Harassing a Girl from North East - Racism Experiment

Neglected Heritage.

GANGA THEATER; The oldest theater of Bikaner, Built on order of then His Highness King Maharaja Shri Ganga Singhji. We have heard tales of the splendid & glorious interiors and exteriors of th theater from our parents and grand parents. How splendorous and glorious Ganga Theater used to be. How a flowing water waterfall used to b there. Ornate and decorated interiors gave the theater a feel of royalty.

Now this beautiful and glorious structure stands abandoned and neglected by everyone including the civil authorities, the Royal family (the original creator and owner of the theater) and the common man, as now everyone wants to go to the multiplex and other grander theater and nobody even care to give this once glorious grand structure a glance.








As now you can see how the paint is peeling off, glass in window panes lays shattered, walls are used for graffiti and markings and direction, space in front of it is being used as parking, and other sides of walls being used as someplace to spit at and urinate at which is totally disgusting. People not only ignoring its existence now, they are defacing the "once ornate jewel" in the crown of the royal family of Bikaner then. Though thee "Black Sheep" of the family now, can turn to be one of the wonders and tourist attractions of Bikaner. All Ganga Theater require is proper care and love of his family: "All the Bikaneris."

If remodeled/renovated and incorporating the new technologies like Dolby/DTS and the new age projector and all along with the glory and splendor of older time can creat wonder just like the "Raj Mandir" of Jaipur and this could turn out to be one of the "Golden Egg" laying hen for Bikaner. But people, Administration and royal family not only neglecting and ignoring the theater but its potential as well. Located at the most prime location. The public park, besides all the high ranked administrative office, the collectorate, the Civil court, the main telephone exchange of BSNL and the newly under contruction/renovation children park and toy train, the lilly pond. The theater has some beautiful parks and ornate fountains around the locality which are very beautiful and soothing. The old pakistani battle tank placed as the sign of victory in 1971 battles. And just in front of the junagurh fort. And if a couple of restaurants and an ice cream parlor/food court come up around the theater.... this could become the biggest family attraction and picnic sport for all the bikaneris. Since the public park is already being beautifued by the Administration then why is this jewel is being neglected.

Public park already attracts many people during the day and even more during the evening time for spending time amidst the lush greenry and peace of the park. And one of the main attraction of children. Even i remember myself always eager to go for a picnic in public park when i was young, then as i grew up i saw this public park getting worse from bad and only people with illicite conducte used to throng the locality sometimes back. But by god's grace, Administration took some care of it and now its back to its glory now, yet the poor Ganga Theater stands neglected. Waiting for someone to come by, and take care of it and love it like old times.

Parking......????

Parking, in Bikaner? You got to be kidding me. The only parking space available for someone going to market in Bikaner is on the side of the road, making the already narrow road even narrower for the commuters.

Imagine The 25-25 Feet road for both side commuters in the main market, the busiest place of the city throughout the day. And 9-10 feet on both side of road is taken by the people for parking their vehicles. that leaves us with only 15-16 feet on both sides to drive. And since shopkeepers have encroaches all the space available on the footpath/sidewalk, that leave the people the road to walk too. So the people on foot and people wit vehicles are forced to commute on same channel i mean on road which results in accidents.

At different time, Parking places had been proposed in the ground of "Shri Raj Ratan Bihari Temple" which is rather of no use otherwise, and another spot somewhere near station road, possible in matka gali. But they never got implemented. More over this is jut a tip of the iceberg as there is a one way restriction during day time at various places around KoteGate and KEM Road aka Mahatma Gandhi Road, At places where there are no such restriction, auto rickshaw drivers park their autos to take passengers which further shortens the road even more resulting in avoidable and unwanted traffic congestions and accidents.

I hope that people will get adequate parking space soon enough.

Havelis - II

Bikaner is situated in the north-west of Rajasthan and it can legitimately boast of some

unique architectural marvels of India. It has an ancient fort unparallel in its splendour.

It can boast of many attractions for anyone interested in culture or art or architecture.

Apart from Junagarh fort, Jain temples like Bhandasar temple, Neminath temple, Adeshwar

temple are simply adorable. Lallgarh Palace is built in Victorian style but its stone and

wood carvings are typical combinations of Mughal and Rajput art developing a typical

bikaneri flavor of architecture. Carvings find best expression in Bikaneri havelies.

