Forced Tourist
Saturdays are for waking up late, swimming, gymming, reading books, cooking, eating lazing around, and sleeping some more and maybe relishing the fact that you have one more day to do the same. No doubt that I consider it to be the favorite day of the week. Unfortunately it was not to be so this time round. My aunt and uncle decided to pay me a visit over the weekend and were looking forward to me showing them around the city and neighboring tourist delights. I being the least inclined towards mass tourism and even lesser towards the reduction of my dwindling monthly financial resources was hoping that their trip gets cancelled due to some reason. My hope retained its illusory status and their iternary was fixed, the only silver lining being that they would reach Mysore not before 11.30 am on Saturday, allowing me to indulge in Saturday morning luxuries as usual.
My budget for the current month was on a shoe string due to my strong attraction to credit beyond my means. This involved cooking all meals at home and watching how many kilometers I drive on my bike. The cost cutting seemed to be going fine and was hoping to end the month within planned limits. The unplanned visit was threatening to do severe damage. Hope as mentioned earlier proved to be illusory.
Picked them up at the bus stop and brought them home. Over a cup of tea realized that they wanted to visit at least 3 4 places on their trip and were talking about hiring a taxi to do the same. I realized that there was no other way and went about trying to book a taxi. Surprisingly all the taxis in Mysore were already booked by god knows who. Secretly hoped that the unavailability of a convenient transport would dampen their spirits a bit.
Took them out for lunch to a nice restaurant and we ate to our hearts fill. The Kadai chicken was good and so was the Palak Paneer. Both of them appreciated the food and I am sure also appreciated the fact that I paid for it. After the fulfilling lunch we were ready to explore the palace.
The entry fee was twenty bucks which according to me is pretty stiff. Another two more payments for the camera’s and footwear deposit we entered the palace.
Never been much of a palace enthusiast so was looking forward to getting out of it more than going into it. The first thing which struck me was the number of people who were our co visitors. Had never imagined people were so keen to see how a dead king lived in splendor. There were thousands of people streaming in and out of the place, looking in wonder at the extravagance of the palace, touching the intricately carved doors and soaking in the kingly grandeur of the once inhabited palace. The management of the palace has created pathways with ropes making sure everyone gets to see whatever is on display and doesn’t wander off into unwanted areas. So there is this stream of people moving like a river and taking in how much ever is possible. Cops don’t allow people to sit in corridors in order to avoid congestion. The river rakes us through various rooms and durbars where lots of personal belongings of the royal family are displayed. It was nicely weird to see spectacles, boots, turbans and even clothes from those days being preserved very well. Clear photographs are hung on the walls showing the family on various occasions. Lack of comments made it imperative to draw your own conclusions about the people in the snaps.
The tour had taken a good hour and I seemed to be the only one who was tired. My uncle and aunt were raring to go. After taking a couple of customary snaps we decided to head for the Brindavan gardens.
It’s a good 25 km’s away and my failure to get a taxi was irritating. Finally had to travel by bus and that too standing. It took a good hour to reach there and my legs were numb by that time. If the crowds at the palace had taken me aback I was stunned to see the sea of humanity present there. If my estimation skills are not way off mark more than ten thousand people visited that place while I was there.
The queue to get the entry tickets were serpentine and getting the tickets was a victory although they fleeced forty bucks to carry a camera inside.
It’s a mediocre garden which is ill maintained and hard to know why people throng it. Built next to a dam it is no different from any park found in any nondescript city. Had to walk quite a lot to cover the length of the garden and it left us panting by the time we made it back. Thousands of people were sitting, walking, taking snaps and many more devouring the various types of snacks on sale. It was interesting to note that almost each group of visitors had at least one camera within them all clicking away to glory.
On our way back realized that instead of the crowds diminishing with the fading light it had increased manifold. We caught a bus back and made it in time for dinner.
If nothing else I was assured of a good nights sleep after all the sight seeing. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to see my relatives off. Kept cribbing to myself and whoever I met about the wasted Saturday and more importantly spending a thousand bucks when I could ill afford it.
Later thinking about it I felt I had learnt something on that day. On hindsight I realized that the humongous crowds I had encountered on those two places all belonged to a particular section of society. They were all from the lower strata of society in terms of their spending capacity. This was not the only thing in common with all of them; they all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their day out. I may have been the only person cribbing about he places and being forced to be there. Everyone else I saw there was having a good time. There were smiles on everyone’s faces even while standing in the long queues or taking snaps in the scorching sun. My cynicism of the mediocrity of the tourist places seemed to be applicable only to me.
On thinking about it I realized that as people go higher up in terms of professional and financial success they expect more from everything. They are difficult to appease and their desire for something better always casts a shadow on what’s then and there.
