaipur (2 nights) - Tal Chhapar (2 nights) - Bharatpur (2 nights) - Benares (2 nights) - Home.
Our original plan was to spend just one night in Benares and move on towards Shivpuri the very next morning. But early in the morning in Benares we realised that both of us were too tired for back to back two days of very long drives. We chose to stay on in Benares for a day of rest and some more malai (one of the reasons why I like staying in Benares is the malai from Pagla's shop in Biswanath gali).
This is one of the advantages of a self drive trip. You can be flexible with your schedule. We hardly ever book a hotel in advance. I also realised that I am possibly no longer strong enough to drive 12 hours on two consecutive days. In fact on the first day to Benares I felt so sleepy on the way that I stopped the car and took a short cat nap for about 10/15 minutes. After that I had a coffee by the road side. I felt quite fresh after this. A ten minute rest does wonders to one's energy reserve.
In terms of preparation I got the car serviced a couple of weeks before the trip. It had a little above 76000 kilometers on the od. I also bought an Annual Pass for highway toll. For Rs 3000 you are entitled to cross 200 toll plazas on the national highways within one year. If we had to pay individually, toll for this trip itself would cost us around Rs 10,000 or so. We crossed around 55 toll gates on this trip of more than 4000 km. The annual pass is valid only on national highways maintained by NHAI. It does not work on the state highways. There you pay through your normal fastag card at the individual gates. In Rajasthan we had to take a few state highways where money was deducted from my fastag balance. There are many tolled state highways and state owned expressways in UP too but we consciously avoided them. Both because they are poorly made and expensive.
Day One. Calcutta to Benares. August 30, 2026
Start from home - 76555 Km @ 5.10 am
Reached Hotel Rahi Benares - 77289 km @ 5.30 pm
Total driving time - 12 hours 10 min
Total distance - 734 km
Total toll gates - 10 (including Vivekananda Setu)
In Benares we stay at hotel Rahi and curse it every time. It is a UP Tourism property located near the main railway station. The rooms are below par and virtually nothing works. We have to check the flush, geyser and AC. If you have any two of these working you take that room. Every time we swear we will never come back again but end up doing exactly that. A. Because it is a known devil but the devil is really bad. B. It is very inexpensive. Rs 1600 per room. C. It has a decent parking space for our car. There is a Plaza Inn nearby that looks more plush with decent parking. Perhaps next time we will stay there. But Rahi is very good for Rs 1600. You cannot really stay in any of the other Rs 1600 hotels in Benares. Also their restaurant is decent enough.
Our drive to Benares was affected by a few unfinished flyovers in Jharkhand, You have to take the narrow service roads and they are in pathetic condition with loaded trucks moving very slowly. This creates very long jams. We lost at least two hours negotiating these bottle necks. It takes a few seconds to write it but moving through these jams takes a toll on your mental health and nerves. It was so bad that I completely missed the Tilaiya dam that comes on the right hand side of the road. Its' a beautiful lake worth stopping to appreciate, particularly in monsoon.
This time we took an exit into Benares that we had never taken before. Our google map interpretation was wrong somewhere inside the city and we ended up travelling a long distance on the serpentine lanes of the city to reach Rahi. Lot of self drive tourists these days stay near the highway at Chitaipur. I did not do that because that is very far from the main action point of Benares which is Dasashwamedh Ghat where malai is available. Eating malai from Pagla's shop near Dasashwamedh ghat, as I said earlier, is the main reason why I take the pain of entering Benares city.
Staying outside Benares near the highway is very convenient if all you want to do is rest for a night or two. Staying near the Ghats makes most sense for seeing the city properly but I don't do it because a. driving through the narrow congested streets would be a nightmare and b. getting parking space is next to impossible in the old city. I had stayed at hotel Lara (which is right next to the ghat) once and they organised parking in the basement of a new building nearby. But reaching Lara is a real pain after a 10/12 hour drive. So locationally Rahi is the best compromise. The ghat area is only Rs 20 by auto or Uber motorcycle taxi.
