Bring On The Blues

Dining at his rooftop restaurant overlooking the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, you have to work hard not to fall under the spell of the multi-faceted Bablu.

- Monica Bathija

It’s not as blue as I thought it’d be,” I say to Doris as we look out at the city of Jodhpur spread out in front of us from the terrace of our hotel. “It’s not quite Mykonos, is it?” she replies with a laugh, reminding me of my observation when we were looking at pictures of the ‘blue city’ online.

The magnificent Mehrangarh Fort, which appears to rise almost organically from the hill, looms on one side, while Umaid Bhawan Palace, now a hotel, sits regally at some distance. The rooftop has a few tables, some chairs, a filthy, stained sink and a small, red refrigerator the inside of which looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since the day it was bought. Doris pulls back a makeshift cloth curtain next to the refrigerator to reveal a small, grubby kitchen.

The hotel, we find, is essentially a home stay. The owners live on the ground floor while the upper floors have rooms to let. As we make our way down to our room, we meet a man going up, carrying bananas, coffee sachets and a mug. We mumble hellos.

Jodhpur is not a place people usually linger in. They pass through it on their way to and from various cities in Rajasthan. Think cities like Udaipur, which boasts beautiful palaces, or Jaisalmer, with the lure of the sands of the Thar. Jodhpur is wonderfully blue, of course, the reason behind its blueness perhaps that the lime wash inhibits the growth of insects and termites. And it has its wonderful fort. So considering we were on a leisurely trip, we had booked two days here.