Things to Know before Traveling to Rajasthan – Myth Busted

   

PLEASE NOTE : The above photo is taken in a tourist place to entertain guests, it is not what Rajasthan is all about.

Rajasthan is a big state, with a mix of people from all communities with a mix of geographical factors and also mix of culture. There are few myths that we want to burst before you Rajasthan trip so you don’t get a mini shock when you reach. Here are few of them,

1. WHOLE of RAJASTHAN IS NOT A DESERT!

Bollywood is the main culprit behind this myth, they have shown Rajasthan as a desert in every freaking movie. Just to break the myth, only the the nothwestern portion of Rajasthan is dry and covered with Thar desert. There is descent greenery in other parts and one of the city “Udaipur” is known for its greenery and lakes it is known as the city of lakes and Venice of the east which claimed the title of most beautiful city of the world in 2009. Jaipur, on the other hand, a metropolitan city with all the happening lifestyle, Kota is the education hub of India likewise every place has its own specialty and they are not rural.

2. “Do you travel on Camels?”

No we don’t !. we have cars and bikes too. Also we have so many airports there. It is not the way it is shown in movies. We have roads too. The highways here are better than express highway of many states.

3. “Achha Rajasthan, Tu marwadi hai”

Not everyone from Rajasthan is a Marwadi, Just like every Austrailian is not a Kangaroo. But, you are assumed to be a marwadi if you are from Rajasthan.  There are other communities too like, Shekhawati, godwar, bagad etc.

4. “Do you have hill station?”

Yess! Rajasthan too has a hill-station and after looking down from  there you would get to see greenery too not sand dunes. The place is “Mount Abu” do visit it. You will be speechless.

5. NOT EVERYONE IS A RAJPUT OR A DESCENDANT OF RAJPUT ROYAL FAMILY

Rajasthan is the land of brave Rajput rulers but everyone who is from Rajasthan is not a Rajput and don’t have any connections with the Royal family. We don’t use word “Banna” to address everybody, so kindly don’t use it everywhere. It is used to address Rajputs.

6. ‘DAAL -BAATI –CHURMA’ in Breakfast Lunch-Dinner

NO! we don’t eat it that often.  Daal Baati Churma is the specialty of Rajasthan but it’s not the basic food. It’s not consumed everyday or in every meal. The basic food is the normal chapati , rice, vegetables and also fast food.

 7. IT RAINS HERE AS WELL!

In Rajasthan the monsoon is same as other states. There is no scarcity of rain and fear of drought every year. It is wrongly shown in the movie you saw recently. We drink enough water too. Didn’t I mention Tap water.

8. Clothes & Attire

The above is not the regular clothes they wear. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to wear all this like all the time?. In the most backward villages the old age people could be seen wearing the traditional dhoti, pagdi but generally, the attires are normal, Just like all of us

9. LOCAL LANGUAGE - “KHAMMA GHANI HuKAM!”

Rajasthani language is generally synonym of Marwari language but this language is not spoken in whole Rajasthan, there are other regional languages  spoken in other parts like Mewari in Mewar, Bagdi in Bagad etc and the languages differs with each other. And this ‘Khamma Ghani Hukam!” is not the only thing they speak. 

10. You consume LIQUOR AND NON- VEG? Really?

“In Rajasthani’s don’t consume liquor and are pure vegetarian”- If you have heard this please note it’s not like that at all. The consumption of liquor and non- veg is as good as in other states. Barring few communities(Jain, Brahmins) everyone consumes them. They like it too.

11. RAJASTHANI’S DON’T PREFER SWEET IN EVERY CUISINE

Rajasthanis don’t prefer sweet in every cuisine at all, they prefer spicy food. And our staple food is not the Rajasthani thali like we see in restaurants.

12. Kesariya Balam padharo mara des

Rajasthani people should now stop playing this song and introduce another. This song is world famous but this is not the only song in Rajasthan as this song is played everywhere every time. There are many other songs also.

13. NOT EVERYONE HAS SEEN THE DESERT

“Tere ghar ke Saamne Desert hai?”No Dude! you cannot expect every Rajasthani to have seen the desert. People generally assume that the desert which is shown in the movies would definitely be seen by every Rajasthani but the fact is very few Rajasthanis have seen the desert as the desert is mainly in the districts of Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner so due to large geography of the state these places are very far for the people to reach obviously people living nearby only would have seen it.

14. UDAIPUR-JAIPUR IS Far from each other

Jaipur is approx 500 km from Udaipur, just like Mumbai to Goa. Just because the name rhymes well it doesn’t mean the two places are near. It takes quite a time to travel.

So now that all the myths are busted, visit the amazing state of Rajasthan, here people are warm and super welcoming. “Kesariya balam, padharo mara des” Oh sorry,

See you soon in Rajasthan