Mandu (21/22MAR)

So many things happened in Mandu, and I am so far behind in my blog that I will have to give you a run down in a semi-abreviated format:

-Mandu is an old empire capital from the 13th century, a top a huge plateau that served as natural defense. The Sultans that ruled here named it Shadiabad 'city of joy' and built grand palaces, to include the Jahaz Mahal or Ship Palace that housed 15,000 concubines of the Sultan. Today the ancient city is little more than ruins among and around a small village.

-One of the highlights of the visit was our hotel, which was situated at the edge of a ravine that opened up to the valley below.

- Our guide lives close to Mandu and three of his friends came up to visit him and hang out while our tour was in town. We hung out with them both nights and had a great time eating, drinking and chatting with them.

-A wedding/bachelor party was hanging out at the hotel garden before leaving Mandu for the wedding ceremony in Dhar, and they invited me to join them for drinks.

- They quickly claimed me as a brother, read my palm, told me I was lucky and rich, and offered me shots of VAT 69 straight from the bottle. I did one, much to their enjoyment and a second met with even greater approval. I attempted to thank them and walk into town as they loaded their car, but was intercepted when they pulled into the parking lot of the neighboring hotel and invited me to their rooms for more drinks.

- They were BJP (a political party currently in the minority) hardliners, and apparently believed I could influence US politics. We spent the majority of the time talking about India's enemy Pakistan: "You and me brothers. America and India friends. India and Pakistan enemies. If America attacks/destroys Pakistan, India will support them." This conversation was repeated three or four times and I, as the group appointed ambassador for the US, tried to explain that India and America were allies in the war on terrorism and wanted to fight terrorism in Pakistan. However, the US wants to fight terrorism with the help of the Pakistani government as well. On the other hand, the wedding party continued to believe Pakistan as a whole was bad.

-They also introduce me to a man they told me was a member of Parliament in India and took a photo of me with him.

-After about an hour of drinks, card games, debate and pictures; we exchanged phone numbers and they began to get ready for the wedding. They invited me, but I was not dressed for the occasion and didn't want to impose, so I turned them down. They said they were going to return to Mandu, but I didn't see them again.

-Dilip, one of the younger men (who reminded me of Sacha Baron Cohen- Borat) was very interested in getting to know me, but had limited English. As I was getting ready to leave he pulled me aside to explain that Mahatma Gandhi was a bad man. I was shocked, thought he might be joking, and countered with the fact that Gandhi had done so much for Indian Independence. However, Dilip was more concerned with Gandhi's work to prevent the division of Pakistan and India, and his work to unite the Muslim and Hindu people, which Dilip saw as a bad decision. I could understand the current fear and hatred toward the Muslim extremists that performed the Mumbai attacks as well as other attacks in India in recent times. However, I was surprised at how extreme the groups own views were in light of these events. And I would argue that if Gandhi had not been assassinated, by an extreme Hindu, his work to unite the two religions in India would have prevented the current state of affairs.

- On the second day, one of the members of the group passed out at the end of a tour of the local ruins. We had just finished the guided portion of the tour when she fell like a tree, cutting her chin, chipping several teeth and bruising her face. We then shifted gears and started our tour of local medical facilities in Mandu and another larger village.

- Amongs Mandu's ruins is a tomb, built of white marble, that was visited by the architects of the Taj Mahal for inspiration before beginning work on the Taj. This is also where our group member passed out, so either she fell victim of Delhi Belly, or she too was awe struck by the structure.

- In the evening, I biked out to Rupmati's Pavilion, which was built by one of the Sultans to win a girl, Rupmati. She grew up in the plains below Mandu and the pavilion was built on the edge of the highest point on the plateau so she could look out over the plains. Unfortunately, another king was also smitten by her looks and attacked Mandu to win her over. Before the pending attack, the Sultan fled Mandu and left Rupmati to poison herself, leading to the end of Mandu era of greatness. Ahh, I love a romantic story with a happy ending.