We do have daal baati churma in bangalore... Roomali. But the real thing was what I had in that roadside rundown restaurant called Agarwal Hotel or something. The baati's were almost charcoals, burnt nice and brown. और दाल ऐसी मिरच कि हर कही से पानी टपक रहे! And the jodhpuri thaal in the ghanta ghar haweli! And by far the best, the dinner at Chokhi Dhaani
(Clean Village) in Jaipur, a theme viallge setup with camel rides, puppet show, kalbeliya, luhaar, jaadu, teer-kaman, nat (nut... tight-rope walker), and an hour and a half of eating... Makai, bejar, bajra, gehun rotis. Gatta, khichdi, baingan, maalpua, ghee... They serve ghee there not with spoon but with a ladle! All 4 of us had a running tummy or a clogged one by the next day. And the LMB, Lakshmi Mithai Bhandar, the hallmark of Jaipur Sweets! I must've put on a couple kilos by now.
We started off with the Hawamal; then the Amer Fort (with a sheesh mahal like in mughal-e-azam but derelict), Jalmahal, Jaigarh (has the world's biggest cannon of those times) in Jaipur. Umaid Bhawan, which is now a 5 start ITC hotel too, Ghanta Ghar haweli (standing grand in a seedy market) and Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. And the Jaisalmer Fort with jain temples some 600 year
old. And Jaisalmer being the edge of the Thar... Did a long camel ride to the sunset. Quiet nice, except that the sun set behind the clouds, instead of the horizon! Kela, but we had a good time running through the expanses of sand.
I saved the best for the last. Everywhere we went there was good folk music. Chokhi Dhani had a family with baapu on the ektaara, amma singing and the two kids dancing a little abruptly out-of-beat but quite cutely. Mehrangarh fort had another such miya-biwi pair. There also was a dadaji sitting under an arch gate, captivating people with evening ragas on a sombre-toned big flute that would've drained the breath of Shankar Mahadevan. And such humbleness, that he asks when done "ठीक है?" Got talking to him about his family. Said his grandson liked to watch WWF rather than learn any music. And it was a surprise for him, when we said WWF is all playacting! The best music we had was at Jaisalmer's desert resort. We had a group playing exclusively for us. Anwar Khan, Putul Khan and party. I have three of their songs recorded. Can upload if interested. And there was alcohol available. Although I would have liked to focus on the music, I got drinking and before I knew it, I was happy. Up and dancing with the young kid. This 
kid, by the way, sang wonderfully too. And the guy on the kartaal (two flat wooden pieces in a hand, one held firmly between thumb and forefinger, the other losely on the palm) was as flashy as our Chinky (bikram kumoi) on stage, while the dholaki was as silent and rigid as me on stage. The girls told me later that I danced cute to begin with, but later I started moving my hips. Guess I was quite drunk by then cause for the life of me I can't figure out the muscle in my body that controls my hips. Anyways, I had a good time!One last thing, I had gone to Rajasthan with an image in mind of Rajputs with long twirling moustaches walking through city markets overflowing with bandhni dresses and chaddars. The only twirling moustache I saw was on a guard at Clark's Amer, and he may as well have been a non-Rajput. Anyhow, he was much better a sight than the tamizh John Kennedy (w/o Fitzgerald) , the guard at Jenny's, Trichy.
It was good fun and made me forget my troubles for a couple of days. And eventful? It's a blog, not a diary.
