My Experiments with lies.: Jaisal Italy and The Living Fort

10.9.2017, End of Day 3 & 4, Jaisalmer, 12:46am

“Amar raho Jaisan-nath

Girdhar ke pyare laal

Sheesh par teehare chaaje

Dwaar par teehare baaje

Ghanan ghanan ghanan ghor

Indra ke nagare”

Be immortal, Oh King of Jaisalmer,

Beloved of Giridhar

Your throne is made of sheesham,

And clouds shower their thundering sounds at your door

Like they do in Indra’s abode

Finding an authentic Italian plus Indian restaurant, called “Jaisal Italy” in the ramparts of the fort was the last thing I expected in Jaisalmer, and as I bit into my olive-cheese pizza at 11p.m in the night, the music from our documentation from last day echoed in my ears. I loved Jaisal Italy as much as I loved the music from the previous day. This was my second visit to Jaisal Italy in the same day. I loved the food and the ambience so much that I decided to take my fellow volunteer Saurabh, for dinner in that place. This is the case with some places, they just connect to you, where Architecture beautifully blends with traditional materials, and offers interesting choices of food. You can have a beautiful view of the fort, and relish your Palak paneer as well as Cheese-olive pizza. This is the land of ruins, love, music, grandeur, royalty and FOOD ! Eat, eat and eat, till you satisfy your inner soul.

These past two days have been exhausting, with a mild migraine attack as well, but even with migraine, I couldn’t resist myself from climbing up the stairs and alleyways of Rani Mahal, to reach the terrace of the fort in a blazing sunlight at 4 in the afternoon. Nothing else in this world matches the majestic view of the city from Rani Mahal, one of the prominent attractions of Jaisalmer Fort, the only living fort in India. If I begin writing about the history of Jaisalmer Fort, the one blog post won’t be enough. Unsurmountable, the pride of “Jaisan”, as Jaisalmer is called in the local dialect.

Yesterday’s shoot began with documenting the music of Akbar and Hassan Khan, who have been singing for the royal court since 9 generations. Each time before a coronation ceremony, these artists were commissioned to prepare songs especially for that occasion, a song dedicated to the upcoming Maharaja, the heir of the royal family. These royal families have helped these musicians in their upliftment since generations, and like all other musicians in Jaisalmer, music is a tradition in their family too.

These musicians are mainly darbar artists who have been singing for the royal families since 9 generations, and their songs are based on Raagas from Hindustani classical music. They do experiment with variations in terms of taal and raagas at times. The main instruments used for their singing are harmonium, khadtaal(Castanet, 4 pieces of wood, played by hand), ghada(earthen pot), and dholak for keeping time. Akbar Khan and Hassan Khan describe their musical ‘Gharaana’ as ‘Alamkhaana’ a titular head of hereditary caste Manganiyar and are professional singers and musicians who traditionally perform to their Jajman (Patrons) Rajput families.

When asked about the importance of music in their lives, Akbar Khan says “Music for them is like a protein for happiness”. It’s a divine art, used for story-telling.

And it does tell a story, the story of these 56 bastions of the fort, and the stories of these royal families.

But personally, my day today was even more exciting than yesterday, what was meant to be an off-day, turned out to be full of work and fun combined. What appalled me is the sheer scale and magnitude of this “living” fort of Jaisalmer, where people have been living since centuries. The afternoon began with a tour of the two main “Mahals”, Raja ka Mahal and Rani Mahal, with the present crown Prince, Chaitanya Raj Singh. One advantageous thing about roaming around with the prince, and working with Anahad is that you get to go to all nooks and corners, where tourists are otherwise barred from entering. Not to forget, the special “royal” and important treatment that you get. But we deserve it for all the hard working hours we are putting in.. don’t we ? :)

We interviewed Prince Chaitanya too, who shared a lot of stories with us about his childhood, and about his future plans for the fort.

And I got to see, to feel, so many facets of life. Through the eyes of a historian, and through the art of one of the oldest Jewelry shop inside the fort, who has carved an image of Lord Krishna in a strand of a hair! Sheer awesomeness…or as our boss, and director of Anahad Foundation, Abhinav puts it.. It’s truly dope!!

In the afternoon, we had our lunch at this chic restaurant called “Jaisal Italy”, a small, cozy restaurant located just at the entrance of the fort. We all couldn’t help but stuff ourselves with the lip smacking food, and also, a feast for the eyes. As the evening set on, me, and our two immensely talented and passionate Masters of Film-making, Nishant and Aithram(volunteers with Anahad) went to the ramparts of the fort, to setup the camera for creating a time-lapse.

The city looked beautiful from such a great height, and the tourists were still pouring in, ignoring the innocent pleas of my friend Nishant, to stay away from the front of the camera. Yet, these two passionate men, whom I have started admiring for their zeal and hard work, managed to complete their task. And as we hogged on our chicken chowmein and garlic chicken, we shared a lot of stories, ranging from the alleged thefts in Paris,to random topics, only to be overheard by a gentleman at the next table, who is all set to go to Europe shortly, and who got a little scared after hearing the theft stories. That gentleman, turned out to be a waste management expert.

Well, it’s already 10^th of September, and I am already dreading to face the reality of life, as I return to my regular job. But such experiences are necessary once in a while.

As I write the translations of their songs, the poet inside me couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the poetic lyrics. As I said earlier, simple yet profound! And combined with a powerful voice. My night ended with again hogging at “Jaisal Italy” and admiring the fort once again at night, all lit up. The deserted alleyways, with just fragments of night-time activity, like sacred flagpoles thrown pell-mell after a festival. The Architect and history lover inside me was overjoyed, as I strolled through the various alleyways of the area around the fort at night. These are the different shades of this medieval city, calm, energetic, brimming with hot spices and the aroma of “Daal Pakwaan”, the colorful turbans and traditional attire of the people, the creepy Rajasthani puppets. (Personally I love them, yet people find them creepy).

And so therefore, I end this really long blog post, with a promise to write daily till the time I am here, and till I have eaten at “Jaisal Italy” atleast two more times !!

And being a huge fan of Shakespeare, I would like to quote him for the Golden city of Jaisalmer, and now when I think of it, had Shakespeare been to Jaisalmer, I am sure he would have based a play in Jaisalmer and we would have had our own Indianized version of Romeo and Juliet.

So this is Sonnet 18:

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;