Havelies are marvels in home architecture. Such havelies or residential houses do not exist

anywhere in the world. They are the pride of Bikaner, says great author and philosopher,

Aldous Huxley. They are situated in narrow lanes in the old city. Splendid abodes can be

seen in the midst of streets that look serpent like and peaceful. They are marvelous

mansions made of red stone and stand magnificently.

They stand spreading magic around. Their jharokhas (casements), entrances, latticed

windows, divankhanas, Gumaharias or basements, are exotic. The -red stone gives a look that

is like a red carpet forcing one to look and admire. The havelies were the residence of

wealthy merchants who had a fancy for beauty and art. Nine months in a year they lived in

far off lands to earn money and then came to this city to rest and enjoy and build havelies

and live in them, show their wealth and status, their love , fascination for architecture

and colours. The oldest haveli is perhaps four hundred years old but most of them are

hundred years in age or around it. That is why they indicate a pattern of their own. They

charm each and everyone who happens to see them. Their exterior is dominated by the

jharokhas at once charming and capable of keeping spellbound. The jharokhas are exquisite

carvings made alive by artistic creaters. They marvel in the beauty that lies in them and

not merely in beholder's eyes. They are generally six feet long and three feet wide proving

that small is beautiful.

Smaller they are, the more beautiful they are likely to look. They form the most

picturesque part of the haveli face. They also indicate the love for nature these creators

of havelies had. leaves and flowers decorate every jharokha giving it an astonishing and

pleasant natural effect. Jali or stone with small holes create unbounded beauty.

The most famous cluster of havelies is the Rampuria Group of Havelies. Built by Balujee

Chalva under instructions from Rampuria family its carvings show surprising skill. Rampuria

havelis are many in number and are big in size and being located at nearly adjacent

positions make great impression almost like the great havelies of Jaisalmer, the Patwa

havelies. Their appears an undeniable similarity between the two havelies perhaps because

both of them were mainly conceived and built by Vishwakarma clan. The interior scheme of

decoration of the two havelies is very different. The Patwa havelies were built earlier and

emphasized on exterior decoration and minute carvings on jaisalmeri stone while the

Rampuria havelies were built of dulmera stone. The jaisalmeri stone is yellow in colour.

The dulmera stone is red.

Both are soft redstones. Exquisite and minute carvings come naturally to both the stones.

The patwa havelies have more carvings in the interior also. The Rampuria havelies are

decorated with golden work of the highest quality. They have dankhanas (Drawing Room) which

take us to the mughal and rajput period of amalgamation and synthesis. They have Victorian

influence in abundance. The wood carvings in Rampuria Havelies are more exquisite and are

far more beautiful. Another distinguishing feature is that Rampuria havelies have diverse

exterior and each haveli has a pattern of its own. The Patwa havelies have more intricate

carvings but the Rampuria havelies show a more varied face.

The most beautiful carvings on the face side are those of Rikhji Bagri ki Haveli situated

near mohta chowk. Bikaner. It is very little known and is small in size. It is a poetry

written on stone. Such artistic exterior is unparallel and perhaps does not exist anywhere

on earth. The other and much better known havelies including the great patwa havelies fade

when the carving of this haveli show off the minutest details in a most delicate manner. Be

it a peacock, an elephant, a flower or a pot, every thing is natural. living and just

enchanting. The more you look at them the more joy you get out of the view. It is a beauty

for ever, eternal and irreplaceable. If dreams are cast in stones or if stones can sing

they would be like the exterior of Rikhji bagri ki haveli. Arched entrances and captivating

jharokhas look more beautiful because of the flowers embossed on them which are more

beautiful than the real flowers.

Another cluster of havelies which attracts the onlooker is the cluster of Daga chowk

havelies. There are a number of havelies in daga chowk. A salient feature of these havelies

is the fact that they are scattered like the scattered clouds. They are adorned with

carvings of flowers. The rose is there with its freshness. The lotus flowers are there with

their charm, Other flowers are there with their leaves. The walls are all flowery and take

the viewer in a world of nature and its infinite spelendours. The carvings on jharokhas are

simply artistic to say the least. They are exquisite. They look like projected pieces of

priceless jewelery. They take the viewer to a cocktail of architectural excellence. Daga

family had a fascination for deevankhanas. The deewankhanas or drawing rooms gave prestige

to the family. They were decorated with taste and were their show cases. They were a

treasury of art and a matter of their pride. They preserved valuable murals also. They

exhibited old and contemporary faces of Indian painting. They also demonstrate the

increasing English influence.

