A major clampdown on elephant/mahout activity in Bangkok has just been announced.  You could now be fined upto £200 for feeding an elephant.

That said, as sorry as you feel for the mahouts, it is commonsense not to support this activity anyway.

Elephants are emphatically not cuddly things out of Jungle Book.  Generally they are rather cantankerous and unpredictable. They become more moody, less predictable in inappropriate environments.

Traffic-filled, highly urbanised, Bangkok is certainly an inapproriate environment.  The elephants become unhealthy, particularly suffering respiratory diseases.  Sudden death is not unknown.

There has been a major incident in Bangkok, when an elephant ran amok.  Presumably smaller incidents are everyday occurrences.

If you want to help elephants and mahouts supporting elephant conservation and repatriation charities is the answer.  Also support elephant-focused tourism projects.

These projects are seen as the great hope in Government circles.  The elephants can’t stay in urban environments.  Their place, and that of their mahouts, in the logging industry is not going to come back.  The mahouts have to have an income.

All this said, I’ve been fairly uncomfortable with the touristic uses of elephants.  That, though, is not to say that elephant centres can’t be fun, with particularly good reports on the centre at Lampang.  People seem to love being a mahout for the day!

Mark Azavedo

Picture Copyright and by kind permission of Tourism Authority of Thailand.

A couple of weeks back I was railing about the lack of spatial understanding of Bangkok displayed by several of the major guidebooks.  The upshot of that, to my mind, is some rather weird recommendations as to where you should stay, places not necessarily well-placed to use either BTS or MRT rail systems.

That got me to thinking about relevant alternatives; and the canal ferry services came to mind.  Sure enough, although these are usually used by Bangkok commuters, they did rather hit the button for getting you around particularly the Klong Toey administrative area of the City.

Using the canal ferries also gives an additional dimension to your holiday, including that it is another way to meet ordinary Thais going about their everyday business:

Notes on Boat Service in Saen Saeb Canal
Piers: 27 Piers
Tickets: 5-15 baht by distance

1) Phan Fah Leelart (terminal, a bridge to Bangkok City Center)
2) Bo Bae (Garment market – second only Pratoo Nam and Pahurat [Bangkok Little India])
3) Wat Phraya Yang – (a temple near Yotse)
4) Saphan Charoen Phon (to Charoen Phon neighborhood)
5) Ban Krua (a Muslim community – the backbone of Jim Thomson’s silk business)
6) Saphan Hua Chang (with connection to National Stadium Skytrain Station)
7) Pratoonam (major BKK Garment Market, not far from Panthip and WTC, an interchange for Saensaeb Boat, used to have a water gate in the time of King Mongkut to feed the Royal lotus pond (the root of Pathumwan District), hence got the namesake from that thing)
8)Saphan Chidlom – near Central Chidlom, Siam City Bank HQ, Siam Commercial Bank (Phetburi Office)
9) Saphan Witthayu – near Vanich Building, in Wireless Road
10) Nana Nua – near Bumrungrat Hospital
11) International School – near Rueanruedee International School
12. Saphan Asok – near Japanese Embassy and Phetburi Station of Subway
13) Prasarn Mitr – in Sri Nakahrintharawiroj University (Prasarn Mitr Campus)
14) Watmai Chonglok – in New Phetburi Road
15) Phrom pak – a lane to Phrom Phong Station of Skytrain, and not far from  Thai-Italian Pier can be a substitute
16) Thon Lor – a road to Thong Lor Station – not far from RCA
17) Charn Issara – Charn Issara 2 Building
18) Saphn Klong Tan – near Klong Tan Intersection – used to be an interchange for Lad Phrao boat until 2000 (the year Boat service in Krung Kasem city moat and Lad Phrao canal went out of business)
19) The Mall 3 – (ram Khamhaeng Branch) near New Rama 9 intersection
20) Ram Khamhaeng 29 – near the defunct Welco
21) Wat Thep Leela – the main road from Ram Khamhaeng to Thai Cultural Centre
22) Ramkhamhaeng University – the biggest open university in Thailand
23) Saphan Mit Mahardthai – near Huamark Stadium – and can connect to Lad Phrao Road
24) Wat Klang
25) The Mall – the shopping center rival to Central (the main branch in Bang Kapi)
26) Bang Kapi – near bang Kapi district office, and Bang Kapi Market
27) Wat Sri Boonruean – terminal near NIDA

Mark Azavedo

http://www.2bangkok.com/ferries.shtml

Psirri reminds me of the Marais in Paris when it was a zone of transition – traditional workshops mixed with new bars, restaurants, yoga and dance studios.  The dissimilarities lie in Marais’ history as the Jewish Quarter of Paris, and its latter day association with the gay scene.

