A Ride Through the Magical City of Udaipur

1^st October:

After extending their patience limit to 3 hours, the students finally left the AVM campus at 1:00 a.m.! Praying to God for a blissful trip, after a restful sleep, we reached our hotel Bhairavgarh Resort in Udaipur.

The hotel is a masterpiece, carved out on a hill with views that mesmerized the eyes and hearts and one would just keep watching the Aravalli Mountain Range blend in the city buildings, dumbfounded at the glorious sight. The bird’s eye view was still nothing compared to the finger-licking food served at the royal dining hall that made our taste buds celebrate the delicious delicacies served by the kind hotel staff.

Rajasthan is split into various sectors within which Marwar is the desert area and Mewar as the hilly area. Maharana Udai Singh, being impressed by the beauty of nature and considering the mountains as a natural protection barrier, shifted his Capital from Chittorgarh to Udaipur. The realistic statues of Maharana Pratap and Dhanvir Bhamasha, created by S. S. Matre in 1962, made us realize the importance of having brave role models. We fed our eyes with the views of the intricately detailed models of Maharana Pratap’s Palace and the Haldi Ghati War memorial.

With red life jackets covering their bodies, the students then settled in the huge motor boats to soar through the manmade Fateh Sagar Lake surrounded amidst the mountain range. The undisturbed flow of the waves scented the air with freedom, inspiring one and all, to fill himself with peace and calmness just as the river that flowed in any direction it wished.

The first swim of the trip took place in the darkness of the night. The music blasted through the speakers making everyone’s hearts pump with melodious beats. Water splashed to spread joyous droplets on the excited faces of the A.V.M students. The return swim then helped students achieve one of their most content sleeps as the moon rose to mark the end of the first day of the tour.

2^nd October:

Arriving at the best part of the trip, the ride to the Kumbhalgarh fort was made in gypsies speeding uphill, making wind rush past our ears. As we understood the innovative and advanced war tactics used to build it, we were inspired to admire the hidden culture and the great imperial history of our confident leaders who were no less than our modern-day war tacticians. The fort signified the development of science with brick-made rainwater filters and huge kitchens to feed the Royal Family (Oh! We wish were a part of it!). The Great Wall of India surrounding the fort rooted our legs in the ground as we tried to make its sheer size fit in our 2 eyes!

3^rd October:

The marble-made, golden in colour, City Palace represented the beauty India possessed in years gone by. Developed by 37 generations of kings, walking through this palace kept us on our heels to gaze at the personality and lifestyle of the virtuous kings that ruled this golden land. The ingenious ideas and miraculous rituals of the Sooryavanshis, like seeing the sun before drinking water, depicted the advancements humans have made combining the invaluable heritage and culture of India with the fast-paced foreign lifestyles.

This experience will always remind us of the stunning Indian culture that has till this date stood out from the world, with its etiquettes and morals that guide humans to peace and not just fame.

Reported by: Nirmaan Patel, Aryan Antala, Yash Kothari (Class 8)