The European influence is more evident in the haveli of Bhairondan Kothari. Its exterior is

not so attractive or artistic but once you enter. it you are just enamored with its charm,

it excels in marble work. It imparts fascinating beauty to its floors. Marble tiles are

studded in the floors of the haveli. Marble magic is evident in every corner. It is the

beautiful poem of Kamayani written by soft marble stone. Its marble work is unmatched and

can match marble work any where in any part of world. It is this consideration which has

forced some to include this haveli as one of the most beautiful houses of India, one of the

fifty most beautiful.

Another remarkable haveli near this haveli is the haveli of Poonam Chand Kothari. Its

exterior carvings are as beautiful as those of Daga havelies. Its wood work is better.

Havelies of near by dhadhon ka chowck are also beautiful. Chandmal dhadha haveli is very

beautiful in the eyes of some critics. Mohta havelies in Banthia chowk are all important.

Havelies in mava patti and kothari Mohalla and those in dammani chowk deserve special

mention.

In every haveli the dankhana is the most adored room and most prestigious too. The

guests are received here. It is significant to mention that every haveli has two

dankhanas. One for men and another for women and these are situated at the main entrance of

the haveli. There may a few havelies who are not big enough to accommodate two dankhanas.

seperate space is kept in the same dankhana for ladies and gents.

A dankhana generally has six pillars. Every pillar has a glass mirror with gold frame. This

frame is engrossed with flowers mostly roses. The flowers of various colours illuminate the

diwankhana and add to its beauty. The flowers and the leaves adore all walls of the

diwankhnna. They may be curved on stone or may be painted, they give illusion of nature and

natural beauty. Then every diwankhana has paintings of gods and goddesses. Lord Ganesh and

Laxmi and Parwati are the most prevalent among them. Lord Shiv and Bhagwan Ram and Lord

Krishana are the other Godswho generally decorate this room. Taken as a whole, the havelis

contain a number of paintings of Radha Krishan and Ram Sita also. Apart from religious

deities and flowers, the leaves fruits like apples, grapes, oranges and bananas also find

place in most havelies in Bikaner. They had great fascination for peacocks and parrots and

these are shown hovering over the fruits. The ceiling of a diwankhana was always beautiful

and artistic. It was a wooden ceiling generally and was embossed with flowers with six or

eight leaves. Some of the havelies have golden work on the ceiling and some like the

Bhairnodan kothari haveli and Rampuria havelis excel in this type of work. The owners of

the havelies were mostly religious people and every haveli has a temple.

Every haveli has at least a second story. A mol or mahal is the most beautiful and artistic

portion of this part and is normally adorned with golden work of carving . Mahal is the

symbol of status. lt is rich in carvings. Golden carvings are the ardour of the mahal

because it is here that dancing girls used to give performances in mahfils (parties). The

richer the mahfil.the richer is the owner in the eyes of the society. The paintings of

Indra ,the king of heaven sitting on his throne or his elephant with beautiful fairies

dancing .enhances the beauty of the mol linking it with Hindu fables and stories and myths.

Some mols contain valuable master pieces of art. Most of the rooms in Sampatlal Agarwal

haveli are adorned with large priceless paintings of Raja Ravi Verma. They are as old as

eighteen hundred ninety four. Large courtyards, sals, and oras turn these ancient houses

into depositors of history, art and architecture in their own small way. Their another

feature is the impressive beautifully painted ceilings. Some havelis have ceilings which

instantly attract the viewer, earn his appreciation, amaze him, delight him. Every haveli

consists of a number of rooms, big and small, made for special purposes and suitable for

those purposes. A sal is a rather half open multi purpose room for internal use of the

family. An ora is a small bed room again for the members of the family. It is also a box

room. Barsali is the passage from enterce to the interior portion of the haveli. It is

follwed by Angan or chowk. Angan is surrounded by kitchen, Pujaghar, and water store or

parindha. Almost every haveli has more than one stories. Sometimes five to six but normally

three.

An interesting feature of havelies is that there are no urinals in them. This was because

water was a scarce commodity and it was to he utilized with utmost care andnot a drop of it

was to be wasted. There were no flush latrines. Purity was another consideration. The

pujaghar or temple was to be as away from the urinal place as possible. The toilets were

situated in near by kotries or large open spaces with only toilet buildings. The courtyards

or boundaries were always there to surround a kotri. Most of the havelies are situated in

narrow streets in the old city or the walled city.

These havelies are priceless treasures of heritage.

Havelis did you say?

Did u say haveli? What is that?

According to Wikipedia "Haveli is the term used for a private mansions in India andPakistan. The word havelimeaning 'an enclosed place'.