So bowled was I with Marais’ heady mix that it was my first choice for a fashion shoot.  Though, at that time, I spent most of my working life in Greece, I never remotely considered it.

I can barely believe my words when I now say Athens would be my undisputed choice. Psirri and nearby Gazi are so of the moment, so fascinatingly emergent, the first a major working class district of Athens, the latter the old gasworks.

Get to Psirri quickly before all the character goes. It will become ever more characterised by bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.  Also, some nice modern speciality shops.

It is still the talk of Athens that Psirri became designated as an entertainment zone, so pushing up property values and rents, making them unaffordable to the traditional trades.  The chatter is of corruption as a major property owner and landlord in Psirri was a government minister.

For the casual visitor, Psirri simply feels like the next step, a natural development from overdeveloping Monastiraki. In fact, ever onward and outward, development is moving into Thissio.

A great thing to do is an evening stroll in the park by Thissio station, under the watchful view of the Acropolis. There is a small handicrafts and collectables market to browse.

Gazi was much less contentious, acclaimed a wonderful use of the old gasworks. It is an exhibition and media centre, and, more particularly, an entertainment zone. Perhaps the most achingly trendy entertainment zone in the world? This is where you find Athens’ beautiful people or, to be more precise, Athens’ beautiful young people (the older ones focus on Kolonaki).

I am, of course, trendy beyond even Gazi, having so many allergies that eating out is near impossible. But, consistently recommended for all Athens are two Gazi restaurants, The Butcher’s Shop (for meats) and Sardelles (for fish). Hoxton is the usual bar recommendation.

In screaming the case for Athen’s new areas, I have to admit that on a spring evening, without the tourist crowds, Monastiraki was beguiling.

I stayed in the wonderfully affordable Hotel Aristoteles, chosen through our site.

Mark Azavedo

I love Berlin; and had a very happy commute a couple of weeks back, reading Alison Grinter’s article “Trend Setting” in TNT magazine.

The article focuses on the new East/West divide in Berlin, the East being capital of cool in a super-cool city.

Alison and TNT magazine have kindly given us permission to link to this not to be missed article. Please click here.

Wine lore has it that wines can only be produced either 30-50 Degrees North or South of the equator. Thailand, along with Brazil, India and Indonesia, is disproving that.

In the Thai case, as so much development, the starting point was a Royal Project, under the patronage of H.M.King Bhumibol, this in conjunction with Kasetsart University.

The first commercial planting of vines was at Chateau de Loei, in the Phurua Highlands, in 1991. The wines are produced under the guidance of Australian and French oenologists, with a Shiraz varietal the estate’s flagship wine.

Khao Yai, only two hours out of Bangkok, has the greatest intensity of vineyards, Chateau des Brumes Village Farm and Winery, PB Valley Winery and Granmonte Estate. You can visit on a day trip, but the National Park is worth a couple of days stopover.

Chateau des Brumes is an 80 acre property, specialising in French-style wines. They are made under the tutelage of Jacques Bacou, a French winemaker.

PB Valley, Khao Yai’s oldest winery, is an 800 acre estate planted to Shiraz, Tempranillo and Colombard. Since 2002, PB Valley Wines, made with the assistance of German Wolfgang W Schaefer, have been served by Thai Airways.

This estate is a particular favourite of mine for its extensive leisure facilities, as well as the wine. There is a large restaurant, with fabulous views, under the management of the lovely Nana, as well as produce and souvenir shop, together with simple, but attractive, on-estate accommodation.

Granmonte is PB’s neighbour. The property is set in 40 acres planted to Shiraz and Chenin Blanc, but also table grapes. Unusually, given the predominance of reds in the Thai offering, a favourite from Granmonte is the Sakuna Rose.

Winemaking at Granmonte is under the direction of Nikki Lohitnavy, Thailand’s first Thai female winemaker. Nikki (Visootha) is a graduate of University of Adelaide.

Granmonte is another winery with good leisure facilities by way of the Montino shop and VinCotto restaurant. The restaurant runs under the watchful eye of Sakuna Lohitnavy, Nikki’s mother.

Probably Thailand’s most ambitious and well-funded winery, coming out of the Red Bull fortune,is Siam Winery. The winery also, perhaps, boasts Thailand’s most known vineyard, the so-called floating vineyard at Samut Sakorn on the Chao Phraya delta, only 60km from Bangkok.