During this trip I forgot my reading glasses at the last moment which I realised about 10 minutes after starting from home. On hindsight I should have perhaps gone back and taken it from home. After reaching Benares I realised that I had forgotten the tooth brush too. That can be managed with a new one but the glasses had no back up. I had to deal with their absence and read my phone with the regular glasses off. I could not read even a word of the Manto book that I carried on the trip.
Benares was just its usual self except that the Ganga was flowing very high. Dasaswamedh Ghat was almost deserted and the river was just a few steps below the road level. Ganga aarti was closed and boats were not allowed to operate as the river was in spate. I wonder how the boatmen were surviving. They are all Muslims and I am sure the BJP administration is happy about it. However, the river had not really entered the city, as the news reports and reels would make you believe. On Monday the area had very few tourists. But Sunday, the day we arrived, Godaulia was quite croweded with pilgrims.
From Rahi I usually take an Uber motorcycle to reach Godaulia because autos drop you off quite far from there due to entry restrictions till 9 pm. Share autos from the Cantt area also cost Rs 20 - same as the Uber bike. One funny thing about Cantt is it is a short form for Cantonment but the locals don't know this. So if you ask anyone for direction never say Cantonment. They will look with a vacant face at you. Ask about Cantt. I learnt it the hard way during our first trip to the city.
I had 200 gms of malai on both the nights from Pagla's shop in Benaress. The seller himself was not too sure if I could digest so much of pure condensed (cow or buffalo?) milk. But my stomach quite managed it. This time I also bought 250 grams of ghee from Pagla, which he procured from someone else. We have to see how we like the taste after getting home (I am writing this from Benares on the penultimate day of our trip). PS: it's delicious, to say the least.
Day 3 - Benares to Shivpuri
Start from Rahi Benares - 77289 Km @ 6.30 am
Reached Col Gill's Tranquility Farm - 77938 km @ 5.30 pm
Total driving time - 11 hours
Total distance - 649 km
Toll gates - 9
We started relatively late from Benares. Monisha cooked Maggi in the room on our stove, complete with eggs, tomoatoes and onions etc. With the belly full we started in right earnest when Benares was just about waking up. I took the straight forward old GT Road (the old GT Road used to go through the city of Benares but now the highway runs about 12 kms away from the main railway station) which has been made into a very wide 4-lane road. This connects the new GT Road or NH 19 at a place called Mohansarai. From here you turn right towards Allahabad. First comes Allahabad and you take the bypass. Next comes Kanpur which has a 30 Km elevated bypass avoiding the city. Some 30 Kms or so after the elevated corridor ends comes the bifurcation that I wrote about earlier.
After you take the road towards Jhansi there comes a small town called Orai. Bandit Queen and later a Samjwadi Party MP Fulan Devi was born in one of the villages near Orai. We were going through what was once a region infested with famous Chambal dacoits. But now that is a profession of the past. The dacoits have mostly joined politics and are to be found generally in our Parliament and state legislatures. But this write up is not about rotten politics. It is about our travel.
We crossed Jhansi in the afternoon without entering the town, as is the custom these days. On an earlier trip 15 years ago we went through Jhansi town to Orchha.
Shivpuri was a matter of 100 Kms from Jhansi on the way to Kota. Last time when we came the region seemed very pretty with lots of water bodies and lakes etc. The road itself went through a very desolate part of India. We wanted to experience all that once again.
This time we would take a break in Shivpuri at Col Gill's farm. We reached the farm at 5.30 when there was adequate sun light. Shivpuri is on the right hand side of the highway (about 10/15 km inside) that connects Jhansi and Kota - NH 27. Col Gill's farm is a little before Shivpuri town. We could find our way quite easily with help from Google.