The term Haveli was originally used by theVaishnava sect to refer to their temples in Gujarat. In the northern part of India havelis for Lord Krishna are prevalent with huge mansion like constructions. The havelis are noted for their frescoesdepicting images ofgods,goddesses, animals, scenes from the British colonization, and the life stories of LordsRama and Krishna".

"If dreams are cast in stones or if stones can sing they would be like

the exteriors and interiors of Bikaner havelies"

Havelis of Bikaner and Jaisalmer are famous all around the globe for their architecture, wall paintings, art depicted on the inner walls of a haveli and beautifully carved stones, artistically designed wooden roofs and big and sturdy gates, beautiful and srtistic paintings made on different walls and gates of almirahs and wardrobes.

Interior of an haveli

Interior of an haveli

Haveli of moti lalji (Mohta Chowk)

Haveli of moti lalji (Mohta Chowk)

An another haveli

All the stones were specially made for any particular haveli or in other words all the stones and material were tailor made for thet particular haveli. All the carvings and designes were intrecately hand made by lots of workers.

Workers making door.

All the carvings, paintings and art were done with very fine details as if they were real. As the time turned, people living and owning these havelis died and most of the havelies got stuck amidst the family feueds of siblings as to who will get what part of haveli or who well get possession of how much property. And due to all these family feueds nobody got to live in these havelis until the dispute comes to an ends after many years, but until then, most of the havelis grow very old and due to lack of proper care and maintenance havelis start fellin due to changing times and aging and also movement in earth that is sometimes due to leakage in pipes or due to rain water, earth moves and caves in harming these havelis and with time these havelis are not not in shape to live in, so these are sold to some other people who demolishes these havelis, collects all the stones, art works, paintings, etc. and sell them at higher rates outof the city and most of they times out of the country where these aincient artefacts fetches huge sum of money and on the grounds of havelis other profitable builduings are constructed and lend or sold out to others.

Last year almost 16 - 17 havelis (small and big) were demolished to give space for some other construction or fell to pieces due to lack of proper care or maintenance. People have becomemore greedy and look for more and more monet by selling all the heritage and art that belonged here. And government bodies doesnt take any strict actions as to restrict these actions. At the current pace, the day isint far when only very few havelis will be lefy behind, who knows in the future to come they might fall too.

A line that divides the city.

In schools, we may have studied in maths abt a line intersecting an another line or 2 lines running parallel and sometimes a line intersect them and divide them. But have you ever heard of a line dividing a city in two parts?

Well when you come to Bikaner you not only hear this but you even get to see it too..... where in the middle of the most congested main markets a line, railway line bisecting the city in two halves, 9-10 so such level crossings criss-cross the city and divides it in two halves.


The two yellow boxes shows the two railway crossings that are the most congested and problametic railway crossings of the city.

These railway crossings bring the life to a standstill by staggerring 52 times, allowing different passanger and goods trains to pass and any times for taking the carriage to yard and washing line and after the construction of the new bigger washing line near the existing one these crossings are closed even more times for shunting of engines and trains. And each time the crossing is closed it remains so for about 15 - 20 minutes and bringing the traffic system to its knees. Even after the crossing is closed it takes atleast 15-20 minutes for the traffic to come to normal again during the off peak hours when the traffic is minimal and as much as 60-75 minutes during the peak hours of offices and schools and evening when people and families come to the market for shopping and taking some time out.


These railway crossings has taken numerous lives in last few years, directly and indirectly. Some died of the unfateful accidents on the crossing including few animals like cows/dogs/goats, while some dies because they were not able to get to hospital in time due to closed crossings. People have lost their lives in ambulances standing helpless in front of the railway crossings. While many students have got late in their exams while some people were not able to reach to their professions and offices in time.

Many times, leaders and politicians in the time of elections have promised a permanent solution of the problem but that solution never came. RUIDP(Rajasthan Urbun Infrastructure Development Project) claims on its website that "Earlier Rail bye-pass was sanctioned but as MOU was not agreed by Railways. Therefore in place of it, 1 no. Rail Over Bridge at Gajner road, NH-15 railway crossing, costing Rs.21.30 crores for Viaduct spans & Approaches of ROB has been issued to the firm. Work is under progress." But this one flyover/ROB is not the permanenet solution of the complete problem, though this ROB is a of little relief but then this ROB is being constructed on the Gajner road that is a higway and that place ispretty farwaway from the crossings that are being mentioned. An another crossing "chaukhunti"railway crossing just next to kotegate railway crossingi n northwest direction is also dealing with the same problem, and al these roads being the main road leading to the most important and main markets of Bikaner poses bigger problem.

