Udaipur to Delhi

Part III

Udaipur city overlooking one of its seven lakes.

...We left for Udaipur at around 2 o clock. After coming down from the hill, when we went on to the highway, I realised that this is the Ahmedabad-Indore highway which is one of the best in the country. We reached Udaipur and found our hotel before sunset. We went in our room and rested for some time and after that we went to Manish Uncle's (my fathers' friends) house. We went for dinner with them to a restaurant called Millets of Mewar. The restaurant is run by the students of Shikshantar. Shikshantar is a non-school school founded by Manish Uncle. The restaurant mostly had organic food. By the time we were out of there, it was very late and so we quickly dropped Manish Uncle and his wife and daughter to their house and went back to the hotel. We slept as soon as we reached.

Flames of the sun fly over the fort (background) to temple. 

Jan 5, 2013, 1735 hrs. Abner Manzar

               Next morning we went to Manish Uncle's house and asked him if he could send anyone with us to the Swaraj University which had the same philosophy as Shikshantar. He went into the Shikshantar building which was right in front of his house and sent a person. We travelled for 15 kilometers on the highway and then took a right. After about 2 kilometers we entered the campus of Swaraj University. One of the students there took us for a walk around the campus and as we started talking she said most of the students of Swaraj University have fought with their parents to come here. Their parents want them to go to a normal well structured college but these people want to realise their real aim in life. For this there is nothing better than the Swaraj University. The students of Swaraj University make food for each other and they also made food for us when we went there. After having our lunch we went back to Udaipur and to Shikshantar. We stayed in Shikshantar till 10 at night because there was a concert from 7. They served dinner to all the people who came. After the concert finished we went back to the hotel.

Sunset in Udaipur is so evocative, almost like a postcard.

Jan 4, 2013, 1750 hrs, Abner Manzar

                Next morning we left for Tilonia. We stopped at a village called Devdoongri where there was an organisation called MKSS. My father decided to help them by putting up a computer center there. From there we went to Bhim, it was about 10 kilometers from Devdoongri. Aruna Roy the co founder of Barefoot College was opening a School Of Democracy there. Any human would be allowed to go there and learn about their constitution and their rights. The buildings were being made so we couldn't see how it would function. After talking to the people there for some time we moved on and finally reached Tilonia at around 8 at night. We had dinner and then went to our room. 
               Next morning my father went to a village called Arain, 15 kilometers away from Tilonia but we decided to stay. Me and Abeni made a puppet each. It takes 4 days for it to dry. So we couldn't paint it. After making the puppet I wandered aroung the campus and met people whom I had met years ago. I got a homely feeling in Tilonia as if I am already at home. The people would talk so friendly I would have just kept talking to them for hours and hours. Soon my father came  back and we quickly had lunch and set off again. This time for home. There was a lot of traffic as we got closer to Delhi and we finally reached home at 1 am. 7th night or 8th morning.
                 I had dreamt of such a journey for more than a year now and as we reached our so called destination, I was dissapointed because for me all this while I was at my destination, journey.