Week 10: Jaipur, Udaipur and Ahmedabad

It was inevitable and I knew it would happen: Travelers sickness finally caught up with me and I was in bed for 3 days as a result. I think something in Agra got me sick which forced me to stay in bed in Jaipur, missing the city while Chels went and toured the fort, palace, etc. The city is known as the Pink City, because when Prince Albert of England came to visit, the shah or King or whoever was in charge had the entire city painted Pink in his honor, though I’m not sure why pink was chosen. After only 1.5 days in Jaipur we flew to Udaipur because there were no trains available. I thought I had recovered so I stupidly stopped taking my meds which actually made whatever was wrong with me come back even stronger and I spent two of the three days in Udaipur in bed. When Thursday rolled around, I still wasn’t taking to food, so my thanksgiving feast consisted of 3 or 4 ritz crackers, water, and Cipro. I was able to listen to about 10 episodes of “This American Life” on my Ipod which was nice and the ceiling of our hotel in Udaipur was beautifully painted in bright blue stenciling with peach colored flowers which I stared at for the majority of the day.

Udaipur is known as the White City and has a huge lake with a palace in the middle of it (now a very expensive hotel). The city is also well known because it is where they filmed James Bond’s “Octopussy”. Our last day there when I was probably about 70% recovered I was walking to pick up a pair of pants I had made (if I’ve had one indulgence on this trip, it has definitely been tailor-made clothing) and about 30 seconds after walking in the shop, I turned around and who was there but Johanna, the girl who sits directly behind me at SmithGroup! We knew we were both going to be in India in November, but after an email a couple weeks ago, we didn’t think we were going to be anywhere at the same time so we made no plans to meet up. I had no idea she was going to be in Udaipur and there she was! We hung out for the rest of the day, saw a wedding ceremony (the groom was on a horse, a marching band played, fireworks were shot off, very different from any wedding I’ve ever seen) starting and then watched Octopussy while we ate dinner at a hotel restaurant. What a crazy small world!

From Udaipur we took a bus to Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is one of the largest cities in India in a wealthy state called Gujarat. Chels studied there when she did CAP Asia in 2005 and one of our professors and a classmate of Chelsea’s were both there doing a Fulbright. I was unsure if I was going to like Ahmedabad but ended up really enjoying it. For one thing, it isn’t really touristy. Its’ claim to fame is that Ghandi lived there after he returned from South Africa in a commune of sorts. There were many perks to being in a city that didn’t have tourists. For one, the tuk tuk drivers don’t rip you off. We were shocked at how cheap it actually is to use them and how much more we were paying elsewhere. Of course it is all relative, but a tuk tuk that would cost 100 rupees ($2) in any of the previous places we had been was only about 25 rupees (50 cents) here. They use meters and you don’t have to barter for the price. It was such a relief.

Ahmedabad had some great modern architectural landmarks as well which was refreshing after having toured about a million temples/religious structures since September. IIM, the India Institute of Management’s (premiere business school, modeled after Harvard) original campus was designed by Louis Kahn. The dorms, faculty ofices, instruction space and library are all in the same vein as the Philips Exeter Library with huge geometric circles cut in to brick facades. Kahn’s mastery of scale and organization of the various programmatic components created a beautiful campus that seemed like an inspiring place to learn and live. I think the most exciting component of his design is his integration of light and shadow with his response to the hot-arid climate. The buildings are laid out like fingers, keeping them small and open to allow for daylight and air. They are connected with long arcades/corridors with rhythmic punched openings that produce beautiful clean, geometric bursts of light on the brick facades while providing a cool space to walk and keeping the buildings out of direct sun. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get very many good photos, because security made me put my camera away.

Another notable building was LeCorbusier’s City Museum. Standing in the courtyward on the ground level you know you’re in a Corbu building because 3 of his 5 ‘ideal principles’ are all present: Pilotis with open ground floor and raised first floor, ribbon windows, and a ramp. It was an institutional brick version of Villa Savoye in a way. The inside left something to be desired though. The circulation of exhibit space was poor (I think due to modifications of exhibit spaces and not Corbu’s intended design) but his stair details were nice and the concrete was beautiful. Sorry to geek out on the architecture descriptions but my exposure to modern architecture had been lacking until now.

From Ahmedabad we fly to Trivandrum which is almost at the southern tip of India. It is in a state called Kerala which is a socialist state and has a higher literacy rate than the US despite being one of the poorest states in India. It should be exciting!

Pictures: Apologies, I have none from Udaipur and Jaipur..

Kahn’s IIM main quad. Library in back, Faculty Office buildings on the left, classroom buildings on the right, Ahmedabad






New IIM dorms recently completed, inspired by Kahn’s original design, Ahmedabad

Old IIM dorms designed by Kahn, Ahmedabad

Kevin's dorm room at IIM, although I didnt get to meet him...

This was a menu item at a restaurant called "Uncle Sams". It was kind of a mix between Friendlys and Chuckee Cheese. Which is why we were shocked to see this on the menu, but it was hilarious! Ahmedabad

This was a Stepwell, an temple that goes 5 stories below ground. Adalaj, outside Ahmedabad

Jama Masjid (Main Mosque), Ahmedabad

I was supossed to be looking at this: Swaminarayan Temple, Ahmedabad



But was more intrigued by this behind me: