Musings of a Wandering Mind

Rajasthan: More on the Havelis

Travelling in Rajasthan in February 2008
Jaipur >> Shekhawati >> Pushkar >> Jaisalmer >> Jodhpur
+ Previous: Young Brat from Mandawa
+ Next: About Shekhawati

Even as the locals today don’t care much about those murals on the walls of crumbling havelis, some people have woken up to the value of these treasures. A few of them are original owners who want to restore their ancestral home and showcase it to the world. Some people just fell in love with these artworks, bought the havelis from their owners and worked to restore them. The smart, enterprising types converted them to hotels.

A haveli converted into a hotel

Most hotels I see in Mandawa had murals donning the walls. While the one I stayed in was a new building trying to re-create the colors of the havelis, others were old structures restored and converted. People still live in some of these havelis, such as the one that belonged to merchant Gulab Rai Ladia.

Dr. Ramnath Podar Haveli museum

In Navalgarh, twenty minutes away from Mandawa, Podar Haveli was converted into a museum where professional guides escorted the visitors through the rooms of the haveli. In fact, there is an overdose of collected items in Podar Haveli, and each room in the haveli has some thing to display. As the guide took me from room to room showing me through the collections(some of them newly created to engage the visitors), I came back bored and tired. Fatehpur’s Nadine Le Prince Haveli was bought, and carefully restored by a French artist Nadine Le Prince. Most private museum charge upto hundred rupees or more, and the locals don’t seem to like it much. The caretaker of Sneh Ram Ladia Haveli called them with unprintable words for charging an entry fee. My guide at Podar Haveli, whom I met again on the way back to Mandawa found it incorrect to charge high entry fees to Indians. I argued that student discounts would be a good thing to have, but a private museum has the right to charge everyone else. But he did not seem convinced.

Inside Nadine Le Prince Haveli

Some well known havelis don’t have much luck with restoration though, like the Gulab Rai Ladia’s. Walking along the streets of Fatehpur, I could see many of these old structures left to rot by themselves. All around Nadine Le Prince Haveli are crumbling remains of the past with nothing more than fallen down walls few feel high.

A crumbling haveli

As I leave Shekhawati to explore more of Rajasthan, I could not help but wonder what a magical world it would have been, had all the havelis were put back to their original colours.

Continued at About Shekhawati

Rajasthan: The Young Brat from Mandawa

Travelling in Rajasthan in February 2008
Jaipur >> Shekhawati >> Pushkar >> Jaisalmer >> Jodhpur
+ Previous Images of paintings on the havelis
+ Next: More on the Havelis

‘Shhh… shhh…’ I heard someone calling me, and turned around as I wandered the dusty streets of Mandawa in search of the painted Havelis. Standing there was a young brat, probably a dozen years old, in red pullover with a sun burnt face that imparted a lot of confidence and some brashness. His accomplice who was equally young stood quiet next to him, as though he did not want to get involved.

“Do you want someone to show you around?” he asked me.

I did not think much of a kid who seemed to be up to making some extra buck. I shook my head and was about to move on, but he persisted. Speaking in Hindi, he began his marketing pitch and assured me that he can show the best Havelis in town. I was taken by surprise when he quoted his price – ‘two hundred and fifty per hour’. Professional guides in touristy places charge just about a hundred to show around, and here I had a kid quoting me his hourly rates!

I politely declined, but was followed by the persistent young man. Walking further, I was soon lost in the unfamiliar narrow lanes of Mandawa without a map to guide me. It was tough finding someone on the street who could give me directions to the havelis I was looking for. The colorful Havelis of the town have made it to tourist brochures and guidebooks, but the locals were blissfully oblivious to their treasures.

“Where is Gulba Rai Ladia Haveli?” I went on asking people on the street. Some people seemed confused and shook their heads, or tried to ask the same question to someone nearby. Others simply said they have no clue. There I was, coming from a place faraway in search of something beautiful, and people here were completely unmindful of what they lived with. It is not my first time; I have met people from Agra who have never been to Taj Mahal, but at least they had heard about the monument and knew where it was.

After struggling for a few minutes, I gave up and asked the young man who was following me for help. He echoed his marketing pitch again, and assured me that he will show me the best havelis in town.

“Give me 250, and I will show you four good havelis in an hour’s time.”

“But I would like to spend a few hours in just one haveli,” I told him.

It was the wrong thing to say. He probably thought we are now at the negotiation table, quoted a better rate and hoped for some business. I declined his offer, and asked him again if he can give directions to Gulab Rai Ladia’s haveli. And as an afterthought, I offered an incentive to his help – “I will just walk around and quickly go past all the havelis today. Give me the directions, and may be I will hire you tomorrow.” Another mistake. He took me along the narrow alleys and led me to one of the two Mandawa’s main roads. “Gulab Rai Ladia Haveli is far away,” he said, “you go and see the market and the town today, I will take you to the haveli tomorrow!”

I realized later that he had actually taken me in a direction opposite to the haveli I was looking for. And yet, he persistent guide had high hopes of being hired in the days to come. He hung around on the main roads of the town and met me twice in next two days, each time asking me when are we going on the ‘guided trip’. I smiled both times and told him “let’s go tomorrow when I am free.”

The last time when I met him before leaving the town, I asked for his name. “Laalooo..,” came the response.

Continued at More on the Havelis