dinner with the maharajah
we arrived in mandi, unknown to us it was the international shivatri mela 2005
basically a holy festival dedicated to lord shiva, with organised loud music and a very big fair
we had already been in mandi so we checked back into the raj mahal hotel, and met the owner who was interested in where we had come from. he was very kind from the start and invited us for dinner that evening, after finding our feet back in town we got freshened up.. i went for a shave at the barbers, and fi went shopping.
we soon realised that we were dealing with a well respected person when all the customers of the hotel bowed and smiled at our man, was he the maharajah that used to rule this town?
once we sat down to tikka masala and rice dishes, he told us of his time as son of the maharajah, he was 17 when their rule ended in 1955, but he showed us all the artifacts and photos on the wall his mother had collected.. portraits of king george V, and swords..
fi and i were on best behaviour, but soon relaxed once he starting cracking jokes and tricking fi.. for example, "do you know there where lots of people in norwich today?", "no, why?", "because they live there!". he told us of his time in bournemouth, england, and we then promised to send him a postcard from their on our return in payment for a wonderful dinner date.
the following day we bid our farewells, and thanked ashok for his hospitality.. he had given us a wonderful glimpse into the indian raj and his life experiences.
observations at the shivatri mela, mandi - how does india do it?
i mean how how does it have so many festivals and celebrations for gods, godesses and melas, etc. and all of them to be accepted with no raised eyebrows, just cheeky smiles from the locals that turn into grins!
the music of the mela is infectious, sufi melodies that twist your mind with its looping drumbeats, horn call and screaming mango seed whistles.
to show of their skills they still play on thru a powercut, still no one blinks an eye!!
well, one thing that im sure of is that i will never know about the order of all these events, but then theres no need to understand! just "namaste" and a big smile..
india: welcome to the biggest carnival on earth! :)
jim
basically a holy festival dedicated to lord shiva, with organised loud music and a very big fair
we had already been in mandi so we checked back into the raj mahal hotel, and met the owner who was interested in where we had come from. he was very kind from the start and invited us for dinner that evening, after finding our feet back in town we got freshened up.. i went for a shave at the barbers, and fi went shopping.
we soon realised that we were dealing with a well respected person when all the customers of the hotel bowed and smiled at our man, was he the maharajah that used to rule this town?
once we sat down to tikka masala and rice dishes, he told us of his time as son of the maharajah, he was 17 when their rule ended in 1955, but he showed us all the artifacts and photos on the wall his mother had collected.. portraits of king george V, and swords..
fi and i were on best behaviour, but soon relaxed once he starting cracking jokes and tricking fi.. for example, "do you know there where lots of people in norwich today?", "no, why?", "because they live there!". he told us of his time in bournemouth, england, and we then promised to send him a postcard from their on our return in payment for a wonderful dinner date.
the following day we bid our farewells, and thanked ashok for his hospitality.. he had given us a wonderful glimpse into the indian raj and his life experiences.
observations at the shivatri mela, mandi - how does india do it?
i mean how how does it have so many festivals and celebrations for gods, godesses and melas, etc. and all of them to be accepted with no raised eyebrows, just cheeky smiles from the locals that turn into grins!
the music of the mela is infectious, sufi melodies that twist your mind with its looping drumbeats, horn call and screaming mango seed whistles.
to show of their skills they still play on thru a powercut, still no one blinks an eye!!
well, one thing that im sure of is that i will never know about the order of all these events, but then theres no need to understand! just "namaste" and a big smile..
india: welcome to the biggest carnival on earth! :)
jim
posted by Fi and Jim @ 9:48 am
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