Photos Of Some Common Birds Found In The Parks & Gardens Of Jaipur.

Spotted Owlet (Athene brama indica)

Recently a cousin of mine,Madhav Rathore, an experienced, enthusiastic birder, bought a  Canon EOS 7D with a huge telephoto lens. When I kidded him about buying   such an expensive  camera he insisted on taking me birding in  the Central Park one evening. That is when the use of the camera became apparent to me.  He was shooting birds perched at the top of tallest of trees where as I was limited to shooting squirrels and birds sitting in front of me in the grass.

But I got hooked to birding that day. I am no expert birder but by my own experience it is far easier to watch birds today. I take a picture of the whichever  feathered friend which dares to cross my path and later on I put an ID to it with the help of a couple of Books. Where the books fail The Net comes  to help. This method helps to engrave the names of the birds in the mind too. So the next time I come across the same bird I  say smugly,” That is Brahminy Mayna you know !” and so on…

One thing you will notice is the exotic names of the birds.  I can bet you powers that be who gave names to the birds put more thought in naming the birds than in naming their newborn sons. They have names like starling,Black  Drongo,Grebe,darter etc. And each bird has its own charm. Own uniqueness which will hold you in thrall.

I have been to the Central Park many times before the day we went birding but I  did not notice the birds before that day. Oh I could see the pigeons and the doves but the other beauties were hidden behind a muslin curtain as it were. Somebody had to  point the birds out to me. Do you know  usually we see two types of Doves in Jaipur one is Laughing Dove and the other is the Eurasian Collared Dove. And that the house sparrow may be endangered soon enough! Who would have thought of it!

I have been posting photos I take around Jaipur to www.flickr.com for some time now. If you see the stats on the photos you will realize that people like photos of flowers and plants more than photos of birds. I do not know why that is so but we have to be more aware of the beauty surrounding us in the form of birds more. Birds forage in the early morning but people go for their morning walk just then too. So the birds perch themselves on the highest branches of the trees. I suppose they come down later. I do not know.There are some birds which do not mind people at all and are all over the grass in the Park.

Now a days in every home there is a computer and a digital camera. All you have to do is to buy a beginners guide to birding. Be sure to buy one which has photos of the birds & not sketches. You can graduate to the books with sketches  later.

Now find some time for yourself and the birds and go for a walk in the nearest Park or garden. Happy Birding.

I am posting  some photos of the Birds I found.

Ground Water Level in Jaipur

Monsoon has finally arrived in Jaipur and concerned citizens and concerned Rajasthan Government are pursuing the Green Rajasthan Project of planting saplings in all major cities of Rajasthan on war footing to ensure that there is a cover of green to invite the rains and to give shade in the scorching months of Rajasthani summers.

One problem comes to mind though, falling water table.You have to drill 250 feet to get water in some area of Jaipur.One wonders when the trees will start dying because  the water table has fallen out of reach of the roots of trees.It is not an idle or irresponsible thought.In some areas of surrounding Jaipur thriving Mango Orchards have died because the water fell below reach of the root systems of the mango trees.

It is time to make a hard decision trees or grass & plants.Orchards or gardens.How long can you go on wasting good potable water on gardens. There are some 670 parks in Jaipur. Imagine the consumption of fresh water.

Besides saving the ground water by limiting its use it  will also have to be recharged with the rain water by harvesting the same. JNU in Delhi has solved its water problems successfully by rain water harvesting and other initiatives.

It is a given, that in India nothing goes to waste.Even the rain water which flows away.But it is needed more in the ground so that the trees can live.

Morning Walk In Jaipur

Why should you wake up at 6 am for a walk on a holiday even if it is in Jaipur ? This way you will get to see an early morning face of jaipur and the parks of Jaipur where you would not go otherwise in the daytime.The walk and the shower afterwards will rejuvenate you for the travails of holiday making in rest of the day.Let me motivate you.A couple walks all the way from their home to the Govind Dev Ji temple for the first Jhanki of the day once a week. And Govind Dev Ji is offered the best prasad ever- chowgani ke laddu( the ingredients for the  recipe are one part gram flour four part sugar and desi ghee).The prasad is available to darshanarthis on token payment.

But where to go ? There is a garden handy in almost every colony but the places mentioned below are close to every morning walker’s heart in Jaipur.

Ram Niwas Garden

Karpoor Chandra Kulish Simriti Ban,on JLN Marg

Rose Garden On Jawahar Circle

Park near the Deer Park in C-Scheme.