This vineyard harvests local grape varieties White Malaga and Red Pok Dum. The vines are planted on islands, separated by canals, Grapes are taken to the winery by boat.

Siam Winery’s main seller is Monsoon Valley. The grapes for this wine are now grown exclusively at Hua Hin Hills Vineyard. Again, Siam Winery has a talented overseas oenologist, Kathrin Puff, from Germany.

A visit to Hua Hin Hills Vineyard is a must for anyone staying in Hua Hin. You can stay in the hills area, but you will find yourself continually commuting into Hua Hin. The opposite commute makes more sense; and can be arranged at Hua Hin Hills Wine Cellar at Hua Hin Market Village at B200 for the round trip.

Hua Hin Hills is planted to Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Muscat, Shiraz, Tempranillo and table grapes. The Sala Wine Bar and Bistro has fantastic views out over the vineyard and great food at sensible prices (my lunch is in the picture).

The vineyard also has a nice shop. I did, though, balk at the elephant-back tour of the vineyard (though it was an elephant corral). That got me pondering the arguments that have raged in the Napa Valley, California over the balance of agriculture and leisure facilities.

Something that particularly excited me at Hua Hin Hills was the soil samples, loamy and slate. These are good vine soils; and particularly the slate must add character. This said, it must never be forgotten that these early successes for the Thai wine industry have been based very much from Thai pragmatism in welcoming overseas oenologists and technological innovation, particularly around irrigation and fruiting control.

My main worry for this embryonic industry is that the 200% excise duty will preclude a substantial bedrock demand for Thai wines in the home market.

Please contact us at marktimetravel@yahoo.co.uk for vineyard accommodation, accommodation in vineyard areas, wine and other Thai agritourism itineraries.

Mark Azavedo

24 September 2009 – 24 January 2010

What would we do if the Messiah came to the world right now ? Would the governments headed by members of the three Abrahamic faiths hand over their reigns of power to the Messiah ? Indeed, what would the governments, religious authorities, armies and laymen do in such a situation ? Would people feel this was the fulfilment of a prophesy or Armageddon ? What would followers of non-Abrahamic faiths or atheists do ?

These are the sort of questions Moctezuma and his council of advisors must have faced when the Spanish first appeared on the coast of Mexico. The Spanish appeared in the year, manner and in the way the Mexica expected their nemesis, Lord Quetzalcoatl, was suppose to appear, spelling the end of their world as they knew it. This was no messiah of deliverance, he was expected to destroy their way of life – and the Spanish did do that !!

By the time the Mexica realized the Spanish were no Gods but only all too human, it was too late. New diseases, new weapons, new animals, new alliances, new religion and new political ideas destroyed the Aztec empire.

Some of the best remains of their splendid civilization are exhibited at the British Museum at present. Fantastic works in carved stone, fine gold and iconic mosaics made of turquoise and semi-precious stones are beautiful to see and very thought provoking. What we can see on display is all that managed to survive the iconoclastic missionaries and greedy Conquistadors. Its amazing to think what the bigger, better pieces must have looked like !

There are paintings showing human sacrifice, ceremonial weapons covered with precious mosaics, wooden drums, model of the central space in Tenochtitlan, stone animals in realistic and fantasy shapes, books written by Aztec and Spanish on the life and times of the Mexica people etc etc etc. There are objects from various tombs, temples and palaces of the Aztecs.

There were some Pre-Spanish paintings, with fantastic colours, shapes and designs that seem curiously modern ! For example, there is a painting of New Fire ceremony, reminiscent of the lighting of modern Olympic torch ceremony. There are the political manifesto style paintings showing the king having “the common touch”, visiting different parts of the empire. It was fascinating to see the king, royal family and aristocrats offering their own blood for various sacrifices. Seeing these, it’s easy to understand how the idea of “the son of heaven shedding his own precious blood for the good of the world” must have resonated with the Mexica people.

Black décor, erie music, and plenty of pictures of blood letting, skulls, death masks, weird serpents, ideas of obtaining strength by drinking human blood made this seem like a Gothic vampire’s utopia !

The exhibition is extensive, interesting and very thought provoking. Don’t miss it for the world !

This article is copyright Bhagwat Shah and appears by kind permission of the author.

Since 2008, George Town, Penang has been a World Heritage Site, along with Melaka, both port cities of the Straits of Malacca.  This dual award was the first for Malaysia; and contains a large part of both cities.

