Jaipur and… Mumbai???

10^th to 13^th of March, 2023.

Lina, Ameli and Mathew (a white Bichon) live in a lovely apart-hotel. Lina was born in Russia, but she has roots in Uzbekistan. She also has lived in Italy and Germany, and has houses in both countries. She goes with the flow, or with the seasons, from one country to another. She studied art, and it has been working with jewelry for a while. Lina is very stylish, a bit of classic, with modern, but in her own way, very authentic, and that’s what I like! Ameli is following the footsteps of her mum in style, elegance and on the jewelry field. She is a very sweet girl, also very smart, with an open mind for many interesting topics. She can speak Russian, English, Italian, and I think she’s learning German and Hindi. Lina is also learning Hindi.

Because of her work, Lina is always busy. But also, I think that she is kind of addicted to a rush lifestyle. She is always doing something, busy with something, doing one hundred things at a time. I don’t know how can she handled that. Just by watching he, I feel dizzy.

Next day, Ameli and I go for a bit of sightseen. It is so fricking hot, though! Lina has a private tuk-tuk driver. Kind of it. He does his own, private runs sometimes, but he is mostly available for her. His name is Harum, and he takes us around for the tour.

We visit the Monkey Temple (which is nice, but I don’t really see why all the fuss about it); then we quickly pass by Jal Mahal (looking way better in the online photos than for real); Hawa Mahal (what a wonderful, gorgeous building! It is truly beautiful! I wouldn’t bother going inside, though, as it doesn’t look even 1/3 as pretty as the facade).

We meet Lina for lunch at a restaurant called Handi. I order Gatta Masala with Mussi Roti and Chassi (Rajasthani style) and it is delicious! The only problem is the service. It is terrible! All the stuff was very rude to us. For that reason, I would never recommend such place to anyone. For me, more important than the food, is how I am treated at some place. So, even if the food is delicious, I would never come back to a place where I don’t feel good or welcome.

I have my first lassi. Amazing! We visit Kalaneri Art Gallery, and meet Lina’s friend, Somya. It is a nice place, going way beyond of only paintings. They work with many different types of art. And the place is gorgeous! Here, I also meet a photographer friend of Lina, Anshul.

On the 12^th, we mostly rest and stay at home. I do some work and research on my laptop. Lina is always working, of course.

During the last few days, I have been swimming deep down in my thoughts and my heart, wandering if I should do something slightly crazy or not. Also, in conversation with Lina, I have decided to take the leap.

A long time ago I decided to send a letter to Aamir Khan. Why? Well, actually it is thankfully to Indian people. Of course, I have always wanted to meet him, and imagined that moment over and over in my head. But before coming to India, I haven’t actually considered that. But once I got here, everybody was reacting in such extraordinary way towards my travels. They made me believe that it was actually something else. Until now, I have only seen it as what it is, my life. Laugh.

With that in mind, I decided to make a sum up of the travels, write it down in a letter and send to Aamir Khan. I did that when I was in Jaisalmer. I got an address online for his production company, Aamir Khan Productions, and sent a letter via Post Office to it. But something inside me was telling me that it was not enough. What if the letter got lost? What if it was not delivered? What if the address was wrong?

The only way to be sure was to deliver a letter in person to the office, but in order to do that, I would have to do something which I really didn’t want to: I would have to go to Mumbai. But if that’s what it takes to at least have a chance of meeting him, let’s do it!

The plan was to leave Jaipur on the 12^th of March. And the way to do it was to put in practice what people have told me until now about travelling by trains in India: nobody checks the tickets. Why didn’t I hitchhike? I am not entirely sure. It could’ve been because of the time frame. It could’ve been because I wanted to try the theory about the trains without a ticket. I don’t remember, really.

After saying my goodbyes to my new friends Lina and Ameli, I go to the train station with Harun. I am quite nervous but Harun is very kind and try to calm me down. He says everything will be OK, and that he will be waiting outside for some more minutes, in case I need to come back. Harun is a genius! At the station, I ask around for information about the train going to Mumbai, and I am told that there are no trains going to Mumbai at this time, only tomorrow. I’ve got the wrong information online. Terrific! Luckily for me, Harun was still outside waiting when I come out.

Lina says it is not a problem if I need to stay another night.

Next day, Ameli and I visit a few other spots, but the heat is killing us, so it is a bit difficult to really enjoy it. We stop by Amber Fort, but I walk only until where you are allowed to go without a ticket. It is massive and without any possible places to hide yourself from the sun, so I am dying. Then we pass by Sisodia Gardens, but again, I refuse to go in because you need a ticket. Lina has told Ameli to pay entrance tickets for us to all these attractions but I didn’t accept.

Lina meets us later on and we go all together to a very unusual place to find such extraordinary beauty: a crematory. Gatore ki Chhatriyan is a very popular destination for its incredible beauty. Luckily for us, it was empty. The place is simply marvellous!

This time I catch the train. But this is a topic for another post…