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The Colourful City of Jaipur
By Njei Moses Timah
It does not take long for a visitor to notice the distinguishing
features of this Indian city of less than three million people.
My group of forty visitors from Cameroon arrived in Jaipur mid-March
during a ten-day visit to India. This is a city where almost all
houses are painted with the same pink colour and the imposing relics
of her imperial past in the form of palaces and fortresses are a
common sight.
Situated some 250 kilometres South West of Delhi, Jaipur is the
capital of the mostly arid Indian state of Rajasthan (land of the
Rajputana). Rajasthan had a history of wars among the early settlers
that occupied it in the past, and the groups that prevailed “emerged
as the martial race of the brave, loyal and chivalrous Rajputs”.
Each kingdom was ruled by a king called maharaja or raja. Even though
the state has returned to modern democratic rule, the influence
and impact of the descendants of maharajas is still very present.
 According
to a publication The Glorious Cities “The nucleus of this
Pink city is the sprawling City Palace (Maharaja property) covering
almost one-seventh of Jaipur’s area”. A visit to the
city palace confirmed this statement and explains why the maharaja
family is one of the richest in India.
We also visited another impressive palace complex at Amer on the
outskirts of Jaipur called Amber fort. Perched on top of a hill
with other imperial complexes, this was used as the summer palace
by the Maharaja. The opulence and luxury emanating from the palace
that we gained access on the back of elephants bore testimony to
the insatiable taste of the rulers of yesteryears. We were shown
the living quarters of the emperor’s 500 concubines and that
of his official wife! On our way back from Amber fort, we stopped
at a carpet manufacturing plant where we were shown the sixteen
steps employed in carpet manufacturing. The art of making carpets
in Jaipur dates back to over four centuries.
Back to the streets of Jaipur’s inner city we saw how almost
everything has been converted to transport people and goods. You
see carts drawn by cows, buffalos, donkeys, camels and horses. You
also see cars, bicycles, three wheeled vehicles, motorbikes and
all types of adaptable motorized devices all competing for available
space on the road. It was an interesting sight when I noticed an
elephant-rider adding colour to the already exciting melee of transporters.
When visitors step on the sidewalks they are swarmed by the usual
hordes of hawkers and beggars.  These
two groups of people are very aggressive, persuasive and parasitically
persistent in drawing your attention to them. They can usually go
an extra mile to actually obstruct you on the path you are walking.
In Jaipur, like many Indian cities, cows (considered Sacred by Hindus)
are allowed to roam the streets freely and return in the evening
to sleep on the verandas of their owners. The Hindus and the Sikhs
do not eat cattle meat.
One of our evenings in Jaipur was spent at Samode Palace (another
imperial monument) situated about 45km from the outskirts of Jaipur.
Here we were adorned with garlands, showered with flowers and treated
to an evening of Indian dancers and buffet.
 It
is only when we were invited to join the dancers on stage did we
notice that Indian musical steps are not as easy as we imagined.
The occasion came to a close with a spectacle of colourful fireworks.
Another sight of attraction is the Birla (Hindu) temple in Jaipur.
This beautiful temple constructed with white marble was quite appealing.
I was curious to know why on some pillars the outside wall bore
inscriptions like “Jesus Christ”, “Madonna with
Christ”, “Confucius” and a clearly marked swastika
emblem. Our guide explained that Hinduism was a liberal religion
that recognizes the beliefs of others, hence the inscriptions. On
the swastika emblem that was made infamous by Nazi Germany, he told
us that it was an old Hindu religious symbol. I was later to confirm
his assertion as I saw it many times over on other Hindu temples
and also witnessed that the central tables at a marriage ceremony
in Agra were arranged in the form of a swastika.
I met a group of curious people from central India at the temple
that inquired where we came from. “Cameroon” I replied.
“Do you like India?” one asked. “Yes of course”
came my answer. “Really?” another inquired. “Yes
but I need to take a wife from India to Cameroon to cement my love
for India.” I answered as all of them burst into laughter.
It should be noted that marriage outside one’s socio-cultural
milieu is discouraged and frowned upon in most of India.
Talking of Marriage, our guide Gopal had this to say: “Over
90% of marriages in India are arranged and family reputation is
an important factor in these arrangements.” “We say
you marry once in your life and marriage comes before love. In India,
people are expected to marry as virgins and divorce is rare.”
He added; “My own wife was chosen by my mother and my mother
lives with us. As a matter of respect, all the money I give to my
wife goes through my mother.” I could clearly hear Cameroonian
women in the bus murmuring with disagreement over this point.
 Njei
Timah is based in Douala, Cameroon. He is a pharmacist, writer
and photographer. His writing interests range from social and
political commentary to health and travel. He obtained an honours
diploma in freelance and feature writing from the London School
of Journalism.
nmosestimah@yahoo.com
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