Jodhpur

Jodhpur is the second-largest city in Rajasthan. It is the "Blue City" to Jaipur's "Pink City". Indeed, many of the buildings in the old town's maze of streets are blue (several different shades of blue, in fact). The old explanation was that blue was used to demarcate the houses of the Brahmin castes, but the revisionist explanation is far more utilitarian: the blue color keeps the biting ants away.

I played the tourist one day and went to the great fort atop the hill that forms the dramatic backdrop to the town. It is very well preserved and there is an excellent audio tour.

On the other day, I rented a bicycle and set out riding to find some villages outside of the city. An English man with long shaggy blonde hair pulled up alongside me in his truck and asked if he could give me a lift. He said he'd been in Jodhpur for 30 years and it was the first time he'd seen a white man on a rural road on a bicycle. I'm not really sure it's that much of a novelty. I'd met plenty of white people on bicycles up in the Himalayas. He explained that he owns a factory where brass doorknobs are manufactured, then exported to Europe. He employs 50 Indian workers, although he uses the word "employ" loosely. In order to avoid red tape, he doesn't technically employ anyone. I guess that means he doesn't pay taxes either. And he probably makes a killing.

I seemed to be a hit in the village. To them, at least, a white man on a bicycle was also a novelty. I won't flatter myself into thinking I was the first white person they'd ever seen (a pretty grotesque assumption some white people often make), but I'll hazard a guess they don't see one every day. As I rode threw town, a procession of kids followed me. We looked like a parade. Everyone in the village stopped and stared, or smiled, or waved.

These bicycles in India are hard to ride. There are no gears and the seats are very uncomfortable. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it is for the bicycle rickshaw-wallahs who have to pedal the contraptions while hauling a carriage holding up to two fat Indian ladies.