Silhouette of the past looming still claiming to be strong and present.
I love exploring these places.
FOWC with Fandango – silhouette
Month: December 2020
My rants
This year is going to end with a sad note yet with hope, hope for new beginning. I am looking forward to 2021 with many dreams bubbling inside of me.
This year has showed that nothing is stable and that nature is very powerful and knows how to balance itself. This year has even taught me not to trust tomorrows anymore and not to put your dreams and wishes on postponing list. What you have is just now so enjoy life and fulfil all your wishes and dreams. Work for now and enjoy the company of your beloveds. Keep in touch with near and dear ones, maintaining all the precautions. Then only we can call it a perfect ‘ the end and the beginning’ that too is beyond perfection.
Written for:
Stine Writing :- Simply 6 minutes word count 128.
Go Dog Go Cafe :- Tuesday Word Prompt
Truthful Tuesday- Quality time spent
As we all know 2020, a dreadful year, is about to end in couple of days. This year might have snatched a lot of opportunities, freedom, entertainment etc. but still I found a very precious gift disguised in the form of lockdowns and self quarantines- the quality time my ever busy hubby was able to spend with us. He understood the hard work I do and the pain I go through.
To my surprise he asked my in laws to help me in chores. He also spent good time with kids and their bonding strengthened and they painted the bricks for terrace, watched movies together and told stories, exercised and pranked. The whole house was heals over head.
He helped me in house chores, did what he never thought he could or would do. One day he called me and said that he wants to spend whole life in same way, in future as he felt he understood me better and felt my importance in his life.
This year has given me a very big gift of life, which was not possible in any other way. I will miss this time somewhere in future and that’s for sure.
Written for Frank-PC Guy’s Truthful Tuesday.
A love story that brought upheaval- Raskapur & Swai Maharaja Jagat Singh.
Pink city, the wold knows it better by this name instead of Jaipur or Jaypore. It is one of the largest cities of Rajasthan. Home to many forts and fortresses. The city has many stories to tell but the one I am going to share is of love, lust, conspiracies and loyalty, loyalty to kingdom and loyalty to love.
Keeping My point of view.
There are many versions making rounds and I will tell you all. But before that I want to put forward my point of view regarding such incidents in history. May be these points are still prevailing in society as political and influential tie-ups are in existence. And the point is that when a nuptial tie was made it was more for the financial and strategic benefits of the kingdom rather than the personal feelings. Thus occurred many unmatched marriages with many princesses and when the groom didn’t find the peace and love he looked for in his All wives he searched for it in the concubines and thus increasing the number of married and unmarried wives. And if by chance the king got the chance to marry his love, then also the strategic and financial pressure was there because of which he had to marry other processes also. This gave birth to polygamy and conspiracy. Many kingdoms have fallen down due to this reason alone.
Raskapur-Jaipur’s own Noor Jahan
Well, now I come back to the story I initially intended to tell. You can call it the story of Jaipur’s own Noor Jahan. She was born of a court dancer, whose father side was doubtful. She was beautiful, fair and talented girl, thus named Raskapur or Ras Kapoor. Kapoor (camphor) is here a symbol of fragrance in the form of talks of her beauty and talent making rounds in the city.
There used to be different departments in the then kingdom of Jaipur, each related to respected chore of the erstwhile estate. Among these was the ‘guni-khana'(department for skills, arts and talents) where she learned dancing under Paro begum.
She performed in many programs and danced her way to the Royal Court. Where she came in the eyes of the king, Sawai Maharaja Jagat Singh, who fell for her and thus began their doomed love story. She even called as Anarkali of Jaipur.
The king was already married to 21 queens and had 24 concubines but he gave his heart to only one, Raskapur. Who remained with him till his last breath.
They say, you can kill a person but you cannot kill the love one feels for someone, same was the story.
Titles to Raskapur
After she first entered court as a dancer, she was bestowed with two titles out of which of utmost importance was ‘Paswan‘ which meant ‘Close to‘ , in other words she was not the queen but close to the king and exercised same power over the king as the married queens. In some cases the power if ‘ Paswan‘ overpowered the queen’s authority. Same happened here to. Maharaja Jagat Singh found his soul mate in her and on his birthay he gave away his half kingdom, pothikhana(administration department) and one more important department to her. This gave her the right to sit in the court right beside the king on throne. She started to govern and make decisions regarding feudals, and their kingdoms. Maharaja even took her to the public gatherings on festivals along with him, on the elephant.
He had given up the social rules and regulations and didn’t feel awkward in showing off his relation with a concubine. He made a separate palace, ‘Ras Vilas Palace’ for her near ‘Chandra Mahal‘, the abode of Royal family. It is said that she had some differences with one of the queen’s and was asked to leave the palace and thus she came to live in her own palace.
Krishna Kumari
Between all this, The then Maharana of Mewar sent the proposal of his daughter Krishna Kumari to Maharaja Swai Jagat Singh, to which he didn’t agree but it is said that, it was Raskapur who talked him to say yes to the alliance, sighting the strategic importance of the marriage alliance.
But actually, the facts are, the Mewar princess was first engaged to Marwar Maharaja and this sudden change in equation upset him. He stopped the Procession on the way to Jaipur, in his kingdom. Feeling insulted by this, Jagat Singh prepared his army and attacked on Marwar. The Pindar chief, Amir Khan of Jhotwara took the golden opportunity to attack Jaipur. This turn table situation made him come back to Jaipur.
