Rajasthan Tour
Once the train of the PhD gathered momentum, we—Aditya, Debkanta, Richeek, and I—began to feel a curious reversal of physics. Time, instead of stretching as Albert Einstein would have us believe, seemed to shrink upon itself. Days collapsed into instants and weeks flashed like streaks of light. We felt less like travelers than photons: propelled, unpausing, cutting through moments. In the corner of the room, the debate on relativity sat quietly, almost wounded—its grand equations unable to console our lived compression of time. Startled by this quiet rebellion against relativity, we imagined stepping off that iron caravan and testing our theorem in the sky instead. A plane, we thought, might grant us altitude enough to measure time anew. But before takeoff, debate became our runway. We circled possibilities—Ladakh’s austere heights, Kashmir’s mirrored valleys, the peninsular warmth of the south—each destination a different hypothesis of escape.
Then Rajasthan arrived not as a choice, but as a meteor. Its arid vastness struck our drought-stricken hearts and minds. In that blazing aftermath, the question of time—once so urgent—fell silent. The impact sent waves far beyond us, summoning Gemini, ChatGPT, and other tireless knights to a single, more elemental question crystallized from the dust: how might we draw water from the desert within a week? On that, we found rare unanimity. To answer it, we would have to move not like passengers, nor even like pilots, but like a whirlwind itself—entering the desert not to endure it, but to change its course. Chronology surrendered to survival; relativity bowed before thirst.
Immediately, the plan was forged and quiet signals traveled through Airbnb and Google Maps, informing distant hosts and coordinates of our impending arrival. Routes traced, shelters secured. In this quiet orchestration, even the desert seemed forewarned—awaiting not merely our arrival, but our attempt to coax water from its silence and restore something long-dry within ourselves.
Day 1 : 19-07-2025 (saturday) - Jaipur
Early morning flight from Kolkata to Jaipur.
8:30 AM; Jaipur welcomed us with a cloudy sky and drizzle. The weather was very nice with the cold breeze.
After tea and snacks, and keeping luggage in the room, we immediately started for Amber fort through Jalmahal. At Jalmahal stop, we took photos as kings from history. We visited a museum nearby with old books and art.
Amber Fort was heavily crowded, and it is a large fort spanning a large area. People are living in their homes, running market inside the fort boundary. The driver arranged a very friendly guide for the visit. The fort has its own flag and a small flag below that indicating the presence of the king. Amber and Jaigarh forts are close by, where we headed next.
Day ended with Nahargarh fort suset view of the city.
Day 2 : 20-07-2025 (sunday) - Jaipur
jaipur..
22:40, 19665 / KURJ UDZ EXP, night express train operating between Khajuraho (KURJ) and Udaipur City (UDZ), will take us to our next destination, Chittaurgarh (COR), from Jaipur(JP) station. The driver dropped us at Jaipur station after taking ratings in Google Maps.
Day 3 : 21-07-2025 (monday) - Chittaurgarh, Udaipur
4.10 AM at dawn; Deboarded train at COR. With sleepy eyes and a sip of tea, nature’s call forced Debkanta? and Aditya? to the medieval age toilets. Each one of them came back like a prancing colt, one after other while the two of us (me and Richeek?) are still struggling to open our eyes. The reason for their sudden awakening of consciousness was well explained with the smallest details over another round of tea while the car was on its way to us.
Vijay stambh, Kali mata temple, Meera temple, kirti stambh, gau mukh kund, maha sati, padmini palace…
Rana kumbha’s palace, Fateh prakash palace …
Down from the fort; roadside lunch, and journey to Udaipur by the same car ..
While reaching Udaipur, the landscape started to change into a verdant green hills. We reached our room booked from Airbnb, and the house owner, Sangeeta, showed us our delightful AC room with a sofa, 3 beds, a kitchen with a good amount of dining space. After being fresh, we went for an evening stroll around the city palace to Bagore ki Haveli beside Pichola lake.
We returned to our room walking, taking food and a local sura ‘Maharani’ on our way, to calm our body and mind in the heart of the oasis.