We discovered this property on MP Tourism's website as a suggested place. We had earlier spoken to Col Gill but did not book rooms with any confirmed date of arrival. Just gave him a tentative date. They were very happy to receive us. Col Gill, who should be around 70, runs the farm stay with his wife, daughter and a beautiful, playful bull mastiff named Olympia. He is a retired colonel of the Indian Army. His wife is from Shillong and also an ex-army doctor. They live here with their daughter who is preparing for her competitive exams after post graduation. Col Gill has a Calcutta background too. I think his father had settled there and owned the large petrol pump in Birati on Jessore Road which had a famous eating joint next to it. He used to travel to Calcutta quite often till his mother passed away recently. He is very conversant with the road route from Calcutta to Shivpuri.
The farm is actually a farm with massive agricultural land that extends right upto the horizon with a river possibly going through the middle of it and a small hill at the end of it. His grandfather had purchased this land and there are quite a few Gills living nearby who are perhaps his cousins. Col Gill is a serious farmer. He has some four tractors of different sizes. Each has its own application, different from the others. He said during plantation or harvesting season there are at least 100 farm workers milling around all over the place.
Apart from growing paddy and wheat he also grows different types of vegetables and lintel etc. Virtually everything that we ate there over the two days came from his farm - including the wheat. The entire cooking was done by Mrs Gill herself. There were a few maids but they only helped to serve the food. The food was simple but delicious.
The Gills are a family that you take an instant liking for. They are both excellent conversationists and there is genuine warmth in their behaviour. Col Gill even treated me to high quality Scotch whiskey on the second evening. I have to return this favour when I visit him next. I wonder how much money Col Gill makes out of this business. It's more of a passtime for him perhaps and a way of staying connected with people.
Another notable thing about Col Gill that endeared him to me so much is his political view. He is not just anti-BJP, he even makes his mind clear through his posts on facebook. We loved our evening discussions about the current state of affairs in our country.
On Col Gill's suggestion we went to see a nearby fort. Garh Surwaya. It's an ancient Hindu fort and the best part of it was we were the only visitors there when we went. It was a beautiful tranquil old fort. Well kept and peaceful. It is in ruins in places but it cannot be called ill maintained. There is no entry fee but a guard made us sign a register when we were leaving. Archaeological Survey of India maintains it.
We also went driving to the nearby lake which can be seen right from the highway as you come from Jhansi. It is a Ramasar site but we could not see any bird life. The lake's area seemed massive. After coming back home I checked google map and realised that this lake (Chandpata) is quite small compared to the massive Sankhya Sagar lake a little farther away from the highway (the two are perhaps connected through a marsh). It is part of the Madhav National Park. Unless one flies over these areas it is not possible to fathom the size of the lake from a car on the national highway only.
Madhav National Park's entry is just before Shivpuri town. It's a tiger reserve. It was closed due to the monsoon regeneration break. We went to the Shivpuri town in the evening but it was a total waste of time. It is a very non-descript small town with narrow roads. There is a museum and some historic chhatris (cenotaph). But obviously in the evening everything was closed. These areas come under the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior ruled by the Scindias. Scindias are Marathas but settled in Gwalior.
The only thing worth remembering about Shivpuri is the number of stray and owner less cows on its streets. Some of them even had collars with reflectors around their necks, lest they are knocked down by speeding trucks.
Those who may not be aware, after India was taken over by the right wing Hindu nationlist party BJP, slaughtering cows has been banned in most parts of India. So once a cow or bull or ox becomes non-productive, the cattle farmers release their livestock out in the open to fend for themselves. They roam around and eat plastic and die. Many become victims of road kills (we saw several of them). There is a concept of gaushalas, that is, shelter for such stray cows but it's more of a scam than genuine charity work. Gaushala operators get money from the government and other private donors and pocket it without feeding or keeping the cows.
We even saw signages on the highways cautioning drivers about stray cows. The problem is more prominent in Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan etc which are very devout Hindu states and largely vegeterian. But once again, this blog is not about our wretched socio-political system. It is about our travel.
We would certainly be coming back to Shivpuri to explore the nearby destinations like Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Khajuraho, Orchha, Chanderi, Datia, Gwalior or even Bhopal. These are not too far from here. Possibly that is when we would check out the museum and chhatris. But that will be after 2029.