If a Brindavan garden can bring smiles to so many people why do we need a vacation in the icy locales of Switzerland to feel gratified?
Don’t know the answer but maybe we don’t want to be satisfied with something which is so easily available. The desire to look forward to something which is slightly out of reach seems a very intrinsic way humans push themselves.
My budget for the current month was on a shoe string due to my strong attraction to credit beyond my means. This involved cooking all meals at home and watching how many kilometers I drive on my bike. The cost cutting seemed to be going fine and was hoping to end the month within planned limits. The unplanned visit was threatening to do severe damage. Hope as mentioned earlier proved to be illusory.
Picked them up at the bus stop and brought them home. Over a cup of tea realized that they wanted to visit at least 3 4 places on their trip and were talking about hiring a taxi to do the same. I realized that there was no other way and went about trying to book a taxi. Surprisingly all the taxis in Mysore were already booked by god knows who. Secretly hoped that the unavailability of a convenient transport would dampen their spirits a bit.
Took them out for lunch to a nice restaurant and we ate to our hearts fill. The Kadai chicken was good and so was the Palak Paneer. Both of them appreciated the food and I am sure also appreciated the fact that I paid for it. After the fulfilling lunch we were ready to explore the palace.
The entry fee was twenty bucks which according to me is pretty stiff. Another two more payments for the camera’s and footwear deposit we entered the palace.
Never been much of a palace enthusiast so was looking forward to getting out of it more than going into it. The first thing which struck me was the number of people who were our co visitors. Had never imagined people were so keen to see how a dead king lived in splendor. There were thousands of people streaming in and out of the place, looking in wonder at the extravagance of the palace, touching the intricately carved doors and soaking in the kingly grandeur of the once inhabited palace. The management of the palace has created pathways with ropes making sure everyone gets to see whatever is on display and doesn’t wander off into unwanted areas. So there is this stream of people moving like a river and taking in how much ever is possible. Cops don’t allow people to sit in corridors in order to avoid congestion. The river rakes us through various rooms and durbars where lots of personal belongings of the royal family are displayed. It was nicely weird to see spectacles, boots, turbans and even clothes from those days being preserved very well. Clear photographs are hung on the walls showing the family on various occasions. Lack of comments made it imperative to draw your own conclusions about the people in the snaps.
The tour had taken a good hour and I seemed to be the only one who was tired. My uncle and aunt were raring to go. After taking a couple of customary snaps we decided to head for the Brindavan gardens.
It’s a good 25 km’s away and my failure to get a taxi was irritating. Finally had to travel by bus and that too standing. It took a good hour to reach there and my legs were numb by that time. If the crowds at the palace had taken me aback I was stunned to see the sea of humanity present there. If my estimation skills are not way off mark more than ten thousand people visited that place while I was there.
The queue to get the entry tickets were serpentine and getting the tickets was a victory although they fleeced forty bucks to carry a camera inside.
It’s a mediocre garden which is ill maintained and hard to know why people throng it. Built next to a dam it is no different from any park found in any nondescript city. Had to walk quite a lot to cover the length of the garden and it left us panting by the time we made it back. Thousands of people were sitting, walking, taking snaps and many more devouring the various types of snacks on sale. It was interesting to note that almost each group of visitors had at least one camera within them all clicking away to glory.
On our way back realized that instead of the crowds diminishing with the fading light it had increased manifold. We caught a bus back and made it in time for dinner.
If nothing else I was assured of a good nights sleep after all the sight seeing. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to see my relatives off. Kept cribbing to myself and whoever I met about the wasted Saturday and more importantly spending a thousand bucks when I could ill afford it.
Later thinking about it I felt I had learnt something on that day. On hindsight I realized that the humongous crowds I had encountered on those two places all belonged to a particular section of society. They were all from the lower strata of society in terms of their spending capacity. This was not the only thing in common with all of them; they all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their day out. I may have been the only person cribbing about he places and being forced to be there. Everyone else I saw there was having a good time. There were smiles on everyone’s faces even while standing in the long queues or taking snaps in the scorching sun. My cynicism of the mediocrity of the tourist places seemed to be applicable only to me.
On thinking about it I realized that as people go higher up in terms of professional and financial success they expect more from everything. They are difficult to appease and their desire for something better always casts a shadow on what’s then and there.
If a Brindavan garden can bring smiles to so many people why do we need a vacation in the icy locales of Switzerland to feel gratified?
Don’t know the answer but maybe we don’t want to be satisfied with something which is so easily available. The desire to look forward to something which is slightly out of reach seems a very intrinsic way humans push themselves.
posted by saikat at 2:54 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home