Some people are just not comfortable in their own skin, they just have to be someone else …
… whether it be the very model of a modern major-general or a cousin of Kim Jong Il (better cousin than uncle).
He was due in court last week but, as was explained in a letter from the Alfred Hospital, he was busy dying of terminal cancer. According to the Herald Sun the signature on the letter is not one the hospital is familiar with.
We are reliably advised by ex members of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RA Sigs) that the “General” is in fact ex Serviceman 313847 Corporal Neville McBryde Donohue from the Kilsyth area of Victoria. He served in the Australian Army between 1970 and 1976 and was never deployed to any Operational Areas.
As far as I can determine, opium is illegal in India. Its use persists, especially in north-west India in certain ceremonies. When a marriage is arranged the father of the groom and the father of the bride may well drink an infusion from each other’s hand. The opportunity to welcome strangers to a village is also a suitable excuse to indulge.
Balls of dried opium, it looked like three for each participant, were mixed with water and sieved. The resulting liquid, amal, was then poured into the mixers hand and offered to his companion, who dipped a finger and flicked three droplets to the gods and then drank …
The brew is then offered to the strangers in welcome.
Before accepting you should perhaps read this cautionary tale. And remember, there are more opium addicts in India than alcoholics.
Queen Marie Antoinette saw a crane that had been brought to France from the steppes of Russia. Because of its delicate and maidenly appearance she called it La Grue Demoiselle.
The village of Khishan is about 6 km west of Phalodi, Rajasthan. From August on Demoiselle Cranes arrive here to spend the winter. Their numbers build up and peak between November and February. For some years now the people of Khichan have systematically fed the cranes which now assemble in spectacular numbers.
The western population that winters in Africa is in significant decline. The eastern population is secure. Those that winter in India have to negotiate the Himalayas. They are creatures of supreme elegance and are associated in folklore, poetry and song with womanly beauty and hazardous journeys.
I was present, at dawn, on the roof of a house that overlooks the feeding area and happy to share my telescope with some local people who were on their way home from a night of wedding celebration.
Turning to credit cards and escorts, I have consistently from day one denied any wrongdoing in relation to these issues. I make it clear—and I hope I have already by painting a picture—that I had many enemies in the HSU, many enemies who did not like increased transparency, many enemies who preferred that there be no national office. I was the subject on numerous occasions of threats and intimidation. I had my door of my office graffitied. The national office shared an office with other Victorian branches of the Health Services Union.
Mr. Thomson was found guilty today of theft and obtaining financial advantage by deception after using the cards to pay for sexual services and to make cash withdrawals while he was national secretary of the Health Services Union.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
India is just bursting at the seams with life, with colour and movement, noise, history, architecture. The only thing a visitor won’t find is ordinariness.
Phalodi is just a small town in Rajasthan about 140 km from Jodhpur. A quick skim through Tripadvisor reveals that the main reason for tourists to come here is for somewhere to stay close to Kichan and the famous Demoiselle Cranes. Exactly what took me there. More of them later.
The town grew up on an important trading route and if you were a prosperous merchant two or three hundred years ago you built yourself a haveli. This was a private mansion built in a style heavily influenced by the Mughals. Behind a gate like this …
… there would typically be the main courtyard, often with a fountain, and beyond that a second smaller courtyard for the women. The mansion would surround the courtyards in such a way as to give privacy from the street and carefully segregate the sexes. A large haveli might have three or even more courtyards.
Built in 1750, Lal Niwas is a splendid haveli boasting of intricate craftsmanship on red sandstone. The traditional balconies, terraces and doors add an authentic royal touch to it.
Fifteen glorious rooms await you. Not every reviewer found it glorious but I found it more than adequate. Two of the courtyards …
Lal Niwas.Lal Niwas.
Phalodi has a population of about 45,000 if transplanted to Australia that would make it the fifth largest town in the state of Victoria, above Shepparton and below Bendigo. If you fired a cannon down the main street of either on a Sunday you would be lucky to hit a pedestrian. Don’t try that in Phalodi. There are no buildings in either town dating from 1750 which was twenty years prior to Captain James Cook’s encounter with the east coast of Australia.
India has a turbulent history. At a time of intrigue and assassination an ambitious man could make a name for himself or die young or both.
Rao Jodha was born in 1416. In 1427 his father secured the throne of Mandore and subsequently extended his influence by a strategic alliance that saw him administering an adjacent area. In 1438 the alliance was dissolved in the time-honoured way, assassination. The young Rao Jodha escaped and mounted a campaign to regain the throne he had expected to inherit. His attempts to retake Mandore were unsuccessful until one day, so the story goes, he stopped at a farmer’s house where he kept his identity to himself. He was given a bowl of stew, khichdi. He would have eaten this with his right hand. Unwisely he began in the middle and burnt his fingers. The farmer’s wife said “Stranger, you are making the same mistake as King Jodha, khichdi is hottest at the centre and coolest at the edge”.
Jodha saw the wisdom in this, turned his attention to the outlying forts which he took with ease. Once these were secure Mandore fell into his lap. A more secure capital had a lot to recommend it, so in 1459 Rao Jodha founded the city of Jodhpur and began to build a hilltop fort, Mehrangarh.
A combination of impregnability and luxury, Mehrangarh, enabled Rao Jodha to enjoy his kingdom until his natural death aged 73.
Our guide was very suitably clad …
Jodhpur is the second largest city in Rajasthan with a population of almost 1.3 million people. People make good use of their roof tops and also their basements.
Whenever I visit Jodhpur I stay in utter luxury at the Umaid Bhawan Palace, well I stayed there once … for one night. Up the red carpet to a trumpet fanfare, a shower of rose petals, under a canopy held aloft by a welcoming party of five to have a garland draped around my neck by a pretty young lady and anointed on the forehead with a red dot by another. It has probably sealed my fate come the revolution. But hey, it was worth it.
As always, click on any of the photos for a better look. Clicking the back arrow in your browser returns you to this page.
Walking through a small town in Rajasthan I came across a blacksmith at work. Not an uncommon sight but this man had drawn a bit of a crowd which seemed more to do with the banter which was going on than any particular interest in his work.
The lady behind the smith works a twin bellows. By alternating between them she provides a continuous blast of air. When the smith places his work on the anvil another man will deliver the necessary heavy blows with a large hammer. The smith does the fine hammering himself.
As you can see there is a smile on every face. A lady in the crowd has just called out loudly, another member of the crowd was kind enough to translate for me …
Don’t photograph that stupid piece of iron. Take photos of me!
bobmcgee 