Staying at Col Gill's farm makes eminent sense. The rooms are fantastic. Large and tastefully furnished. The bathroom is larger than my bedroom in Calcutta and everything works perfectly despite the place being relatively quite remote where getting trained plumbers or electricians is difficult.
Shivpuri has an MPTDC tourist lodge but it is frightfully expensive. While Col Gill charged us Rs 2500 for a night the MPTDC property costs Rs 5600 or something. Absolutely pointless wasting so much money. It is quite possible we got an off season discount from Col Gill.
Col Gill is from a very distinguished family. While, ex CEC MS Gill was his uncle, his grandfather's cousin Col Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon fought the British with Netaji's INA. We saw a very thick book written by him. I hope to procure it if available. His rooms are full of books by and on Indian army.
Day 5 - Shivpuri to Bundi
Start from Gill's Tranquility Farm Shivpuri - 78039 Km @ 10.25 am
Reached Bundi Circuit House - 78333 km @ 3.25 pm
Total driving time - 5 hours
Total distance - 294 km
Toll gates - 5
The drive from Shivpuri to Bundi is relatively short and straight forward. You drive to Kota and then turn right towards Bundi. We started a little late and relaxed. The old desolate road that we breezed through last time has quite changed in these 15 years. There are many buildings and settlments that have come up in this time. It lacked that charm we found last time.
Last time when we came here the Kota by pass was not complete and we had to navigate through the city of Kota, which was not easy. This time we passed Kota from a far off distance. The number of high rises that have come up in Kota is mind boggling. Thankfully we saw them only from a distance and reached Bundi soon enough. Road signages and directions in India is pathetic. Yet we managed to take the correct turns and exits and reached Bundi's Circuit House quite quickly.
One of the reasons for organising this trip was to experience the Bundi Circuit House, which is a heritage property of sorts. My friend Arijit had told the District Magistrate of Bundi to help me get a reservation here. Mr Harpool Singh Yadav. He asked his PA Punit to help me and upon arrival we were given a very large typical Circuit House room.
I have stayed in Jodhpur Circuit House of Sonar Kella fame before and wasn't surprised by the huge room, matched with an equally large bathroom with a perfectly working geyser. The food here, though still vegetarian, was remarkably better than what was available at Jodhpur. We were told that anyone can now stay in the Circuit Houses in Rajasthan using their app and paying the appropriate tariff.
In case you did not know - a Circuit House in India means a government hotel kind of thing that were originally meant for government officials to stay during their official visits. In the old days these would often be the only place to stay in a town and adventure minded tourists often stayed here. Bundi Circuit House is famous for its huge jungle like garden and to me it had special significance because Satyajit Ray often came here to stay peacefully and write short stories. His famous spooky story Fritz was written here.
That peace is perhaps gone because the complex is right on the road going to Kota and is quite a busy road now. However, this area is the center of the town with the court and DM's office nearby. The DM or SP etc also stay in their massive heritage bungalows nearby.
Inside the huge complex there are two buildings. The one on the right hand side with its thick pillars looked like the more heritage part of the property. We were alloted our room in the more modern looking building on the left hand side. We were told this is also from the British era but has been renovated relatively recently. It is possible that this building's rooms are more plush because 4 rooms down the corridor had VIP Room written prominently outside. Since we came with the DM's reference we were possibly alloted our room on this side. However, I'd have preferred to stay in the other building.
There is another similar thing in India called Dak Bungalow. I think these are owned by PWD departments. I am not too sure.
To enter the fort one has to walk up a very steep old fashioned path made with stones and boulders. This used to be done in such a way that attacking cavalary and soldiers would have trouble going up that slippery slope and would be at a disadvantage for the defenders to attack them. But to me going up is much easier than coming down. Particularly so this time because the stones were all wet and we had an umbrella each in our hand which made balancing all the more difficult.
Anyway, we managed to go to the fort and come back without any mishap. My pair of Keen sandals can grip such rocks like a lizzard. There were quite a few tourists inside the fort. If you have not been to Bundi I would suggest please do. The fort, apart from being off beat is beautiful in itself with lots of wall paintings and murals. There are other beautiful and unique historical sites around Bundi which we explored the next day.
