We see different places while traveling but the most important aspect is meeting people and understanding them. I was fortunate to experience the friendly and helping nature of people in Rajasthan during all my trips. All these people who helped me during difficulties demonstrated a strong caring attitude for the guests in spite of being complete strangers to me.
Some years ago I visited Rajasthan during Diwali. Our tour started from Jodhpur and the subsequent program was to visit Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Mandawa. After spending two days in Jodhpur we were about to start our journey to Jaisalmer on the day after Diwali.
In the morning my wife woke up with an eye injury. Her left eye had turned red due to internal bleeding. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 8 am for Jaisalmer so really we did not have much time to find a doctor. We called our family doctor back in Pune and she prescribed medicines. Now the next task was to locate a medical stores open early in the morning. The hotel manager told me that there was one at about 10 minutes walking distance so I started immediately.
There was no one on the street and the medical did not seem to be into the sight. I spotted a car that was approaching and a quick thought of asking for lift struck my mind. Although not very hopeful, I signaled to the owner and to my surprise he halted the car and offered me a lift.
We found that the medical stores was closed. I requested the car owner to drop me as it was getting late but he informed that there was a hospital ahead with a 24 X 7 pharmacy so we carried on.
The hospital was a bit far and I started thinking about returning in time. When we reached the hospital, the owner told me that he would return to the same spot after 10 minutes. He advised me to wait on the other side of the road after buying the medicines. As promised he returned after 10 minutes and drove me back to the hotel.
It was a nice gesture from the car owner. I was able to return back with medicines in time to the hotel because of his help.
We reached Jaisalmer in the afternoon. As my wife’s eye was still not well, we enquired in the hotel for an ophthalmologist. The hotel staff did not know anyone but they advised to see one Dr. Gupta in the city. After about an hour, our group was to visit Gadisar lake which happens to be near the Jaisalmer city center. At the lake, my wife and I left the group and hired a rickshaw.
As the rickshaw driver was starting the vehicle he asked me “Pet ki takleef hai kyan? (is there any problem with the stomach?)”
I explained him that we were really looking for an ophthalmologist but did not know anyone in Jaisalmer as we were tourists. He could take us to one, if he had any knowledge. However, he said “Let us check Dr. Gupta first”
As could be expected during Diwali, the clinic of Dr. Gupta was closed on that day. The rickshaw driver told me not to worry and took us to a colony where many doctors in Jaisalmer live. Once in the colony he knocked some doors to check if any doctor was available. Finally he got an answer, that the doctor had gone to the hospital and was available to check the patients.
Immediately he took us to the Government Hospital. He accompanied me to the counter and guided me properly about the formalities like case paper and payment of fees. As soon as we were done with the payment he took us directly to the doctor. The doctor checked my wife and prescribed some medicines and advised to visit the specialist at the first opportunity. Ophthalmologist in the hospital was not on duty due to Diwali holidays. As I was about to ask our rickshaw driver friend to take us to a medical stores, he informed me that the medicines were available free of cost in the hospital. He took me to the counter where the medicines were issued. We were able to get some of them but some were not available and had to be bought from the market. Now, he took us to the market and finally back to Gadisar lake. All this must have taken more than an hour. I was really very thankful to him for all the help and asked him about the charges.
He politely refused to accept any money for taking us around. He said that we were guests in trouble and it would not be right to accept money. When I insisted he told me the actual amount which was much less than my expectation. I wanted to pay him some more money and had to insist hard as he wasn’t ready to accept anything extra.
Very rarely have I seen this kind of Rickshaw driver in my life.
Twice during my visits to Rajasthan, my kids became sick due to heat. Once at Jaipur and second time at Mandawa. On both the occasions, chefs in the hotel made special food for them to help them recover. Not only that, they even made a local medicine from lemon and rock salt which helped in quick recovery.
At Jaipur, our site seeing plans were completely disturbed due to children falling sick so we decided to satisfy ourselves with a quick round of the city, but the first priority was to visit a doctor. The hotel owner called for a rickshaw, explained him that he should take us to a reputed pediatrician and then if possible take us around.
Due to the help provided by the hotel staff on both the occasions, my kids recovered within a day.
Some years before this trip, I was in Mount Abu for a pleasure trip with my family. One evening we decided to have Rajasthan special Dal Bati dinner. We went to a posh restaurant. While ordering the food we came to know that they did not serve local food so we went to another restaurant that was a little far. When it was time to pay, my wife realised that she had forgotten her bag in the first restaurant. It had her Credit and ATM cards, lots of cash and important documents. Worried and upset, we rushed back to the first restaurant. As soon as we entered the hall, one of the employees commented “Woh log aa gaye” (Those people have arrived) Clearly, they were expecting us. One of the employees handed over the bag to my wife with all the contents intact.
People in Rajasthan demonstrate great hospitality and caring attitude towards their guests. That is the reason you should listen to the urge of “Padharo Mhare Des” and make it to this beautiful state.
Curious Explorer 