I never thought that out of all cities Rajasthan has to offer, I will end up going to Bikaner, let alone have a DDLJ moment. The thing is that the train stops at Gurgaon station for exactly 2 minutes and I was standing right opposite the first general compartment, my booking was for tier 2 AC at extreme end. And at 12 in the night, I wasn’t going to take any chances. I ran for my life, there was no Shahrukh Khan to hold my hand but I was greeted by 12 fabulous travelers I would be spending the next 3 days with. Anyhow, Bikaner was never on my list. But as things would have it, I got an opportunity to travel with Inspired Traveller (http://www.inspiredtraveller.in/), I took it up without reading much about the place. Our 3-day trip was curated by Hotel Narendra Bhawan and it was a perfect blend of luxury and culture. Continue Reading
I used to love wearing sarees and cottons were always my fav but somewhere along the way I stopped making the effort. When I wrote about 100 Day Saree pact (read here), I realised how much I miss wearing them. Also, when we did the shoot for that article at Old Fort in Delhi, I realised how much I’m missing out on what Delhi has to offer. So I couldn’t resist when Arun, who’s passionate about photography and Delhi’s monuments, suggested that we go to Chandni Chowk.

A bit of royalty
We shot at the recently renovated Haveli Dharampura, Nau Ghar, in crowded lanes and in front of all the colorful doors. Haveli Dharampura is beautiful and sanitised, where we were served sanitised version of Paranthe waali gali deep fried paranthas, while rest of Chandni Chowk is dirty, very dirty.
When we couldn’t locate the Haveli, a resident walked with us to show us the way. When he overheard me crib about how dirty the lanes are, he poignantly said, “yahi asli dilli hai”.

Intricate work at so many entrances
We were offered a hearty portion of kheer by a pandit when we stopped to click a pic near a temple. And the shopkeepers of a small zari shop, emptied it for us so that we could get a good clean shot. The place left me disturbed yet very warm despite all the chaos, commotion and utter madness and of course we managed to get some very good shots.

We all have a bit Shahrukh in us
Visit it if you haven’t been there yet and find your own interpretation. The trip will leave you with lots of thoughts.

The beautiful aangan at the Haveli

A beautiful red dhakai cotton saree that I borrowed from a close friend

Arun’s fav pic

Dilapidated

Painted

The zari shop

with Arun at top of the Haveli, Jama Masjid at the backdrop