Penang’s citation speaks of two aspects.  The built environment is fabulously rich in colonial architecture, specifically British colonial architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  The old town is a wonderful tapestry of different cultures, living happily side-by-side, constantly adapting, accommodating and influencing one another.  The mix has variously been Asian and European, with the Asian part of that being Chinese, Indian and Malay.  There has been genuine cultural exchange, arising, initially, out of maritime trade.

I spoke lengthily to a taxi driver who was fearfully proud to be Malaysian, fearfully proud of Malaysia’s achievements.  He was equally proud of his Indian, and specifically South Indian background.  He was unimaginably proud that the different ethnicities get along so well (implying that there was a model for other countries) and speak each other’s tongues.  He regarded Malaysia’s state educational system as a key achievement in this.

Little India is certainly a key area in Penang, if only as a place to take lunch!  It is a melange of street hawkers, small restaurants, Indian jewellery and music shops.  It has a different feel to most Little Indias and certainly a different taste, as the migrants here were mostly South Indian.

I was able to indulge my South Indian vegetarian tastes.  Firstly , I ate at a restaurant, a tasty meal for just over £1.  In fact, the idly were so good that, now in the mood, I indulged in more from a street hawker at 10p each.  Heaven!

Whereas Little India is always vibrant, busy, Chinatown is often rundown.  Specifically, it is very sad to see the rundown state of many of the shophouses.  This was commented upon by UNESCO as an area of concern.

Should you want to see the opposite, good conservation practice, not a hint of over-restoration, visit Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion.  In 2000, the Mansion won UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Conservation.

Cheong Fatt Tze was a highly successful Chinese trading entrepreneur who came to Penang in 1890, completing the construction of his opulent mansion in 1904.  The mansion is both lavish and well-considered.  The ambience just can’t be described.

There are two public tours of the premises daily.  But, better still, why not stay there?  Don’t expect corporate slick – the service can be quiet variable.  But staying in this wonderful building, amidst its lived-in antiques, is simply something unrivalled.

You must stay here at least a night or two.  By local standards, prices are quite high, but this will be among your lifetime’s best expenditures, even given heavy noise intrusion from the entertainment at the night restaurants next door.

I include an image of my room, Towkay.  Given very lengthy pre-warning, we can sometimes book rooms in Cheong Fatt Tze.  There are only 12 letting rooms; and the place is immensely popular.  Contact marktimetravel@yahoo.co.uk

At the other end of the scale, backpacker cheap, there are numerous hotels along Love Lane.  As the name implies, this was George Town’s red-light district; and these the by-the-hour joints.  Now my memories are of relaxed backpackers happily taking a coffee and fruits for breakfast in the sun.

To step-up the tempo somewhat – but Penang is never going to be Bangkok – go to Upper Penang Road in the evening.  This is George Town’s charming nightlife district. 

Finally, some words on navigating George Town.  The city is small.  You will be able to cover everything in the historic centre on foot.  Penang Heritage Trust, a hugely knowledgeable and important lobbying organisation, produce the best maps; and these are available free.  Additionally, the Trust has established a number of heritage trails, again with free guides.

Mark Azavedo

I guess Bangkok has the reputation for making you feel different about yourself through the surgical option. I found something cheaper than Bangkok’s bargain basement surgery rates. Something I could afford. Something I was more inclined to. Something equally effective. Bangkok tailoring.

That said, not any old Bangkok tailor, but Jesse and Victor Gulati, the father and son team of Rajawongse at 130 Sukhumvit, by the Landmark Hotel. Assuredly not tailors to the tourist trade. More tailors to the diplomatic community.

Jesse and Victor work very closely with the US Embassy, dressing ambassadors down to marine guards.

These have recommended the Gulati’s tailoring to visiting politicians, though the recommendation to George W Bush was from Dad, George Bush. Other famous names from the USA political community that have been dressed by Jesse and Victor include Sen.John Kerry, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Nancy Reagan.

For Nancy Reagan they also produced a fabric backdrop for a television appearance that matched her dress and earrings.

She must have been one mightily persuasive lady. I don’t see Jesse and Victor often deviating from their brief of classic quality tailoring. They precisely give off an air of doing what they do best, doing it to perfection and in an atmosphere of measured calm (quite something in the freneticism of Sukhumvit).

Tailoring is a very serious issue at Rajawongse, though Jesse and Victor are happy to laugh and joke about other issues, discuss their travels, give recommendations. At all times you are addressed by your first name; and that is remembered.

