Thursday 10 January 2013

Rajasthani Treat

What I like about India the most is its diversity. Travel from one state to another and you’ll see (and hear) different languages, traditions, clothing, life style. Living in the North part of India, in the city, a Union territory of two states Haryana and Punjab, we are lucky enough to have a piece of another state just 27 km away from the city. This place is called Chokhi Dhani, and it represents culture of Rajasthan state.
the restaurant building in palace style
the path leading along the performances
Last Sunday the company my D works for organized a get together for its employees and their wives and kids. It was a fun event, full of interaction and interesting things. We were able to witness some of the traditional Rajasthani performances.
Curiosity lead us to the palmist. Well, I said as soon as he doesn't tell anything bad its good :) Me and my D were happy with his predictions.
These women’s rhythmic and cheerful dance involved few of us later on (I was among them too). We danced  in the circle, repeating the dancers’ movements. That was my first such experience and I loved it!
The guy-rope walker’s show was a little scary at the moments when he was turning, lying, and walking backward. Another guy was sitting below, playing drum (or tabla?) and having some funny conversation with the rope walker, making the overall impression of danger even deeper.
The puppet theatre was hilarious, accompanied with music, singing and some story telling. I had already presented  Indian puppet theatre once in this post. Mostly, the scenes and  the characters from people's daily life are shown during the spectacle. 
The magician took all our fancy. His tricks must have been simple, nevertheless interesting. We were under impression from the last trick, when the magician covered a white dove with a lid and when lifted it up, there were already 3 doves sitting!
I’m sorry, but even the washrooms bore that ethnic touch - a drawing of a man and a woman in traditional clothing.
This boy was also dancing to Rajasthani beats, inviting people from our company to join him on the stage.
The most delicious part of our visit was Rajasthani lunch. Yes, this is the way it is served – on the broad dishes which stand on the low benches. You have to sit on the special mats and enjoy eating with hands! It really tastes better this way.
Such type of serving of the dish with loads of various meals is called “thali”. Ours included loads of things which names I’m not able to recollect now J. I liked chautneys a lot, those in the bottom right corner of the picture are garlic, green and peas with some plant. Yumm!
I liked the lamps which were hung all around the place and gave a stunning look with their lights at night.
Hope you liked being a part of our short visit to Rajasthan. It left many good memories to us and, of course, we would like to go to the "real" state to see all those beautiful maharaja palaces and try more of yummy food. 
Have an interesting and happy day!

32 comments:

  1. Hi Anna

    We dine out many times but this experience of Choki Dhani remains with you for a long time. I don't know what kind of team work they practice, what kind of inspiration is given to the staffers who serve us. They display excellent team work. Its amazing how lovingly, they serve you, coaxing you to have more and more :) I have been to Choki Dhani couple of times and each of my visit, has remained with me, brings back fond memories of those visits....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Aishwarya! Yes, those people make you feel that they really happy to see you:)glad that we can share with each other this experience:)

      Delete
  2. What an exciting day! It is a beautiful country and ever since i follow your blog i keep wanting to visit it. It maybe has something to do with the fact that i watched Eat pray love at around the same time!!
    Brightest blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Greekwitch! :) you shall visit India some day, you'll love it!
      me and my husband also watched Eat pray love, but they show just a tiny peace of India in this movie.
      Blessings back to you!

      Delete
  3. Thank you so much!!! You are so sweet! You will make a great mommy too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Divna šetnja Radžastanom!Obožavam Indijsku muziku i filmove,žive boje na garderobi.
    Veliki pozdrav!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that's what attracts many people :)Indian culture is really beautiful!

      Delete
  5. It's entertaining to be at this place. In Hyderabad we have it as Dhola-ri- dhani. I have been there quite a few times :) and yes movies like Eat, pray and love and slumdog millionaire depict only the poor and dark side of India. The only documentary I can say I was ok with was the recent one Oprah's next chapter. She very well connected from poor, dark to affluent to extreme royalty in India and the strong cultural values at every state of life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes, there are many such places all over India:)
      Eat Pray Love was still fine, as it was anyways concentrated on the main heroin's problems. still interest to India never declines but I guess it rose in recent years.

      Delete
  6. What great and colourful photos! It looks much warmer there than here in Canada right now, LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's warmer, but it was 0.6 for few nights and the house was very cold then. now its getting warm and will be about +35 in summer!

      Delete
  7. What fun! I have always wanted to visit India.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's really COOL!!!!! Loved your photos! I know I'll never get to India so I appreciate your pics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. never lose hope, Jojo:)i'm glad you liked this post.

      Delete
  9. Glad you got happy news from the Palmist - LOVE this post...even the sidewalks are gorgeous there! Beautiful pictures of your wonderful home place...love this blog! Happy Thursday from Las Vegas, Nevada - Tanya

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Tanya! Thanks for liking my post, however, India is same new place for me as for anybody else:) My home place is another country,but I try to unite this diversity in my life:)

      Delete
  10. Thank you for taking us along, it was a fun visit.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oohh I LOVED being part of your visit! Thank you so much for sharing! What a beautiful place, I'd love to visit India someday, I was about to say that I'm so glad I follow your blog, so I have such a lovely link to India and then I realised I wasn't following you!! I don't know how that happened, but I followed you immediately :D

    Please do watch the video I posted if you have time, it's really lovely, I think :)

    Have a beautiful weekend my dear!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Nikki! That's the best appreciation for me when what I post is actually interesting to folks!thanks so much for encouraging me:)
      Have a great weekend too!

      Delete
  12. Hi Anna!
    Lucky to visit Rajasthan.It is one of my most wanted places to visit, being an Indian i still havnt been there. But your trip looks awesome, the dance, the traditional folk lore, the service as they treat guests as God..truly incredible! The food looks mouth watering..did you enjoy the traditional Daal-Bhati, wheat dumplings in dal and also with sweet? Great trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same, my husband has also never been there:) so, we both will have to experience it!
      yes, yes, I remember that dough ball which they crushed into daal:) everything was tasty!
      thanks for a lovely comment, Rajeshwari!

      Delete
  13. Intetesting! You did enjoy thoroughly.....your pics can tell that! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Shikha! I did enjoy all the event :)

      Delete
  14. What a wonderful event. We were in India a few years ago and loved it! Like you said, there's so much diversity. Rajasthan definitely was very colorful. The puppet show we saw was funny. I brought back two puppets with me and they hang here in my tv room. Love thali, too. We've been to a restaurant here with friends that serves their meals in the traditional way. I love Indian food though my family is not too keen on it. Their loss. Have a great day. Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh wow! This looks so exotic and glamourous. I love the colours (wish I could taste the food!) You took some lovely photos, really showing how bright and colourful everything is. I've always wanted to visit India.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You shall visit India at least once in your life, Rhissanna. I'm very very glad that my pictures inspired you.

      Delete
  16. What beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing them with us! I'd love to visit India, and if I ever do I'll be sure to come to Rajasthan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Lilli! Sure, come to India, there is so much to explore here!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...