That evening we decided to give the bland but expensive Circuit House food a miss and explored the nearby Blue Door restaurant. Vegetrian still but the chhole bature here was delicious. In these smaller Rajasthani towns finding non-veg food is impossible and we don't hanker for it but vegeterian food can also have good taste and variety which these government places lack. Even finding an egg is next to impossible in Rajasthan. Only near the bus stands some vendors fry omlette and we buy raw eggs from them. We boil them in our rooms for the road or put a few in our Maggie for breakfast.
Next morning (our third day in Bundi) we went out to explore some of the other notable sights outside Bundi. First we went to a small tiger reserve called Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve. This is about 35 km away from Bundi towards Bhilwara. It's a beautiful plateau with lovely small lakes here and there. There is a Shiva temple deep inside the forest. These 2/3 kilometers inside the forest from the highway is down a rough road that ends before a rail line. The forest is quite pristine on either side of this track. You park the vehicle before the rail line and then cross it on foot. The temple is on the other side of the railway line. There is a beautiful water fall here in the shape of a horseshoe. There were a few tea stalls here right infront of the forest department notice saying setting up shops here is illegal. In India it is well nigh impossible to stop people from trying to make a living by any means. It often includes stealing children and selling them to brothels. Setting up a shop in a prohibited place is one of the lesser crimes. But once again this write up is not about our wretched socio-economic condition.
After RVTR we went to a place called Bhopatpura farther on the same highway on the way to Bijoliya. From Bhopatpura you turn left towards a remote village called Garada. This village is about 10/12 km off the highway. It's quite remote. In fact there is no internet here. Our intention was to see some ancient rock painting sites on the banks of a river here.
It is worth telling the story here. There is a river here called Rewa (perhaps a tributory of Chambal). They call it a river but to me it looked like an oxbow lake. There are many ancient rocks and caves on the bank of Rewa and a man from Bundi called Omprakash Sharma (nick named Kukki) discovered many rock paintings here. He calls it the largest rock painting site in India because such paintings have been found over a stretch of 35 km.
He is a self taught archaeologist and has done his bit for these rock paintings. The archaeological survey has marked these sites but there is no protection for the art. Local tourists have written their names next to the rock paintings that were done some 15000 years ago. There is also no prominent sign for outsiders like me to understand exactly which rock has the paintings. Once you reach the precise stone you realize ASI has painted some number there. So these are noted but not protected.
We were loitering around the place when a local villager sheperding his buffaloes came along. He was kind enough to take us to the specific rocks and showed us three sites (there are plenty more). I had goose bumps to think that 15,000 years ago our forefathers chose to leave their marks on stones with a material that is still surviving. The water body, the forests, the large boulders and the remoteness and desolation of it all started to have a different meaning in front of my eyes.
We saw some strange designs in red ink which must have had some meaning to their creators, an animal with a long tail - perhaps a tiger and some palm marks. The palm marks looked like they put some soil on the palm and put the mark. But this is no ordinary soil. It has survived 15,000 years. Next to the palm mark were thick lines. There were multiple palm marks in red ink also. These will remain mysteries to me. Did they represnt the number of individuals that group had? I have no idea. I do not even want to know the answers. Certain things in life are better left unknown.
Before coming here we spoke to Omprakash ji for his guidance which he was happy to provide. We wanted to thank him for guiding us here but there was no internet and even later he seemed to be out of network area. After Garada we wanted to see the Mahakal temple in Bijoliya. Omprakash ji had insisted that we see this temple as it had a very unique statue of Nari Ganesh.
We came back to the main road on Bhopatpura and drove towards Bijoliya. At Bijoliya you turn left for a short distance and again turn right for this temple.
I am so glad that Om Prakash ji urged us to visit it. It is a beautiful ancient temple complex with three temples. Their architecture seemed similar to the Khajuraho temples (without any erotic art). There is a kund here called Mandakini Kund. It is a very desolate place yet beautifully kept. There were just a couple of other tourists here. This is in the district of Bhilwara.
