“Kings of long ago
Fighting to protect their land
From all invaders,
Had no mercy for cowards.
And honoured all the heroes.”
I am reading a book about Rajput rulers and warriors living in the first half of the 16th century and these thoughts came to mind. The story is in Chittor in Rajasthan. We were there a few years ago. Those places came alive while reading the book.
Cuckold (novel) – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckold_(novel)
Cuckold is a 1997 book by Indian author Kiran Nagarkar and his third novel. It is a historical novel set in the Rajput kingdom of Mewar, India during the 16th century that follows the life of Maharaj Kumar, a fictional character based upon the real life Prince Bhoj Raj.
RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #216 Hero&Coward
Boating is a prominent pastime in all the lakes. Near Saathtaal we had lunch in one of the lakeside hotels called Lucky restaurant. Sahil recommended this place because they serve vegetarian food. The food was very tasty. We saw rotis being baked in the tandoor. We decided to taste rice kheer which was very tasty.
Then we set off to the next lake. On the way purchased balmithai to take back with us. We reached Bhimtaal at 4.15. Here we enjoyed boating on the waters, which were surprisingly not cold at all. The boatman said he had been in this occupation for more than thirty years. There was a small island with a building which housed an aquarium. But we did not go there.
From there we went on and reached Naukuchia lake at 5.15. The word Naukuchia means nine corners. We sat by the side of the lake for half an hour watching people enjoying adventure activities on the lake.
At 6.30 we stopped to drink tea at roadside hotel. The tea was hot and very tasty. While waiting for the tea we watched with fascination water pouring out of a pipe on the other side of the road. It was from a natural spring. People were stopping to drink water, and others were cleaning their cars collecting water in their cans.
In cities there is shortage of water but here there is a surplus of the resource. People do not worry about this because they say it flows back into rivers.
After dinner we caught our bus to Manipal at 10.45. We reached home at 8.30 on the 20th morning. Fortunately the bus driver stopped very near our home. It was raining. Fortunately it was a two minute walk to our home. It was good to be back.
We had breakfast in the eating room of the hotel. There were other families too. They were from Rajasthan. We talked about travelling around the country.. After breakfast we packed and were ready by 11.
To continue with our trip, it is more than a month since we returned from our vacation and thos days seem like a dream.
We enjoyed speaking to the driver, Diwan Singh. He told us a lot about the life in the hills. He said there is plenty of water here, there are many natural springs and people do not have wells near their homes. They build tanks to collect water. Excess water flows back to the rivers. On the way we saw people busy working in their paddy fields on terraces on the slopes of the hills. Oxen are used to plough the land. People cultivate rice and wheat. They grow dals, potatoes and onions too. He said people eat rice for lunch and rotis for breakfast and dinner. Rotis are made not only from wheat flour but also from jowar. We reached Almora at 8.25. We bought Bal mithai and Singodi, the famous sweets of the region. They are made from milk and cane sugar. We had tasted them when we stayed in Almora.
It was almost 2.45 when we reached the hotel. Nainital is crowded and full of tourists. But tourism is the main source of income for most of residents of the place. Just one more day and time for us to return home.