RAMBAGH PALACE - No. 1 HOTEL IN THE WORLD

TripAdvisor, a top tourist company, has rated Rambagh Palace Hotel, Jaipur, as the world's number one hotel in the Travellers' Choice Awards 2023.

For me, Rambagh has always been number one ever since I came to know about the existence of hotels. The Hotel has regularly been winning awards and is spoken of highly by all who have stayed there. To get the highest recognition from a globally renowned tourist company is a remarkable achievement for the Hotel and feels like a personal victory for a Jaipurite that is me.

My first visit to Rambagh was in 1953, 70 years ago. It was not a hotel then but the residence of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. A Tennis tournament was being held there and my schoolfriend, Yaduendra, son of Dr. Durga Sahai, personal physician of the Maharaja, suggested we go and watch a Women's Doubles match in which Maharani Gayatri Devi was playing. That was when I saw the Maharani for the first time. Dressed in sparkling whites from top to toe in shirt, slacks, socks and shoes, the Maharani was the epitome of attractiveness. I don't remember what happened in the match but the face and figure of the Maharani are vividly etched in my mind. She looked like a sprightly 20-year old but actually she was 34 at that time. Not surprising as right up to the end, she was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world.

The origin of Rambagh Palace dates back to 1835 when a modest garden house was constructed for the wet nurse of prince Ram Singh II. In 1887, it was renovated to serve as a hunting lodge for the Maharaja. Difficult to visualise that what is now the centre of the sprawling city of Jaipur was then the centre of a thick forest! Expansion work to make it fit for a palace started in early 20th century and finally, in 1931, Maharaja Man Singh declared it as his principal residence.

In 1957, the royal family decided to run it as a hotel under their own management. It was only in 1972 that the management was entrusted to the Taj Group which runs it to this day.

The Palace grounds are on 47 acres of land. Apart from the exquisite architecture of the main building, a large portion of it is lush green lawns with beautifully curated gardens. An outstanding feature is the Verandah Cafe and the courtyard overlooking the vast lawn visited frequently by dancing peacocks. When I go there, I am reminded of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: the Hotel provides 'a loaf of bread...a flask of wine', you can carry 'a book of verse' and your own 'thou' in what was once 'wilderness' but is now 'paradise'.

I started patronising the Hotel in the '60s. I had joined the Navy and on my home leaves, used to seek out Yadu and head for the Polo Bar. As the name signifies, the theme is Polo and on display are trophies won by the Jaipur team of yore with the Bar walls adorned with photos from tournaments. A sporting ambience prevails adding to the flavour of the beer.

For a while, my trips to Jaipur dried up as the Navy sent me to distant shores. A revival took place when Ruchir decided to celebrate my 70th birthday at the Rambagh. Akhila and I, Mummy, Ruchir, Shumita and Gaurav, all stayed at the Hotel for a couple of days together with Yogesh and Bharti Deveshwar, Shumita's in-laws. On the birthday evening, Ruchir organised a dinner which a number of our relatives and friends attended. They included Xavier class fellows Abhay Singh and Pranab Roy, the latter also a naval colleague, and schoolmate Prakash Surana.

Now whenever we are in Jaipur, which is quite often, we celebrate all important events like birthdays and anniversaries at the Rambagh. To learn that we have been doing it in the best hotel in the world makes us doubly happy and proud.

KHOYA CHOOHA, PAYA PAHAR

A popular saying in Hindi goes, "Khoda pahar, nikla chooha"- make the huge effort of digging a whole mountain only to find something totally insignificant, a rat! This story is a reverse of that.

In January 1985, when I was commanding the frigate Trishul, the annual 'Pulling Regatta' took place. This is a prestigious event in which all ships of the Fleet vie with each other to win the 'Cock' trophy which, as the name implies, is in the shape of a lifesize rooster. The competition consists of a number of races in a 27 foot boat called 'whaler', which is rowed (pulled) by different teams of a ship such as Seamen, Technical Sailors, Senior Sailors, Officers, and Best Whaler. The overall winning ship is awarded the Cock, proudly hoists it on the main mast and is named 'Cock Ship of the Fleet', signifying excellent team work, exemplary camaraderie and high morale among all on board. It is also considered as a sign of the ship's Captain's leadership qualities and popularity. For example, Admiral Ronnie Pereira's ships always won the Cock during his various commands. Naval folks are familiar with what happened when he was commanding the cruiser Delhi. In the second last race, his team put in a super effort and won by a big margin only to discover that the ship's 'best whaler' crew had mistakenly taken part in the race meant for 'senior sailors'. They were promptly disqualified and completely exhausted for the next race which was actually theirs- 'best whaler'. So Ronnie jumped into the boat himself and cajoled the crew to participate in the race inspiring them to win it. Delhi won the Cock despite getting no points in the race before.