According to the journalist Avinash Kalla for TOI Jaipur edition on April 26, 2009 "The rail track criss-crossing the city is more of a botheration' than connectivity. Around 50 trains, including passenger and goods, cross right through the heart of the city near Kote Gate, leading to a big jam in the middle of a congested city's shopping hub."

When the election approaches, candidates of various parties or independent claims to solve this problem permanently like, "Proper traffic planning for the city is top on my agenda and that includes creating a railway overbridge or bypass to end this chaos," says BJP candidate Arjun Meghwal. His opponent Congress candidate Rewat Ram Panwar too is raising the issue, "This is a matter that can be solved only by Centre's intervention. If elected, I promise a solution for the same," he says. While one of the major political personality Dr. B.D. Kalla of congress(I) claims "Permanent solution for the railway crossing bisecting the city of Bikaner and bringing the daily life to standstill 52 times a day!" on his website, however the elections have ended and candidates win and loose, yet the railway crossing is always there as they were always awaiting a solution, a permanent one........... Hope it will come soon enough.

Which problem is more annoying?

Bikaner: A breif history.

Bikaner is the second largest city(area wise) situated at the western part of the state and nort-western part of India and share a side of border with Pakistan.

It was formerly the capital of the princely state of Bikaner. The Bikaner city was founded by Rao Bikaji Rathore, son of Rao Jodhaji of Marwar (Jodhpur), founded the state of Bikaner, in Northern Rajasthan, in 1465 under guardianship of his uncle Rao Kandhal and it progressed from small place to big city of the western desert. The Gang canal, and the Indira Gandhi Canal has changed the area. The city has diversified industrially.


As time kept ticking, India was first enslaved by britishers and then with freedom movements and sacrifice by various martyrs we gained freedom and became independent. And since then India started on the path of advancements and on thepath that lead to become one of the major world economy and power. With India, Bikaner too started on the same path too and so did many of the other cities of the country. And as a result now many of the cities are thriving and on the verge to become a large metropolition for e.g. Jaipur, Nagpur, Hydrabad, Kanpur, Shimla.

Reason for the advancement of all these cities and towns may range from big industries, tourism to education and agriculture.

Bikaner, one of the major tourist attraction in Rajasthan, rich with culture, heritage, hospitilaty and warmth, complete with major tourism attractions like Junagarh fort, Gajner palace, many havelis, karni mata temple and many other such tourist attraction in the city. And Bikanr is also included in the Golden triangle which means Biklaner is one of the tourism attraction among the 3 major tourism attraction, the other two being Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. However, though being part of the Golden Triangle and many other good qualities and traits yet Bikaner is always neglected by State tourism department, State government, Central government and tourism department.

Jaisalmer and Jodhpur are 2 of the majour tourist attractions and tourists come here from all over the world visit these places. And reason for this is that they have direct interactions with the tourists and hence earn their living by it. Streets are cleaner having lesser stray animals in contrast with Bikaner where filth is scattered at different place and even near to various places which have importance in tourism. Streets and roads throngs with stray animals, dogs, cows and bulls, goats, pigs etc. which create nuiseance.

Potholes and small pits have formed on almost all of the roads in city and many of them lead to various tourists destinations sprawled across the city. An another problem is the lack of good and quality lodging and boarding facilities for the arriving tourists. And on top of that security of the tourists is one of the major issue of concern. Though government have made privilage for tourism police for security and help of the tourists but the no. of personnels arent sufficient at all for even 10% of the present no. of tourists that come to see Bikaner.

More over tourism corporation and state & central government doesnt looks much intrested in developing Bikaner as any of the major tourist attraction and atract more and more domestic as well as international tourists and guests. Tourists arent encoureged to visit Bikaner with much enthusiasm like they are encouraged for Jodhpur/Udaipur/Jaisalmer etc. Being biggest division in the state and having a lots of places of tourism interests, tourism in Bikaner isint encouraged like it should be. Despite the fact that the "camel festival", that is organized in 2nd week of January every year, is very popular amongst the people and tourists that have seen and attended the event. Still this event doesnt gets the publicity it deserves.

My question to RTDC (Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.), state government, central government and the central body for tourism development(Incredible India) is why this indiscrimination with Bikaner and people of Bikaner? Why isint Bikaner popularized as one of the major tourist attraction? Why aint the basic amenities and facilities provided adequately to the tourists and people visiting Bikaner?