Statue Circle and The Central Park

Jogging Track around the Jal Mahal

Road up to the Nahargarh and back

On the grounds of the Clubs of Jaipur (subject to the club’s Rules)

Or the road out side your hotel or guest house as it is pretty quite at 6 am.

The idea is to work up a sweat and drink in the early morning cool air. When you are on your walk be on the look out for a news paper walla he is sure to have an extra copy of your news paper.It will be Jaipur edition but still worth your time. By the time you finish it will be after 7 am.

Before you hit the shower have a cup of tea at SAHU’S tea shop or a cup of Coffee at the Statue Circle Or a lassi at the famous Lassiwalla opposite the Niros restaurant on the M.I.Road or you can have bewari poori and ram alloo at the sweet shop “Gangaur” in Bagria Bhawan( on sunday only 8 am to 11 am) or some traditional indian snacks at Rawat’s near Polo Victory cinema multiplex-after all it is a holiday.

LINK ON WALKING

GARDENS AROUND JAIPUR

CLUBS OF JAIPUR

Marriages May Be Made In Heaven But Are Solemnised In Jaipur

Be it a reaffirmation of their marriage vows or the actual ceremony,foreigners or Indians alike, come to Jaipur to do the honours.And Jaipur does not let them down in any way.It has all the infrastructure needed to host a perfect wedding of even 3000 guests.It is said that more than 70,000 people are in one way or another involved in performing weddings in Jaipur. There are more than 400 marriage gardens. Jaipur has The Weather,The ambiance,The People,The Traditions,The Rituals,The Cuisine, The Forts, The Palaces,The Havelies,The Gardens, The hotels,The Guesthouses,The Caterers,The Bands,The Folk Dancers, The Folk Singer, The Sheanaiwala,Camels & Elephants & Horses,The Lawajama,The Tent Houses,The Panditjis,Lightwalas,Halwais,Taxi services,Travel Agents,Helicopter Service,Chartered Planes,Marriage Planners,Event Managers,Designer Fashion Studios for bridal finery,  Bridal Makeup Artists,Jewellers,Dress Makers, Jodhpuri Suits,Achkans,Safa walla,Uniform Makers, Photographers, Fruit Sellers,Panwallas,Hinawalla,Card Printers,Wine Merchants,Mojris,Potters and Honeymoon Destinations .Whatever your elders name it for an auspisious wedding you will find it in the Bazaars of Jaipur.

Let us do a War Plan like exercise on planing a wedding in Jaipur.

To begin with you need an auspicious date.Let us consult a Pandit ji.He will consult a Panchanj or a computer and fix an auspicious date favourable to both boy and girl according to their horoscopes for their long life and happy marriage.

There are more than 500 event organising companies and  numerous travel agents who will be happy to help you organise the wedding from pre wedding ceremonies to shopping for wedding finery to sightseeing for the guests, printing and distribution of invitation cards, wedding cake, choreographed  ladies sangeet,venue,caterers even choice of honeymoon destination with hotel package is done by the wedding planner- or you could do it on your own.

Once the date is fixed,all services are booked accordingly for that date and advances are paid. Let us begin with the venue.There is such a wide variety of venues available that your choices will only be restricted by money or prior bookings.Name your choice A grand Palace(Hotel Rambagh Palace),A small Haveli (Devi Niketan Or Raj mahal Palace on Sardar Patel Marg)A fort(Jai Garh or Nahargarh).Venue for reception( Sisodia Rani Ka Bagh or SMS convention Center or Rajputana Sheraton Hall).

Now you have to find that perfect Wedding card.Kashi nath ji ki Gali situated in Gopalji Karasta,in Chaura Rasta,in the Walled City.There are about 40-50 card shops here and they sell about 30 lac cards every year to people coming from all India.Cost of the card ranges from Rs.1 to Rs.500.There are more than 700 different sorts of cards available at a time.People are preferring hand made cards made in Jaipur presently.

An army marches on its stomach so does a good wedding.Menu? Your hearts desire.Just name the cusine you want.It will be there gracing the buffet tables on your wedding day.Money is the only object.

So for a catering service- ‘Caterers’ on Bhagwandas Road,Jaipur Quality Sweets,Off Ashok Marg- for Vegetarian food.  Mohan’s Opposite Neelam Hotel for Non Vegetarian catering.They are top of the line.

Jaipur is such a big tourist destination and marrige hub that it consumes flowers worth lacs of rupees every day.Keeping this fact in mind the Agriculture Department has decided to introduce floriculture in the city and alwar with the help of M/s Florance Flora ,Bangalore.They are going to cultivate jarbera,dutch rose and statis. And who can deny it a lot of flowers are a must in a wedding.They give wings to the brides singing heart. Event managers have gone a step further and are providing theme/season based flower decorated stages and wedding venues.They also use artificial flowers and vibrant colors and multicolored lights.For a different look they are even using dried flowers for decoration.

Big part of you time will be spent on buying stuff for the wedding.Or renting it for the day.This is the list of bazaars of Jaipur and what is sold there.The best thing to do is to provide the eldest relative with a car and a bright young man to shop for those little things you know nothing about but without which an indian wedding is incomplete.These things are available in the walled city only.
THE LIST

Rana’s in Johri Bazaar for Bridal Lehanga’s and sarees.

Raymond’s on M.I.Road for suit lengths.

Rajputana’s on panch batti for Achkans,shirts.

Mojari on Shiv Heera Path for jooties.

Jodhpur Tailors for Jodhpuri coat.

Bhuramal Rajmal Surana for Jewellery.

Relince Fresh,Big Bazaar at 22 godam, Spencers,Tru Mart,Subhiksha, National Hand loom,More… for Fruit Vegetables Groceries

Tej Tent Decorators on Sardar Patel Marg  Crockery,Chairs,etc

You will need a vediographer and a photographer and some friends who can shoot photographs well so that a  record can be kept of the happy event.And remember it should be all digital for the marriage blog or website or for that live broadcast on the net for the near and dear overseas who could not make it to the wedding.

These are the days of Bachelor and Bachelorette parties.So you have to decide the venue and the menu.If the guest list is only of a few intimate friends have the party at your home and have the food delivered from the nearby restaurants. Get your own wine and music.The other choice is- rent a lawn in a club and get a caterer to run the show.Or get a room in a hotel- let the hotel feed the party via room service.

If you do not know people whose chauffeur driven cars you can borrow for the duration of the marriage you will need to hire a fleet of taxis.Any travel agent will be able to help.For the groom An Elephant Or a mare Or a stretch Limo and for the bride a Palki no less and a Brass Band  from the 200 odd avilable to accompany them.You have to book them all&Pay the advance.They will be there on the appointed day right on time because they have other marriages to attend to also.

Do not forget to book the beauty parlour for the bridal Makeup.And the groom needs to visit a Salon too.One more booking.

A lavish suite for the first night in one of the palace hotels.The Groom has to be reminded to buy an expensive jwellery for the bride for the ‘Muh Dikahi Rasam’.

No indian wedding is complete without the Barat.You will need Dj, Light Wallas, Band, Mare,Elephant,Firecrackers,your friends to walk in the procession and dance in the street ahed of the barat.Youngest male member of your family will ride  with the groom as the child image of Ganesh.In Rajput weddings  the barat is formed by the male contingent only of family and Friends of the groom.

Finally the Barat reaches the brides home.Dwar pooja is done.Rest of the ceremoneis take place one by one. Pheras take place.The Bride and The Groom take the seven vows.

If they still do not believe that they are married.They can get their marriage registered right after the ceremony by the marriage registration officer at the wedding venue it self by paying the requisite fees & the officers travel allowance etc. and get their certificate duly signed and stamped.

The Guests offer their best wishes and some money.Everybody has dinner.The couple leave to get their elders blessings after which they retire for the night.

Couples from all walks of life-from all parts of the world come to Jaipur-to tie the knot.In the process they see their dreams come true on this earth. They are richer for the experience and poorer for the money they drop here.But-there is always a but-the locals have to suffer the noise pollution late night DJ parties,Traffic Jams,booked venues,overbooked trains and flights. sudden increase in price of milk and vegetables and sweets,scarcity of petrol, cooking gas&new small denomination currency notes.A lot of cooked food-which was not consumed in the party- is just thrown away on the street.It could be given to the homeless in jaipur.

Web Sites for Women

www.sitagita.com

http://www.stylecraze.com/

Matrimonial Sites on the Web.

http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/

http://www.shaadi.co.in/

http://www.jeevansathi.com/

http://www.secondshaadi.com/index.php

RSS DirectoryAdd Blog

Gardens Around Jaipur

Jaipur is not all tall buildings and monuments.You will be surprised to know that there are more than a dozen gardens in jaipur.Not all of them are on the tourist trail.Let us talk a little bit about them.

