DESI DISCOVERY QUIZ 5

Hing –ka -Paani

 Chittorgarh Fort is the right answer. A part of its history was portrayed magnificently in the movie Padmavati. Chittorgarh is 120 KM away from Udaipur.

A few Womenfolk were sitting beside the road with  bundles of freshly cut green grass. A scooty driven by a teen girl stops by. Her mother behind her passes on a Rs.20 note one of the ladies sitting. The mother blesses the bundle of grassit by a gentle touch & it is taken to the cow shelter behind to feed the cows. The mother is satisfied that she has fed the cow, the cow is satisfied, the lady selling the bundle of grass for her roti is satisfied. Elsewhere the landlord from whose land the grass was cut is also happy that he got rid of the grass for free.

Thank God!!;  the multinationals have not noticed this so far. Else they would have come up with improved taste grass enriched with vitamins for the cows; given one bundle free for one bundle; or sent you packing to Singapore on a paid holiday.

The Chittorgarh fort is among the largest fort complex in India at. The walls are sound & magnificent even today. The fort brilliantly uses its resources to secure & make available water for its infantry by means of over 84 waterbodies in its precincts. More about the fort in the PPT file as photos.

The roads inside the forts where wide enough to allow a tempo traveler. So that gives us an idea about the chassis width of chariots of those days.

You can see the spot from where Khilji was made to view Padmavati. Poor fellow- he could not have had a clear view at such a distance.

Rajasthan has one all time snack – Kachori served with assortment of chutneys. What the Dal or ulundu vadai is to TN, Kachori is to Rajasthan.  At Rs.10 a piece, just 2 are sufficient for a quick breakfast or on the move lunch. They come in variants – Dal, onion etc.. It is always washed down liberally with the Hing-Ka  Paani – a very good  refreshing, asafetida spiced water that helps in digestion & eliminates acidity.  You will like it in less than a day.

The autowala who charges Rs.500 for a 3 hour tour of the fort invariably stops at a so called Rajasthan Government emporium. You are shown – sarees & Chudis that have the fragrance of Chandan with a  4 year warranty. They claim that they have sarees made of threads drawn from the pulp of custard apple, bamboo, plantain tree etc… You need to dissolve 50 grams of alum in warm water & after it cools, dip the sarees in it & then the fragrance is supposed to set in. Though it was affordable & had some nice collections, I was weary of a possible gimmick & stayed away.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has taught us an important lesson –Never get cowed down. The challenges he had to face to bring to screen Padmavati is not for the faint hearted. His resolve to get going with the Padmavati project should have had much more  than few sacks of mint fresh notes.

The costumes, photography, lighting & sets etc in the movie was amazing.

Padmavati is now running to full houses at Chittorgarh Much ado about nothing??

I wonder what Khilji would have been doing  to while away time during the 6 month long futile siege of the fort.

The trip to Chittorgarh Fort after watching the movie makes it even more interesting.