When it is time for a measurement or fitting, a hush descends. The attentiveness made me feel good, the results even better. I literally felt different about myself. Silly really, as I hadn’t changed. Presumably the underlying thought was I can’t be so odd that I can’t be accommodated!

I had shirts made. For my big collar size, the arms are always too long. The body billows, unless I buy slimfit – then it’s too tight!

With Jesse and Victor I received perfection, and in the finest Egyptian cotton. Victor allowed himself a moment of wry humour at the fitting: “It could have been made for you, Mark”.

And the cost of perfection, of feeling good about myself, 1000Baht (approximately £18). A lot cheaper than surgery, even at Bangkok rates!

Mark Azavedo

http://dress-for-success.com/

Having spent the umpteenth hour of my life browsing in the food hall of Central Department Store, Chidlom, I decided it time to announce it as a tourist destination in its own right. The place is truly fantastic, an oriental Harrods food hall; and you can have an extraordinary self-service lunch there, very cheaply, too.

Alternatively, around the nearby Ploenchit/Wyatthu intersection, down Wyatthu and between Ploenchit and Chidlom there are many very good stalls for lunchtime street food. This is an office workers area.

Why not take your spoils to nearby Lumphini Park for a picnic lunch. Lumphini is one of the world’s great urban parks. Walk through to Silom , including walking on to Surawongse. These streets and the Sois between them are a major shopping area. You’ll also find the infamous Patpong here (boy do I hate that market – go to the real thing at Chatuchak at the weekend BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line Mo Chit). You can walk on down to the river.

A quick cut down to the river is by taking BTS Skytrain down to Saphan Taksin. If you are flush you’re hopefully staying at the (Mandarin) Oriental or the Peninsula. If not, it’s still a lovely area with OP Place my favourite place for a coffee and antiques browse. If you get off two stops before Saphan Taksin at Surasak, the Blue Elephant Restaurant and Cooking School is right there.

At the opposite extreme to all this loveliness, for a huge Tesco, available without a car, take BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line to On Nut. Why go to Tesco on your holiday? Well, truth is that it’s often massively cheaper than elsewhere. Also, you don’t have to haggle prices.

I know what prices should be but, frankly, can’t be bothered to haggle down to the minimum. I just go for a token first round to not look too stupid. It’s not that Thais are great at haggling either, it’s just that they can handle the heat. You’ll find being cool well worth the lack of negotiating effort.

If you use On Nut Tesco, there is a night market there too.

If my references to street food are not to your liking a very cheap restaurant, where you can eat for around £1 is Santa’s in MBK Centre BTS Skytrain National Stadium. Another cheap place I found recently, where the food is very good, worthy of dinner, is C Cup on Sukhumvit Soi 8. 

A suggestion for the Bangrak area (Silom, Surawongse, etc) is the basement of the Bangkok Gem and Jewellery Tower, 322 Surawongse (or Surawong) Road, again an extremely cheap place for all the local office workers, but not way off the tourist track.

In all this super-cheapness, don’t forget the sheer value of the lunchtime specials at the (Mandarin) Oriental.

Finally, in all this discussion of food and drink, a plea. I’ve noticed an increasing number of foreigners eating and drinking on BTS Skytrain. This is banned. Thais obey the ban, regarded rather quizzically at first. It is disrespectful to do differently. The superb condition of Skytrain 10 years on is testimony to the value of such rules.

PS: Suan Lum, Bangkok Night Market/Bazaar is still there, contrary to some reports. It is next to Lumphini MRT; and is, in fact, expanding.

Mark Azavedo

Yet, for all this extravagance, it was all held in abeyance to the whim and pleasure of the Great Mogul !  The emperor in Dehli could grant lands, titles and gadi to whoever he pleased.  Sons of royal lines stretching back to antiquity lined up to be generals and governors in the employ of the Emperor.  One particular painting reinforced how even the proud Maharanas of Marwad were forced to bow before a mogul prince.  Having given their daughters to the Emperor, other Rajput princes stood, heads suitably bowed.

The next room dealt with the rising power of the East India Company and culmination of this in the Imperial Darbars of the British Raj.  As the time of the Moguls came to an end, the Indian princes and kings shifted their dependence and loyalties to the Company !  They could have declared their independence at this point, but instead, they preferred to have someone lord it over them !  They asked the British to keep peace between each other, guarantee their borders and provide security to their state !!  They invited a third party to mediate in their internal quarrels and gave up their own independence to hear someone else pronounce “justice” for them.