Competing against bigger ships like Vikrant and Mysore and newer destroyers and frigates, old Trishul which had joined the Western Fleet after a long docking period for its 'modernisation', was nowhere in anyone's reckoning for winning the Cock. Quietly working their way up, her boats did well and to everyone's surprise, ended as runner-up after giving a close run to Taragiri, the eventual winner. Admiral Russi Ghandhi, then Chairman, Shipping Corporation of India, who was the Chief Guest, announced a free trip to Singapore on M.V. Chidambaram for the the Captain of Taragiri and his wife. Captain NK Sawhney, Managing Director, Mazagaon Docks, with whom I had developed a good equation while we were jointly getting the ship ready in the docks, was also watching the event. He came up to me and said how happy he was that Trishul had done so well and bowled me over by declaring free tickets for me and my wife on Chidambaram to Singapore.

This was an unexpected surprise and Akhila, who was also present there, and I were thrilled. We came home and announced it to our children with Akhila insisting that we would pay for Ruchir and Shumita who must accompany us.

None of us had passports so, to set the ball rolling, we applied for them. We then initiated inquiries about Chidambaram's sailing schedule to match the dates with our cruise which would have to be in the School summer vacations.

We were waiting eagerly for things to progress when we got the shocking news that a fire had broken out on Chidambaram and the ship was rendered out of commission. This was a huge disappointment to all of us but we were helpless and resigned to our fate. My thoughts went back to the palmist who in my childhood had predicted no foreign visits for me and wondered whether he had some substance in his predictions.

Shortly after, I received a letter from Naval Headquarters appointing me as Defence Adviser, High Commission of India, Singapore. That meant three years in Singapore for the family.

Lost a rat, found a mountain!

THREE FREE TRIPS ABROAD IN THREE YEARS - AN AMAZING HAT-TRICK

It all began in the summer of 1995. Shumita, an avid Channel V watcher at that time, came across a competition which asked viewers the question, “Who is Batman’s sidekick?” The prize was two Qantas tickets to Brisbane and an all expenses paid trip, which included a three-day hotel stay on Gold Coast, and visits to various amusement parks, including the Warner Brothers Studio that had produced the movie “Batman Forever”. 

The answer was a no-brainer, even for Shumita who doesn’t much follow the superhero movies. So she wrote ‘Robin’ on two postcards, one in her own name and the other in Ruchir’s, and posted them to the required address. She then forgot all about it. 

A few weeks later, the home phone rang – all landline those days. Shumita picked it up to hear a foreign female voice at the other end asking for Ruchir. Those days, Ruchir used to write a Forex Watch column for The Economic Times for which he often spoke to foreign economists and correspondents. Shumita presumed the caller was one of them and gave the lady Ruchir’s office number. Before hanging up, Shumita casually inquired what the call was about and was told it was about a competition Ruchir had won. 

Shumita kept the phone down without asking any further questions. It took about 60 seconds for her mind to register that the competition must have been the one she had entered. She first got overexcited, but that emotion was soon overcome by panic as she hadn’t told Ruchir anything about it! She frantically tried to call Ruchir to alert him to the fact that he would get this strange call, and that he shouldn’t tell the caller he knows nothing about it. However, his personal line was busy. She got through on the common line, but was told that he was on another call. A few minutes later, Ruchir called back and Shumita asked him: “Did you win?” The answer was “Yes”. Ruchir had tactfully handled the call from Channel V and a month later, the brother-sister duo were off to Australia for the first time on a holiday by themselves.

They were picked up at Brisbane airport by a chauffeur driven luxury car and taken to a 5-star hotel where the stars of ‘Batman Forever’, including Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman, had stayed. A British woman, who had made the initial calls to Shumita and Ruchir, met them at the hotel and was with them throughout along with the other winners - a girl from Hong Kong and her friend. They were told that there were about 20,000 correct entries out of which two were picked up in a lot. That revived our faith in the lottery system!

A stretch limo was used for the five of them to move around. A highlight of the trip was a drive in the Batmobile used in the movie. But only Ruchir and the other winner could drive it; Shumita who was responsible for the trip was politely asked not to even touch it.

STRIKE ONE!

In the beginning of 1996, as a frequent visitor to the British Council Library, I chanced upon a competition sponsored by British Airways. It invited entrants to write a short poem on what they would like to do on a visit to London. I penned down something and then, in a moment of inspiration, wrote four more and posted the lot – one each for Mummy, Akhila, Ruchir, Shumita and self. And that was that.

Time passed by and one day, a thick yellow envelope arrived at our Som Vihar flat from the British Council. At that time, Akhila was doing some translation work for them, and dismissed the envelope as more work coming her way. Shumita, with plenty of time at her disposal during college those days, decided to open it. She could hardly believe what she was holding in her hands! The letter announced Akhila’s name as the winner of a return ticket to London, along with a 5-day stay in a studio apartment in Hyde Park, London, and two tickets for three days to watch an India vs England test match at Lord’s. 

We felt someone should accompany Akhila and decided on Shumita as she was the only one from the family who had not been to London until then.

