Sunday, July 12, 2015

The Road, Less Traveled - Part 1, The Winery of India

When in school, especially in senior classes, the detailed study of the conquests of the Mughal emperors was one thing, I generally avoided, especially the innumerable Deccan conquests of these countless emperors, both distinguished as well as the inconspicuous types, Firstly, I could never demarcate the area called 'Deccan'. It seemed to me, to be various overlapping areas of a venn diagram. However, to these kings, this area called the Deccan is where they seemed to have a field day. They just loved to send their generals there, chop off a bunch of heads amd levy the strangest of taxes, based on the even strangest of logics.

My reader must be wondering about what exactly, I want to start off with, after beating the bush and flattening it almost to the ground. I know that it is a little difficult to bear with me when I am into this 'ringmarole' mood. But enough of it, let us get to the meaty part of the story. Our 7 seater Innova was gliding like a swan on Mumbai-Nashik Expressway, inching closer towards the region we now call Marathwada, after clearing the Mumbai traffic in 2 hours flat. The road was like a mirror, shining and smooth. There is a clan of Bengali-Mumbaikars, who are all gaga about not only Mumbai, but also about entire Maharashtra. They are always ready to show off their superiority to their poorer cousins from West Bengal. One of my Mumbaikar cousins informed me that,, after travelling on road in West Bengal, we would feel quite privileged to make a road trip in Maharashtra. However this proved to be a statement that he had to swallow with his pride, later, as other than the expressways, most of the Maharashtrian roads, after travelling for about 100 kms beyond city limits, are as bad or as good as any other Indian road and I can quite vouch for that.


The present day, Marathwada is a revenue division of the Maharashtra State. Most of what we knew as the Deccan of India under the the Tughlaq, Khalji, Lodi, Mughal dynasty was within this greater Marathwada, some parts of Andhra, on the Deccan plateau , between the Vindhya range and the Krishna river. This area was of strategic importance to the rulers, and thus one of the finest forts, which were very similar to each other, architecturally, were located in this region. Important amonst them were the Golconda, the Daulatabad or the Devagiri and the Bijapur Forts. We were headed towards one of these stunning forts, the Daulatabad fort. 


We took a short lunch break at Nashik. One thing that I must and must ask my reader to try a staple Maharashtrian thali. This thali is normally vegetarian and consists of salt, a wedge of lime, chutney, achar, raita and pakoras. Maharashtrians are particularly proud of their astonishing range and diversity of chutneys, achars, brine pickles and koshimbirs.

The arrangement of the rice in the thali is of importance, it is placed at a side of the thali with a thoor-dal puri on top. One dry vegetable and one curry is usually staple in the thali. However, what I liked the most was the masala-papad. The hot baked-papad was sprinkled with diced onions, tomatoes, chanachur and coriander leaves.

Nashik, Pune and Mumbai is the golden triangle of Maharashtra. Earlier, Nashik used to be considered inferior to its two big brothers, but with the advent of the wine industry, Nashik and its adjoining areas is fast spreading its wings, both for the thrill associated with factory-bought wines, as well as vineyard tours, as well as resorts in the middle of vineyards. This place reminded me remarkably of Napa Valley in California. The Sula winery are at the forefront of the wine revolution in India. They even have a resort built to serve wine connoisseurs. I was reminded of the Robert Mondavi Winery in the Napa Valley, where we were served a variety of cheese and fruits with the world-famed Fume Blanc, Pinot Noir Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The ambience was somewhat similar, but as any Indian reader will understand that much leaves to be desired in terms of infrastructure.  

Turn right from Nashik, towards the heartland of India, and you are entering the rutty, dust laden, pebble-strewn, narrow lanes, that goes by the name of roads in India. Welcome to real India, your are now entering Marathwada. The only soothing effect that only one of our senses was privileged enough to have was miles upon miles of brilliant-green vineyards upon the rich black soil of plateau, India. 

We were halfway there, had travelled about 170 kms in 3 hours. Another odd 170 kms needed to be traversed. we were moving at a very slow speed and beauty of the vineyards with the outline of the Sahyadri in the distance, with peasants walking home, tanned skins in very bright orange and pink sarees, with flowers in the braided hair, a local village marriage party with trumpets and the bride and groom walking side-by-side, and red 'palash' trees in full bloom, made for a very pretty picture.

Very soon, on the left side of the road, on a medium-sized plateau, loomed a dark and ominous structure. The mere sight of the Daulatabad Fort made me realise the the word 'magnifique' was coined for this fort alone. instantly, all 6 of us, moved to one side of the vehicle and tried to crane their neck out of only two windows. my daughter who has a great penchant for ghost stories, and films, immediately was convinced that this fort definitely had quite a few of those, whose, names should not be uttered in the evening. Thus the fort already famous world-wide had another value-addition to it.

Very soon, we entered Aurangabad. This city is the largest city in Marathwada and is also known as the 'City of Gates' and is named after the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, who lies buried in nearby Khuldabad. As we passed the 'Bibi Ka Maqbara' a replica of the Taj, which Aurangzeb's son, Azam Shah had built for his mother, Dilras Begum. This monument is also called the 'Dakkhani Taj' or the Taj of the Deccan. It is also referred to as the poor man's Taj as it lacked the grandeur and the opulence of the original Taj, which was built by Azam Shah's grandfather, the great Shahjahan.

Evening was soon dropping its shroud over the horizon as we turned up towards the plateau which leads towards the world heritage site, Ellora. The Fort again loomed even larger than before as rains started to fall in big drops. there was a dense jungle enroute to the Ellora caves and even I started to believe in my daughter's conviction of paranormal activities, given the ambience. Our car soon rolled into the portico of the Kailash Hotel at Ellora. Would like to add a little side-note here. "Kailash e Kelenkari" the thriller written by Satyajit Roy and filmed by his son Sandip Roy was shot right here in this hotel. And from that time onwards, I has always wanted to stay in this hotel, if I ever got a chance to visit Ellora. My fantasy was not unrealistic as it was a beautiful property with cottages which had huge terraces facing the Ellora caves. I had always thought of 'Kailash' as mount Kailash, as the abode of Mahadev and only got to understood why this barren land, hundreds of kilometers below the Himalayas was termed as Kailas, only after visiting the Ellora caves. 

The next day would be a day full of travelling and activities. We were ready to turn in but it was not to be without the highlight of the day....a bottle of chilled wine from the Sula stable, called the Madeira. and it felt like heaven on earth.




4 comments:

  1. The grandeur of the elegant language used in this travelogue truly taking me to the regal bygone era of the Deccan, and India. The language should carry the initial splendor of the piece. It feels like I am actually in that Toyota Innova, relaxing on a couch and enjoying the beauty of Marathwada. The next best thing about the piece is the narrative. I can hardly remember, a striking narrative like this within such a trivial space. Especially when a papad has been described so impeccably, I felt a crunchy feeling between my teeth. Between the narratives, the background, history, people, culture everything added with such a brilliance, that it made a perfect blend.

    It take a whole life, even more to mature a perfection like this. This piece has taken me aback. Truly magnificent. I will be waiting for the next part.

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    Replies
    1. This sort of encouragement will make any individual, want to sit down and write. Thank you.

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  2. Excellent. Looking for the next part as earliest please because it is ended when the reader started to feel the heaven on earth.

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