The Rajasthan High Court was inaugurated on 29 August 1949 and Pitaji was sworn in as a High Court Judge at a ceremony in Jodhpur and transferred to Udaipur to head the bench there. First week of September, Pitaji, Mataji and I took the long overnight metre gauge train journey involving two changes to Udaipur. We were initially put up in Laxmi Vilas Guesthouse perched on top of a hill close to the City Palace and overlooking the Pichola lake.
Udaipur, capital of the old Mewar Kingdom and founded in 1553, is a picturesque city located around a number of lakes, Pichola and Fateh Sagar being the main ones. For us, it was a welcome change from the dry and dusty Bharatpur. One of the first things I noticed, there were no fans anywhere. When I asked I was told that Udaipur, with its temperate climate as a result of water all around, was classified as a ‘hill station’!
Two islands on Pichola with impressive structures were visible from our Guesthouse. I was keen to visit them and luckily, Pitaji himself had tourist blood in his veins and we went to the islands on the very first weekend. The first was Jagmandir named after Maharana Jagat Singh I and completed in mid-17th century. It was the Lake Garden Palace of the Maharanas. It is said that Shahjehan, then known as Khurram, took refuge on the island during the fight for Jehangir’s successor and the unique floating marble structure of the Palace was his inspiration for the designing of Taj Mahal.
The second island we visited was Jag Niwas built by Maharana Jagat Singh II 1743-46 as his summer palace. This lavish piece of marble architecture with its terraces, gardens and fountains is now the Taj Lake Palace Hotel.
Udaipur is a tourists’ paradise and our weekends were all taken up by seeing new places. We visited the City Palace where I was amazed to see a garden on the rooftop of the 5-storey, 100 ft high monument. Then there was the Saheliyon Ki Bari, an ancient park with colourful fountains and marble elephants. Located on a hill by the side of Fateh Sagar was Sajjangarh, the Monsoon Palace of the Maharanas, which afforded a bird's eyeview of the entire city. An hour’s drive away on the winding road through Aravali hills, we visited Jaisamand which is the second largest artificial fresh water lake in Asia.
We are devotees of Lord Shrinathji whose idol is housed in the famous temple at Nathdwara, 48 kms. north-east of Udaipur. Shrinathji is a ‘swarup’ of Lord Krishna as a 7 year old boy who saved a village, Goverdhan, near Mathura, from torrential rains and deluge by holding up a hill with his left hand to provide shelter. Actually the idol was initially installed in Goverdhan but moved to Nathdwara in 1672 to save it from destruction by the Moghuls. A special ‘rath’ was constructed from wood without any nails for the transfer of the holy idol. The ‘rath’ has since been kept on display inside the temple complex.
We first visited the temple during Diwali holidays that year. During 'darshan', one was being constantly pushed from side to side. On enquiring, I was told that it was done intentionally to simulate waves of the river Yamuna, the river passing through Mathura, birthplace of Lord Krishna. Another custom was a pujari standing and hitting devotees as they passed him with a knotted sheet; that symbolised cleansing one of one’s misdeeds by striking them out of the body.
On Annakoot, the day after Diwali, the temple authorities had prepared more than 50 items of 'prasada'. I was awestruck to see a ten-foot high mound of cooked rice placed in the 'aangan' of the temple for distribution to the devotees.
The Udaipur area has its own ‘char dham’ for Vaishnavites and we visited all four many times during our stay in Udaipur. 42 kms. from the city is Eklingji worshipped as the ruling god of Mewar with the Maharana as his Dewan. The next is Shrinathji in Nathdwara followed by Dwarkadhish in Kankroli, next to the serene Rajsamand Lake. Completing the ‘char dham’ is Charbhujaji which is 112 kms. from Udaipur.
Near Charbhujaji, we also visited Ranakpur Jain temple famous for its fascinating architecture.
Haldi Ghati, scene of the famous battle between Maharana Pratap and Akbar’s forces led by Maharaja Man Singh I of Amber, lies a short distance away between Eklingji and Nathdwara and was, of course, on our touring list. Visiting the historical site and standing by the Chetak Smarak, memorial to Maharana Pratap’s famous steed, one could visualise the battle in one's mind.
Chittorgarh, about 80 kms. from Udaipur and home to a huge fort, also invited a couple of trips from us. Apart from the fort, I remember visiting the Vijay Stambh and Rani Padmini’s Palace.
If my account of stay in Udaipur reads like a travelogue, it should surprise no one. The area is rich in history, monuments and lakes and a paradise for tourists who flock there in lakhs every year from thousands of miles away. And we had the luxury of living there visiting the sites at our leisure over a long stretch of time.
Pitaji was allotted a government house next to the High Court enabling him to walk across for work. It had a big lawn with elevated levels on the sides. I remember this specially for one incident. Mummy, who was still teaching in Bharatpur, was on a visit and we were out on the lawn when I decided to run up and down the slopes. Mummy also got in the mood and joined me but slipped and fell on her face. Fortunately, she escaped with minor injuries but I considered myself responsible for the incident and felt very guilty about it.