A few days after Akhila’s letter was received, another one arrived at our doorstep. This time in my name, declaring me as the winner of a consolation prize: 6 coasters of London landmarks! 

So I was confined to looking at those images while mother and daughter had a gala time staying in the centre of the city in a beautiful apartment, exploring London and visiting Lord’s whenever they felt like it. It so happened that a shipmate of mine, Cdr Randhawa, was at that time Secretary Services Sports Control Board. He got in touch with the manager of the Indian team, Sandeep Patil, who ensured the two ladies were well looked after at Lord’s.

STRIKE TWO!!

About a year and a half later, I read in The Economic Times about a competition in partnership with Delta Airlines where they called for a 10-word caption to complete the phrase: “I like The Economic Times and Delta Airlines because…” The promised prize was an Executive Class return ticket to New York. 

A line flashed in my head: “ET provides me with hottest tips and Delta, coolest trips”. I wrote it down and sent in my entry. Some weeks later, I was contacted by ET and informed that I had won the prize. We hadn’t been to the USA and had not even considered to ever visit it. This was a Godsend and Akhila and I made the trip - win one, go two!

STRIKE THREE!!!

On return, both of us felt that we had now seen the world and our travels were complete. Little did we know that Ruchir, and for some years Shumita, would move to USA and this would be the first of many more trips.

PS1: After the Australia trip, Shumita entered another competition in The Times of India for which the prize was two free tickets to a movie at Priya Cinema and a pair of Pepe Jeans. When she saw her name in the paper, she came bounding out of her room, screaming “In won, I won!” Ruchir asked her with much excitement what was it that she had won. When she said, 2 movie tickets and a pair of jeans, he exasperatedly sighed and said “Big deal!” In contrast to free holidays overseas, it seemed an insignificant prize. 

PS2: We stopped entering competitions after that, giving chances for others to win! My little grandson, Raghav, though, upon hearing these stories, picks up the newspaper regularly now, rifling through for any competitions to enter. 

THE EYES HAVE IT

When you first meet a person, you look at his/her face and then the eyes lock. An impression is created immediately and more often than not, it is strengthened as you get to know the person further. 'Seeing is believing', but the mystery is that though what we see is the same, our eyes interpret it differently. Someone said, "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Very few people see 'eye to eye' unless the trust is so much that one can follow someone with 'eyes wide shut'. 'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’ and what may be 'love at first sight' for one, for most it is just another sight.

Traditionally and in folk lore, eyes have been associated with character. Brown eyes are supposed to be trustworthy, blue-sentimentality, and, green-creativity and mysteriousness. Metaphorically, the colour of eyes is expressive of emotion: red eyes of rage and anger, blue-love and romance, green-jealousy, and black-deceit. There is also the 'evil eye' which could be cast upon with intense jealousy on someone very successful or hugely attractive. And if you wink at a pretty girl, you could land up with a 'black' and 'blue' eye!

Eyes are a popular subject for songs. Titles of most immediately convey what the songs are about. So Frank Sinatra crooned for his loved one, “I only have eyes for you”, Frank Valli was besotted with love in “Can’t take my eyes of you” and the song in the film “Dirty Dancing” had “Hungry eyes” expressing desire.  Other songs are “Sexy eyes”, “Bright eyes”, “Dark eyes” and Bruce Springsteen's "Hey blue eyes". An old favourite of mine is "Beautiful brown eyes" by Rosemary Clooney in which she expresses her love for brown eyes forsaking blue ones.

Al Martino brought in nationality in “Blue Spanish eyes” while the old traditional song gets the heart stolen in “When Irish eyes are smiling”. Some songs have a deeper meaning like The Platters' "Smoke gets in your eyes" where the singer says that when love ends, it feels like smoke gets in your eyes. Perry Como was at his best in the early 50s in the chart topper "Don't let the stars get in your eyes" warning the loved one that in his absence, she should not be naive and let the moon break her heart but keep it for him when he returns. 

Eyes are popular in Hindi songs too. Way back  KL Saigal complained of agony inflicted by “Do naina matware” while more recently, the Bachchans went to town with “Kajra re, kajra re, kajra re torey naina”. Abida Parveen hypnotised us with her inimitable Sufi song “Chhaap tilak sab chheeni, mohse naina milaike” meaning, 'you have taken away my looks, my identity, by engaging eyes with me.' And there is "Chashme baddoor", the '61 hit of Mohd. Rafi that aims to ward off the evil eye from the lover.

Contrary to what Rosemary Clooney sang, there is a story I heard sometime back. On a late night drinking binge at a stag party, an animated discussion was raging about what the colours of eyes signify. Someone said that brown-eyed women are very unfaithful. One man realizing that he did not know the colour of his wife’s eyes rushed home to check. Finding her sleeping in her skimpy nightie in the darkened bedroom, he pulled out a torch and shone it in her eye. “By God, it's brown,” he yelled. A thoroughly distressed and disshelved person crawled out half-clothed from under the bed mumbling, “How did you know I was here?”