We saw the Nari Ganesh sculpture outside the main temple's gate. I don't know why it is called Nari, that is feminine. I want to speak to Om Prakash ji to understand this interpretation. Was it done by some transgender artist who wanted to express his inner feelings? Once again I don't want to know the answers to such mysteries. We were told there were two Nari Ganesh sculptures. But we spotted only one. I have seen online photographs of the other. May be another time.
I am not a very religious person but I have interest in anthropology and archaeology and history. Such places offer all this. There is another Shiva temple inside that has a massive linga with one thousand smaller lingas sculpted on it. Opposite to the temple commplex was the old wall of what looked like an ancient fort. But we did not explore it. We came back. There was a prominent Jain temple nearby but we gave it a miss. Our total travel that day was a good 100 km. There were two state toll gates on the way.
In the evening we went out on foot to check out the Rani ki Baori in Bundi town and another historic gate of the city called Chougan Gate. On both the evenings I had rabri from a local sweet shop. Not as great as Benres's Pagla but okayish and with sugar (malai is sugarless while rabri has sugar in it and is cheaper). Monisha bought some honey from a Khadi shop in Bundi town. And some very handmade and beautifully crude diyas for Diwali (we have a culture of putting 14 diyas at home on the evening before Diwali). These were being sold by a very old woman by the road side outside the Rani ki Baori. Rani ki Baori had a lot of filthy plastic trash in the well below.
A Baori is a stepwell for ladies to take bath in. Rajasthan and Gujarat has many of them. Some of them have the status of UN World Heritage Site.
At the bus stand we bought some raw eggs for the next morning. In Rajasthan onions and garlic are not counted as non-veg. We in Bengal do. But eggs are non-veg which they are not in South India. Monisha went berserk to learn that bananas were being sold at Rs 15 a kilo. I think she bought two kilos of them. We also saw green chillies that were really really large like ocra or ladies fingers. And some kankrol that were really tiny like small berries.
Day 8 Bundi to Jaipur
Bundi to Jaipur was a rather easy and short drive up the 4-laned national highway 52. We went straight to Rajasthan Tourism's hotel Gangaur. Navigating to the hotel from the highway was not so tough. I was startled by the number of flyovers that have come up in Jaipur. The city now even has a metro rail of its own with elevated tracks.
Arijit asked us to come to his house in the evening which we did in an auto. It is sad to think that he will be leaving this beautiful house in two months when he retires. Actually as HOFF he is entitled to a much larger house. But he has chosen to stay on in his old familiar house. Some people don't take advantage of all their official entitlements. Arijit is one such person for which he is loved by everyone who comes in contact with him. There are other who think they are entitled to a lot of things and grab what they are not entitled to. Once again I am deviating from the main journey.
It was a delightful evening at his house in the company of Dipankar Ghosh the director of WWF who was visiting Jaipur at that time. I have met him briefly before and knew who he was but never got to know him closely. Despite his large white handlebar moustache, that gives him an air of intimidation Dipankar is a very nice unassuming person who has been a nature lover since his childhood. He is the most suitable person to lead an organisation like WWF. After the engaging evening with sumptous food that included Pabda and lots of mutton he dropped us to Gangaur in his official car. We were to reach Arijit's house the next morning at 5 am for a safari inside Jhalana. I planned to go there in our car.
I went to the car to bring out my camera before going to sleep. To my horror I realised the battery had been deep discharged and it was dead. I had left the light on since parking in the afternoon. I parked the car facing the wall and hence didn't even notice the light was on. For the life of me I could not understand when I'd have turned it on or why. There was no diversion on the Bundi to Jaipur drive, when I normally turn on my lights. I am hoping my next car will have some alarm or warning beeps to save me from such a catastrophe in future. I had done something similar in my Esteem at Barkul in Orissa. That time we could start the car by pushing it hard.