For my schooling, Pitaji had already planned to put me in a unique institution founded by his friend and well-known educationist, Shri Mohan Singh Mehta. I went into Class VII at the Vidya Bhawan, a school much ahead of its time. In an orthodox and conservative state of Rajasthan where women covered their faces with long ‘ghoonghats’, the School was a co-education one. It followed the objective of overall development of a child and not just academics. I went to School at 7 a.m. in a tonga accompanied by 6-7 other kids and returned almost 12 hours later. On reaching School, we started with physical training followed by breakfast. Classes were from 9 a,m. to 1.30 p.m. before the lunchbreak. Then for one hour, there was a compulsory siesta where we used to spread our bedroll kept in lockers on to the verandah. Up and into hobbies like carpentry and foundry and Indian dance lessons like Kathak and Ghoomar by Shri Devi Lal Samar who gained fame later by setting up his own Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal and was awarded the Padma Shri. Finally, we played games like Football, Hockey and Volleyball before catching the tonga back to home. On days of pleasant weather, students could opt to visit a nearby village or farm.
At home, we had two living-in staff to help us with domestic work. One of them was a boy in his late teens or early 20s and I used to play with him. One day, I took a bet with him and lost. I stole a five-rupee note from Mataji’s purse to pay off the bet. I felt extremely guilty about it but was afraid to tell Mataji as Rs. 5 was big money in those days but I learnt my lesson not to repeat such promises unless I personally had the required funds!
Months went by and we were feeling well settled when in May ‘50 came the order abolishing the Udaipur High Court bench. Pitaji was transferred to Jaipur where we reached end-May. We were put up in the State guesthouse called Khasa Kothi. It was the height of summer and a regular feature was a dust storm in the afternoon. The only variation was that it could be a ‘kaali aandhi‘ or ‘peeli aandhi’ that we could see approaching from the west.
Meanwhile, Mummy was selected to do a year’s B.Ed. Course in the Vidya Bhawan Teacher’s College in Udaipur starting July. As the institution was close to my school, it was decided that I should accompany her and continue for another year in Vidya Bhawan. A special permission was taken for me to stay with Mummy in the Ladies Hostel where we were allotted a small room in one corner. I had lots of Aunties and Didis around me for company!
With Mummy busy with her studies, there wasn’t much of interest happening. For practical experience, teachers undergoing B.Ed. were at times detailed to conduct classes in our school. Once a Maths lady teacher who I knew well from the Hostel came for a Geometry lesson to our class. Introducing us to Pythagoras’ theorem, she said, “A suker plus B suker is equal to C suker.” Nobody understood what she meant despite a number of repetitions. A classmate got up and asked her what was ‘suker’? This enraged her and she said that she couldn’t believe that students of Class VIII didn’t know the term and were just ridiculing her. Finally, she wrote on the blackboard, “A square plus B square = C square.” The class burst out laughing and the teacher thought we were being naughty and reported us to the Headmaster for appropriate punishment.
Apart from me, the only other males in the Hostel were the Warden and his two nephews in their 20s. In a large room next to ours, one of the occupants was a young, attractive lady in her early 20s, fresh out of college. The younger nephew and the young lady were attracted to each other and would meet surreptitiously. There were times when my School closed earlier than Mummy’s College. The young lady would skip classes and come back to the Hostel and ask me to keep a lookout while the nephew and she spent time together in her room. This went on for some time when one day, the young lady’s roommate came back early. I must have been sleeping on my watch as I failed to warn the couple. All hell broke loose and my role was exposed too. The nephews were banished and I got a sound thrashing from Mummy, second only to the combined one of Mataji and Mummy when I bunked from School in Bharatpur at age <6!
Days then rolled by normally and I busied myself with studies. Mummy was quite fond of movies and that was our main entertainment. I distinctly remember two unforgettable ones. ‘Mahal’, said to be Bollywood’s first horror film, had the glamorous Madhubala’s ghost flitting all over from a swing on the lawn to inside the large mansion singing ‘Aayega, aayega, aayega, aayega aanewala, aayega, aayega’ (Lata Mangeshkar’s launching superhit), and haunting her target, the bewildered and dazed Ashok Kumar. The other movie, ‘Andaz’, was the deeply emotional story of a love triangle with Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Nargis. The music by Naushad and songs sung by Mukesh in his deep, mellifluous voice with beautiful piano accompaniment were outstanding and hearttugging. The three best were, ‘Jhoom jhoom ke nacho aaj, gao khushi ke geet, aaj kisi ki haar hui hai, aur kisi ki jeet’, ‘Hum aaj kahin dil kho baithe, yunh samjho kisi ke ho baithe’ and ‘Tu kahe agar jeevan bhar, mein geet sunata jaoon’.
Came May 1951, I passed my VIIIth, Mummy successfully completed her B.Ed. and was transferred to Jaipur and we moved to that city. The ' Jaipur- Vaipur’ prophecy of the 5-year old had come true in 7 years.
