When my fellow Rotarian friend M. Lakshminarayan called me sometime in November 2010 to ask if I would like to join our few Rotary friends on a trip to Rajasthan, I had no hesitation. So it was. Eleven couples and four stags — a number quite fetching to a coach.

Unlike in the past, where air travel was rather restricted and also costly for the common man, today the aero planes have spread their wings wide and far. And we chose to fly to Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan and then take a coach till we flew back. So we set out on our journey of discovering the land of kings, princes and princesses [the most beautiful amongst them in the living memory being Maharani Gayathri Devi of Jaipur] in great enthusiasm and expectation on the “auspicious” day of Thursday, the day of Guru Raghavendra to those who worship him, with lot of “jollification” in the coach that took us to the Bangalore International Airport.

When all looked well, there was that proverbial fly in the ointment. One person in our group was prevented from entering the check - in lounge by the Dwarapalakas for the reason that the name in the electronic ticket and the identity card (the driving licence) did not match. In those halcyon days of peace and laughter, there was no such scrutiny of names as these days of terrorist menace. Any one could buy a ticket in any name he chose and fly the domestic airlines, though not international flights where the name in the passport was and is the only name acceptable. While, in a show of solidarity, our good team - leader declared that either we fly together or not at all, the problem was resolved by his initiative with the help of a good samaritan among the ground staff of the airlines and a payment of Rs. 750 for rectifying the name in the ticket to match that in the identity card. The matching of the photo in the ID card with the ticket holder did not help. However, I am still left wondering how could security perception be changed with the paying of a fee or fine? In India, with money…

Ah! Now I realised how wrong Shakespeare was when he wrote his famous lines, "What is there in a name; a rose by any other name will smell as sweet.” Well, my dear bard of Stratford – upon - Avon, you may be right in the theatre and classrooms, but certainly not in airports anymore. Wrong name will prevent you from flying! Let it be.

Yes, this reminds me of an incident at the Mumbai Airport where a new pilot took over to fly our plane. Passengers were boarding. An old man, apparently not keeping well by looks, was waiting for his turn in front of the toilet. The pilot walked in with a swagger and rushed to the toilet only to be told by the old man about he being in the line. The pilot gave one dirty look to the man and said with a scowl in his bearded visage and an authority in his voice, "Really? Either you let me in first or you don't fly." The man apologised and, of course, the flight took off. I sat with seat belt tied around my bulging waist, like the collar belt of my canine friend Mac at home, wondering why we humans, some of them at least, on some occasions, behave worse than canines while dealing with our own kind! Perish the thought.

We Rotarians have journeyed this way many times in the past. But this one was rather special for the reason that we chose to stay in Heritage hotels rather than in the normal star hotels. I learn that this concept is the brainchild of the heirs of the old Rajas and Nawabs of the Raj days of the British. The idea is to turn their “white elephants” of palaces, forts and Havelis (the residence of a village chieftain, a Raja’s deputy or aides) into tourist hotels. Thus was born the “Welcome Heritage Hotels and Resorts”. It is a joint venture between ITC Ltd. and the Maharaja of Jodhpur Gaj Singh. Our own Wadiyar is also a member of this venture, it is learnt. No wonder his three hotels — Fernhills Palace, Regency Villas, Ooty and Rajendra Vilas Palace atop Chamundi Hill, Mysore, which is under renovation — are, included in the 60 heritage destinations of Welcome Heritage.

So, at Jaipur, we stayed at Welcome Heritage Hotel known as Sirsi Haveli, about 15 kms away from the city in a village. Being the month of December 2010, it was cold but bearable. Some of us, however, made ourselves a little more physically comfortable with a feeling of elation — thanks to Johnny Walker.

This is my third visit to Rajasthan, but I am afraid I have not covered even a fringe of this huge desert State — 35 per cent arable land with 31 cms of average rainfall and 65 per cent area covered by Thar desert. Rajasthan, earlier Rajputana, was a land of many Hindu Rajas and Maharajas except for the only Muslim State of Rajasthan Tonk. In fact, it is a small town.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

By K. B. Ganapathy
Editor in Chief
Courtesy: Star of Mysore