We went to Jhalana in the morning in an auto. From Arijit's home we went in a forest department open Gypsy to Jhalana. When you are travelling in a reserve forest with the HoFF being personally present, the feeling is quite different. You get VIP treatment everywhere. Arijit being the most unassuming high ranking government official that I have ever seen does not need all this "khatirdari" but it comes with the job. We waited at the gate for Dipankar and his colleague to come. This colleague, also a Bengali, came with his mother who is 80 years old and recently lost her husband. The six of us went to explore Jhalana in right earnest. I was amazed by her fitness and interest/enthusiasm.For those who may not know, Jhalana is a leopard sanctuary right on the edge of Jaipur city. The forest despite being so close to the city is very deep and dense and has a thriving population of leopards. There are some 30 leopards there now. Arijit being not very publicity hungry has never climbed a rooftop to say he created it, but that is the truth. He made the ordinary forest into a safe haven for leopards by getting the then chief minister, Ms Vasundhara Raje Scindia, involved in the project. She supported him fully and made a neglected ordinary forest into a leopard sanctuary. The two of them share a very good rapport.
I had once gone inside the forest with Arijit and Suranjan a few years ago. We were rewarded with the sight of mating between two leopards. This time we were rewarded with the sighting of a sub-adult leopard that was sitting on the branch of a large neem tree. He sat there for about half an hour enjoying the view of a few Gypsies below with cameras clicking happily and almost non stop like rain drops on a tin roof. He looked just like a stuffed toy from Lindsay Street. Being sub-adult he had that baby like innocent curiosity on his face. Leopards are generally very ferocious and they look very ruthless. This one had a cuteness about him (or her?).
Later we saw three of the siblings cross our path one by one. This is my life's best sighting of leopards. Monisha had the presence of mind to take a video of this. Youtube has messed with the format of the video and ruined it a bit by making it vertical but even then it shows how close we saw them. The original video was taken in a horizontal format.
Rest of the day was spent waiting for the battery to be fixed. They first took it away for recharging but later decided to replace it. Because I had almost 2000 km more of driving to do on the way back and they did not want to take a chance. I will be forever grateful to Subrata for doing me this favour.
Monisha spent the day doing some shopping of Rajasthani bed covers and other such stuff from the pink city and the capital's Rajasthali store. I regret I could not go to LMB for their sweets as I had to wait for the battery guys to come and fix my issue.
Day 10 Jaipur to Tal Chhapar
I had come to Tal Chhapar in 2013 with my birding friends. It was a delightful experience with Arijit also being there. Mr Sooraj Singh Puniya who made Tal Chhapar into what it is today was personally present and took us around the park. I wanted Monisha to see it once. Such pristine grassland is rare in India.
A few years ago this grassland was almost lying like a wasteland with juliflora taking over the entire area. Juliflora is a very invasive foreign plant and grows like weed wherever it goes. Despite being green it is bad for places where it is not native as it inhibits growth of other plants and does not allow domestic or wild animals to move freely due to its thorny bush like structure.
Mr Pooniya took up the onerous task of taking out each and every juliflora tree from the park area and planted the original local grass. Within a few years the grassland took off. The blackbuck population exploded. The open grassland also brought in a lot of small migratory birds and raptors followed them in large numbers and varieties. So right now not only do you find blackbucks you see raptors of all sorts here almost round the year, not to speak of the various smaller birds.
Even if you don't know anything about birds and animals but love nature you should visit this place. It is in a semi-desert area close to Sujangarh town. And it has a fabulous Forest Rest House. Being sent by Arijit we got VIP like treatment from the ranger there named Umesh Bagetia. The best room was opened for us and it felt like royalty to us.
Although relatively recently built, Tal Chhapar has been built very tastefully by a lady architect named Revathi Kamath. Apart from its architectural quality the pure teak wood furniture itself is very uniquely Rajasthani. All this gives the FRH a tasteful royal haveli touch. Once again Arijit played the role of a catalyst behind its creation. He inspired his chief minister Ms Scindia who supported the project whole heartedly.
It is relatively easy to create something but very difficult to maintain it, particularly a government property that does not generate any revenue. Tal Chhapar FRH is one of the best maintained government properties, if not the best, that I have ever stayed in anywhere in India. I made a short video of it that I am sharing here.
