.. a lot has happened. So here’s a quick life update, in reverse chronological order -

1. Attempting to grow a beard. I’ve sorta wanted to see how facial hair looks on me, but I’ve never managed to keep it for long. Everyday looking in the mirror involves a constant battle within me – whether to shave or not. Its been 2 weeks and there’s considerable change in appearance. The goal is to get somewhere close to the ‘Leonidas’ look in 300.

2. Experienced a drug-overdose. I did something really stupid the other day. I had started developing some sort of rash on my skin. I knew that Cetzine was a drug that had some anti-allergic properties but it was also used incase you had cold. The other drug everyone recommended was Avil. Now, I generally don’t take any medication without prescription, but for a small allergy I thought it would be best to go with the ‘wisdom of the crowd’. Avil came in 25mg tablets. I took a tablet in the evening and nothing happened for a couple of hours. My skin was still itchy and before going to bed, I took a Cetzine tablet too. The next morning, shortly after Suhoor (early morning meal during Ramadan) I popped in two more Avils. And I went to sleep. When I tried waking up after a couple of hours, I couldn’t. My body and my mind were behaving like two different entities. While I was telling myself to get up, I couldn’t. After another hour of twitching and turning on the bed, I managed to get up. My head was feeling hollow and I could hear sounds reverberating within it while my whole body became pale and extremely exhausted. I could barely move and every step seemed impossible for me. I quickly managed to consult a doc and got the necessary prescription for my rashes. I’m okay now. Thank God.

3. Bitten by the travel bug – The past year has been one hell of a roller-coaster year in terms of travel. I’ve travelled quite a bit primarily in the north and western parts of India visiting places with rich history and culture. There’s still a lot to see and experience and I hope to do more of that in the coming months. I’m also working on a plan to consolidate all of those experiences and publish them on this site.

4. Experimenting with a business idea – I enjoy taking photographs and have been doing so more than a couple of years now. I thoroughly enjoy shooting with DSLRs and also experiment with different lenses, apertures and lighting conditions. Photography can be quite an expensive hobby (or profession, depending on your priority) with equipment cost being the most forbidding one. The problem is that the cost of these equipments in India is way higher than what you would probably pay in, say the United States. Because of this significant difference, I always get mine from the States even if that means having to wait for a couple of months. I see an opportunity here. If I could get these equipments on a on-demand basis from the States and sell them here in India covering the cost of purchase and shipping, the price would still be way lower than what you’d pay for here. Obviously these are genuine equipments and come with warranty, so there’s no question of counterfeiting. The response so far has been quite encouraging and I did manage to sell a few cameras over the last few months. In case you or your friends are interested in purchasing DSLR’s, here’s what we have in store.

I went to Jaipur last weekend on a part work but mostly leisure trip. Jaipur is the third Rajasthan city that I’m exploring after Udaipur and Jaisalmer. I’m quite fond of Rajasthan actually – perhaps its the desert and the timeless charm of the cities that draws me to them. I boarded the crowded Ashram Express on late Friday evening. I spent most of the time reading, completing a book (Fooled by Randomness) that I started long ago. The rabri and curd at Palanpur station (Gujarat) was quite a treat. Served in small earthenware, they were delicious! Apart from that, the journey was quite uneventful as I slept early and woke up the next morning (around 4am) to get off at Jaipur.

I had made a reservation at Arya Niwas, the day before. Its a decent budget hotel with super clean rooms and courteous staff. The cafeteria in the hotel serves some really sumptuous meal – both continental and indian at fairly decent prices. Its one hotel that I’d highly recommend for the budget traveller.

One good way to explore a new place is to go riding around town with a map. I got a scooter, thanks to a dear friend. What struck me at Jaipur, was the amount of tourists – the place is infested with them, unlike any other place I’ve seen in India. The downside of having so many tourists is the exorbitant rates that you are almost always charged – be it at speciality stores or even rickshaws. I visited the City Palace, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar and the old city lanes on day 1. Most of the shop sign-ages were in hindi – bold black text on white background which, by the way, is quite unusual considering the influx of tourists there.

The second day began early, with a warm sunny ride towards the Amer Palace and Jaigarh fort. The Amer Palace is perhaps my most favorite palace amongst the ones I’ve seen in Rajasthan. It houses the Sheesh Mahal – private chambers of the maharaja and his queen. Shards of mirror and colored glass form an intricate mosaic that entirely covers the inner and outer-walls and the ceilings of the rooms. The detailing of the architecture and the interiors is dazzling considering they were built more than 400 years ago. The Jaigarh fort thats perched on the adjacent hill was rather plain in comparison. The fort contains the world’s largest canon, which needs about 100 kilos of gunpowder to send a ball 35km.

There’s a lot more that I’d like to share about the trip , but I’ll save them for another day. I’ve got tons of photographs that needs sorting and some post processing, so that will take a bit of time. I want to build a travel diary as a section on this site and have some ideas brewing. Hopefully, something should materialize soon.

It’s been more than a week since I got back from Udaipur, but I haven’t posted my photos nor written about the trip yet. Time for amends, so with due apologies, here’s my travelogue of the trip.