The British used this opportunity to expand their influence and later their territories.  Any prince or king who did not follow their “treaty” to the letter was heavily punished with fines and even confiscation of their lands.  Kings could no longer marry or adopt sons without British consent !  Traders became the political agents mediating between princes and later became the defacto rulers of the land ! 

In 1857, there was an opportunity to get rid of both the Moguls and the British, but, the sepoys went to the Mogul emperor and most of the royal princes helped the British.  Result was the abolishment of the house of Timur and ending of the Company rule.  Indian princes were now to be ruled by the British Raj !  In 1877, at a glittering assembly of Indian royals, a foreign queen became the “Empress of India”.  Celebrated in a room size painting, the scene was poignant with irony as proud men sat on gilded thrones, accepting a woman as their liege-lord when their own women still lived in strict purdah !  Subsequent Durbars were even more impressive.  In 1911, the reigning Emperor came in person to accept the pledges of his loyal royals.  Proud princes bore the train of the royal mantel as their fathers bowed and walked backwards to honour the King Emperor !!

Fantastic costumes, jewels, letter written in gold ink by the Rani of Jhasi, video footage of the great Darbar of 1911 and more paintings.  This room houses some fantastic gifts send to the British royalty as tribute by “native prices and chieftains of India”.  Note the irony of how kings and maharajas were demoted at a single stroke to native princes and chiefs ! 

In addition to the taxes and fines paid to the British governemt, silver thrones, palanquin encased in carved ivory, jewelled sword with a scabbard covered with 719 large diamonds were gifted to the British Kings by the kings of India !  Victoria and Albert Museum writes with sad irony that what the Indian princes got in return for these extravagant gifts were only Bibles and dictionaries !!  British clearly felt that the poor benighted natives of India desperately needed the civilisation offered by their new religion and modern education.  What a slap in the face it must have been for haughty rajputs kings and princes, to get bibles and dictionaries as return gifts for all the diamonds and jewels they offered their British overlords !!

Change in style of the royals was evident from the objects on display in another room. Kings no longer dined in gold and silver.  They no longer drank from jade cups.  Instead, they used expensive glass marketed as “Belgian crystal” !  Palaces were now of the new Western styles.  A 15 foot photo showed the different styles of palaces, stretching out in to the countryside outside the town !

The last room showcased the elegant, Eton educated Maharajas of the 20^th Century.  Diamond necklaces designed by Cartier and Van Cleef, Art Deco furniture, princes and princesses posing in Indian and Western outfits with great sense of style and showmanship in both !  A huge Rolls Royce stood in the middle of the room to show the sophistication of the ultra modern rulers of India. Their genuine desire to live in the past whilst bringing modernity of education and good governance to their people was touching to see.  Many died in the two world wars to show their loyalty to the British Raj.

It all came to naught though.

Princes had not learned from their history.  Their bards recited the long list of royal heritage going back for 100 generations, but no one was listening to the lessons of this millennium long history.  Princes forgot that you have to rule to be royal.  Gallivanting in Europe and bathing in champagne makes you rich, but not royal.

At independence of India, in 1947, the princes were once again poised at the brink of history.  To declare independence of their own or to give up everything they stood for, so that India and Pakistan could be “whole nations” and not be “moth eaten”!  Having abdicated any meaningful sovereignty for so many centuries, they did not know which way to turn.  Most took the advise of their Viceroy and gave up their kingdoms – 563 of them – to the two new nations.  Only Kashmir and Hydrabad tried to remain impendent.  Pakistan forced the hand of Kashmir, making it embrace India in a desperate hurry after an ill-concealed invasion.  Hydrabad was unceremoniously absorbed into India a few years later.  The greatest insult was yet to come. 

In less than 24 years after having voluntarily signed over their lands to the new Republic, princes and kings of India found themselves exposed again.  Daughter of the man they gave their kingdoms to, unilaterally took away their privy purses and rescinded even their titles !!  Indira Gandhi’s persecution of the princes was mean spirited and in breech of the constitution and promises made by her own father.  Yet, no one protested.  No one rose up to challenge the breech of faith.  There were no more loyal subjects to fight for the royals !! 

Staring poverty in face, the princes have on the whole reinvented themselves as “heritage hoteliers” now.  Palaces, once the preserve of the privileged few, can now be rented by the hour !!  Indeed, how the mighty have fallen !!

What remain are the glittering remnants of the past.

Exhibitions like these help us learn lessons from shards of history.

This article is copyright Bhagwat Shah and appears by kind permission of the author.