The road to Chhapar from Jaipur is once again short and rather straightforward, particularly from Gangaur. You take the prominent Shikar Road and go towards Sikar. From there you go to Salasar and from there to Tal via Sujangarh.
From Shikar we took the alternate routes showed by Google and went through state highways that are terrible in places and charged us toll. In fact there was one toll booth where we had to pay Rs 50 by cash. I think this was near some place called Didwana where there were lot of stone crushing factories on either side of the road.
Finally after asking a few people here and there we reached Tal Chhapar FRH. This being a semi-desert part of Rajasthan there are very few people on the road. But we quite enjoyed the rustic beauty of the state highway.
I must say we were very impressed by Umesh's sense of ownership. He is right now involved in translocating blackbucks from Tal Chhapar to another new grassland nearby at Jaswantgarh. He is determined to make Jaswantgarh into the best grassland in the country. He acknowledged the support he got from Arijit to do this. Arijit in his turn told me all that is happening in Jaswanthgarh is because of Umesh. Apart from the grassland there is also a marshland kind of area there. Umesh had told us about the flamingoes there and we saw flocks of them coming there towards sunset. It was a beautiful sight and as per Umesh's estimate they numbered around 2000. This was at a distance but the view of flying flamingoes is one of the most beautiful.
Arijit had told us in Jaipur that he had got a private donor to donate a few Isuzu Dmax vehicles for the forest department and he sent one of them to Tal. I was very keen to see the vehicle as I am seriously considering it as my next car. However, we couldn't see it. Umesh said it is with the DFO in Churu. I informed the HOFF about this and he got furious. Next morning two drivers came driving from Churu to leave the vehicle at Tal. Umesh very kindly even let me test drive it for a few minutes.
Apart from the parks Umesh also took us to the farm of a very enterprising local farmer who has grown different types of vegetables in his farm where the soil is nothing but desertish sand. We were even treated to their water melon. Unlike our watermelons here the flesh was whitish but the juice was quite tasty. I am convinced the water melons we eat here have sugar syrup artificially injected inside. They taste too sweet to be natural.
Another pleasant surprise for us was the discovery of the fact that the assistant forester there who is in charge of the FRH and took care of the kitchen during our stay, a villager from nearby Didwana called Rachpal-ji, has a son who went to ISM Dhanbad and now works for MRPL which is a very large refinery in the south. Only those who know India can properly understand what an incredible achievement it is for the son of a lowly placed government servant. On our way to Chhapar we had come through Didwana. It's a very remote semi desert kind of place with no major road. I wonder what kind of school the boy went to - must be something very rudimentary - but he prepared himself for one of the finest institutes on mining in the country. It is in fact an IIT now.
Day 12 Tal Chhapar to Bharatpur Keoladeo National Park
With a heavy heart we had to bid good bye to Tal Chhapar and Umesh and his staff. We might come back to explore Bikaner and other parts of the desert sector in future. We might even come and visit Tal Chhapar then but I am not sure if we can stay in this FRH any more. Normal tourists are not actually allowed here any more. Sujangarh nearby has a few hotels. We shall see.
We intended to start early from Chhapar at around 6.30. But when we reached the car we saw Umesh standing there and smiling at us saying we would have to delay our departure. The previous night he ordered for a kilo of malai laddu for us which would be delivered by the shop at 8.30. I was pleasantly surprised but got worried about the delay because Bharatpur is a long way off from Chhapar. Since Umesh had promised to take delivery, in his honour I decided to stay on.
Umesh had treated us to these laddus on our arrival at Tal as a welcome snack. It is easily the most delicious misti that I have ever tasted in life. Beautifully subtle taste with no strong sugary flavour. They said it was from a shop in the town called Prajapati. I had intended to go there but somehow that didn't happen. Umesh took the self imposed responsibility to get it for us. Sadly enough he wouldn't accept a rupee as payment for this purchase. In fact the entire stay at the FRH was free for us.
Bharatpur to Benares and Calcutta