Ram Niwas Garden

Built during the reign of Sawai Ram Singh II in 1868 as a famine relief project,on 36 acres of land  it is home to a zoo(0141-2617319),an aviary,a green house,a herbarium, The Albert Hall Museum(designed by Sir Samuel Jacobs), several Sports grounds ,The Ravindra Manch Theatre and a Parking Lot.

The Sclpture In The Central Park Jaipur,Rajasthan

Statue Circle & The Central Park

You will find statues on most Jaipur circles but only one Circle is known as the Statue Circle and A full length white marble statue of Sawai Jai Singh stands tall in the center.And nearby Behind Birla Planetarium is the Central Park Developed by the J.D.A. It has a walk way around the golf greens of The RamBagh Golf Club and a Sculpture and grassy knolls.It is also a venue for the monthly fixture of The Music In The Park organized by Spic Mac,JDA and RTDC.

Sisodia Rani Ka Bagh (0141-2680494)

About 6km from the city center on the way to galta ji off Jaipur Agra Highway is a garden built by Sawai Jai Singh for his second wife, a Sisodia princess from Udaipur.It is a terraced garden with a palace on the top terrace.  This garden is a popular venue for weddings and parties.

Vidhyadhar ji ka Bagh(0141-2680494)

Named after the genius who planned the Pink City for Sawai Jai Singh II this garden is under renovation right now( Budget 5 Crores).They have discovered a 250 years old bawadi which was used to harvest water. This water was used for Vidhyadhar Garden and The Roop Niwas Garden.It was also used as  a vineyard for the jaipur royal family in the times gone by.

Kanak Vrindawan (0141-2634596) On the way to Amber,near Jal Mahal,newly restored temple and garden,is a popular picnic spot.

Peacock Garden & Rose Garden in Mansarovar

These two garden have had the rare distinction of having commemorative covers issued  in 2007.

Karpoor Chandra Kulish Simriti Ban

Area- 108 Acres.Cost-7.68 Crore rupees.Main entrance opposite Shiksa Sankul (Museum Gate) 2nd gate near MNIT(Aravali Gate).Eco Environmental  Museum with 500 books.Centuries old rocks.About 90 species of birds.A seasonal waterfall.3 Hills. 8 Ponds  with lotus and fish. A walk way.2 Foot Bridges.9 Sections(Vasundhra,Champa,Dhanvantari,National,Nakshatra,Arid,Brindavan & Holistic Wellness Farm).Ample parking Space.No entry for vehicles( a big parking lot in house). Horse Trail Proposed.

Jhalana Eco Tourism Park

The park is situated  in the Kho-Nagoria region on a 470 hectare parcel of land in Jhalana.It has a budget of 25 lac rupees.

About 85 species of birds are found in this park.The park has 30 rare species of  plants with medicinal value.

Shastri Nagar Science Park

It is proposed to build a planetarium and I T Gallery in this park (Budget 20Lac).15 new models have been installed.3 guides are also being employed to impart information to the visitors.

Jai Niwas garden

The Spireless  Govind Dev ji Temple is  dedicated to Lord Krishna and is  located in the central pavilion of the Jai Niwas Garden in near the city palace complex.

Kesar Kyari & Dilaram Bagh,Amer

Kesar Kyari  the Dilaram Bagh on the Mawatha provide a spectacular view of the Amer palaces.

Kesar Kyari Garden  is the venue for the light and sound show by the RTDC costing 5.25 crores.The 45 min. script has been written by Gulzar and will be narrated by Amitabh Bachan.

Rajasthan University Campus

Spread over 285.5 acres Rajasthan University Central  Campus has emerged as  the only place in jaipur where  Ecology students can research various flora and fauna-plants and trees which are a representation of vegetation found in rajasthan on a level ground.Besides  students from various colleges of jaipur  out station college students also come here to do research. One other rich source of plant specimens is the Campus nursery.

Proposed

Chameli Bagh at Jal Mahal

It is proposed to recreate the vanished garden in the Jal Mahal terrace according to an 18 th century map found in the City Palace.Lime and mortar-age old building materials will be used.It will have a lift and lighting will be done by Australia based D.J.Ghosh.If all things go as planed it will be one of the 80 most exotic garden locations of the world.

Collectorate Circle A Theme based Garden .

In a novel marketing step Forest Department  nurseries even develop plants according to the recommendations of the  12  zodiac signs and make them available for sale to the common man during the monsoon season.