Different views on the end of the story
It is said that when Jagat Singh came back, the courtiers, Feudals and queens( who already were jealous of Raskapur) conspired against Raskapur and got her sentenced to prison. And from here the various views of the painful ending of a lovestory, which bloomed against all odds and under the shadows of swords and conspiracy came to an end.
One view says, that when the Maharaja was busy fighting Pindaris, his ministers and queens got her killed, in the Nahargarh fort, where she was kept prisioner. She was thrown out of the window of the room and as the fort is built on the oldest mountain range, Aravali, she fell down to her death and when the king came to know of her demise he was so heart broken that within a year he died.
The other lore goes something like this, when the king was fighting, he got injured and later died. His last rites were being performed at the Royal funeral grounds, Gaitore. Raskapoor on hearing this, disguised herself as someone else and crossed the fort gates and reached the funeral ground and on watching the pyre on which Jagat Singh’s body was burning, she took a leap and jumped into it and burned alive with her love of life.
The third opinion is, when the Maharaja returned from war, the whole court, Feudals and the queens convinced him to sentence her to lifetime imprisonment on the self created proofs and stories of her mistrust, disloyalty and conspiracy to kill the Maharaja. Both were eagerly waiting to get the chance to meet. Meanwhile, the British made an ally with Jagat Singh, which gave small time relief to him from the neighbouring kingdoms but it was short lived as the conspirators were active knowing Maharaja’s inclination towards Raskapur. They killed him and when this news reached Raskapur she tried her best to get out of the Nahargarh fort and was able to convince one of the Feudal king, who was responsible olfor her upkeep in the prison. Then on his guarantee she was allowed to leave the prision on a promise that she will come back. But as soon as she reached the funeral grounds, she was taken back by the sight of her love burning on the pyre. The next moment, taking everyone by surprise, she jumped in the fire. The bodies burnt away leaving behind the hatred and politics, to be together in the eternal journey.
End
Thus this was the end of Jagat Singh’s short reign from 1803 to 1818 and he died young at the age of 32. He is known as the notorious king of Jaipur. It is said that Nahargarh fort is haunted by her ghost. And some say its haunted bit by couple of other ghosts. But that is another story.
Will come back with a short account of Jaipur and Jodhpur clash story because of Krishna Kumari. Ofcourse I have my point there also about woman converted to commodity. But as I said that’s another story. If you all like this one, I will come up with next one.
Update: Nahargarh is now a state run hotel.
Gaitore is a famous tourist spot now.
FOWC – BODY
Thin or thick
Fat or flat
Curved or straight
Fair or dark
Girls, love your body
The way you’ve been given
Respect gift of love by the parents
Self love and Care
Is all what it requires to grow
Girls, beam with happiness
And the success will be yours
In the world of light and colors
Don’t give a chance to the darkness
Deny the definition
Of beauty by others
Create own standards, take a leap
And look around
All will bow down at your feet
Star gazing campaign
I had a dream of going to a camp then I wanted to spend a night in a tent and wanted to gaze at stars in open and feel the cool breeze. I also had promised my son to take him to the planetarium.
On Saturday all this came true. My husband planned to join a astronomy camp along with children, held in a far away village. And we were to spend the night in a camp.
My all wishes were answered in one go and I could fulfill my promise to my son but in a much better way. Instead of taking him to planetarium I could show him the real planets and stars in natural surroundings.
Along with my son and daughter we took along other children of the family and it was a good decision as they all had a beautiful time there after 8 1/2 months of lock down and self quarantine. They enjoyed a lot and were again chirping like birds in the garden. The natural surroundings and open area brought back their liveliness.
It was so amazing and exciting to watch the actual planets from our own eyes instead of watching them on tv, movies and photos on internet.
I personally was so mesmerized by the moon and Saturn. Three of the 13 moons of Jupiter were so shiny, I never thought in my wildest imagination that it could be this way. Jupiter was massive and the storms going on it were slightly visible too. Venus was mesmerizing when I arose early in the morning. It was brightest then the brightest star of night.
We were even able to see Andromeda galaxy just like a cotton wool spread in oval shape but our happiness to look at it was at another level.
I was shocked to know that some of the stars, that we thought were stars, were actually planets :Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, which we normally see with nacked eyes and learnt the difference between them and stars which is they don’t twinkle where as stars do. That is the basic point to differentiate between the stars and planets shining like stars is that they do not twinkle like stars. We learnt how to find the directions, time and season’s progress through the stars. And lot more.
The sun through filters is not bad to look at. It does attract you like a magnet. Once you start looking at it you won’t want to tear your eyes off. The orange color it has is so calming. May be it’s not that way for all but I found it so relaxing to look at it. If I get the chance, I would love to watch again the Sun and get that calm feeling. Even now when I am thinking of it, its relaxing me.
The rising of the moon on the horizon was of another level. I saw it for the first time and took a shot but it was not for a long time. It looked red like huge strawberry. Even the morning star, Venus was red on the horizon and when it came up, it was bright shiny like a glass marble in golden color. This reminds me we learnt why do we see different colors of the Sun at sunrise and sun set, the Moon and Venus at horizon.
The night was chilly and stay in the tent was painful but still an experience for lifetime. Even the kids were sporty and enjoyed the night.
My expressions 