Nokia N96 on a Trip to Jaipur

With Nokia N96 to Jaipur

No, I have not forgotten Mumbai but if people are willing to travel to India and Mumbai, I am willing to blog about travel.

I have to say that it was the offer of using the Nokia N96 by Blogger's Mind that spurred me to go to Jaipur. Now all I was asked to do a review of it. So in this post, I am posting my experience against the features of the phone.

1. Keeps you connected with the world, take calls, send messages, check mails, browse the internet, geotag pictures.

My Experience- Yes, of course I could make calls on my Jaipur trip, take calls and use internet partially. I posted a few lines on my blog using N96 from Delhi-Jaipur Shatabdi Express train. For email, whenever I tired, the Vodaphone connection would ask me if they should open a secure connection and somehow most if the time it would say could not find a secure connection. Now I am not most tech savvy person, but I wonder what a more informed person like Shrinidhi would find the experience?

2. Want to travel light and not carry too many equipments. Can substitute Digi cams with its 5 MP camera and Carl Zeiss Lens for great pictures.

My experience- For people like me who travel with multiple cameras, yes a 5 MP camera and video recording in the same equipment is a great help. If this phone was mine, I would have traveled just with my SLR and this phone. As of now I carry a Nikon point and shoot, Canon SLR and if I wish I can carry a Sony handycam apart from a cell phone! That way in future I think I can invest in a good phone.

Ipods, walkman, with so much of storage content, 100 english and 100 hindi music videos and space to store more and more for all the long journey trains rides.

My experience- Not really for me, I prefer to look out of the window rather than listen to music. But my nephew was really interested in loading songs if we take it on another trip.

Plethora of Cd’s with FM Transmitter that can blare out your favorite playlists in mobile through your car speakers and woofers, for those long car drives on open highways.

Once again I can think of Shrinidi and his rental cars and long drives!

Laptops with access to internet and mailbox, if in case you want to shoot out an important mail while on your trip.

This definitely is possible and of great help, but depends on your connection and getting used to it.

Sportstracker or Lifevine to share your travel stories live with the world.

I have to try this feature. One has to go to the Nokia site to post it but it definitely feels interesting.

3. Watch a whole movie Om Shanti Om, and other 50 preloaded music videos, for a long boring flight in an offline mode. With 24 GB of memory space, you can also download and have the latest bolly and holly flicks on the handset. What’s more if u happen to be traveling at a time of a really important India Pakistan cricket match, you can catch it with Mobile TV available in N96. (Currently it gets only Doordarshan but wondering how cool will it be to have other channels coming in)

My experience- Umm once again I like to look outside the window, even on a plane at night but I have seen one person using that N96 stand and watching something on his handset in the Shatabdi while coming back from Jaipur.

Incase one is traveller who likes to stay connected with the nature and not with the world so much. There is a application for that too Wavesecure helps you to access Emails, documents, camera and call logs, even if u r 10,000 miles away from your phone. So you can leave your phone at home and still be carefree of connecting with the outside world in a time of emergency. This is also a great application for a wildlife photographer. If u want to see a lion in action and get him in your lens. No hassles just place your phone as near as possible to the animal and then sit back in your room to enjoy live action from the animal world.

No idea how this one works.

Lazy Sunday Video- Gatore Ki Chhatariyan, Jaipur

Gatore Ki Chhatariyan, Jaipur, Rajasthan

In all my previous visits to Jaipur I never heard of Gatore Ki Chhatariyan. It is a beautiful structure, our auto driver said it is popular with tourists but when we went there in the afternoon we had it almost entirely to our self.

PS. No, I have not forgotten Mumbai but if people are willing to travel to India and Mumbai, I am willing to blog about travel.

The Story of Dal Bati Churma- Rajasthani Food

The Dal Bati Churma Thali Shop, Jaipur Rajasthan

Before I say anything else, once upon a time I have studied for five years near Jaipur (my graduation and post graduation). But at that time I hardly explored Rajasthan. But the Rajasthani Thali (plate) of Dal Bati Churma was not new for me. We asked Gopi (the auto driver) to take us to a place for lunch, Brat 2 (my younger nephew) wanted to remain with Punjabi Thali whereas I wished to sample Dal Bati Churma again. So Gopi took us to a shop near the station and we ordered our stuff. You can see a picture of my plate below.

The Delicious Dal Bati Churma, Rajasthani Dish

For a while I was left wondering what the hell had I ordered, there was nothing to eat apart from the side dishes. I said so aloud to Brat2 and the people at the next seat laughed. So I searched more closely and found the missing Bati, it is the round ball in the right hand corner. It had been that long since I had been to Jaipur, I had almost forgotten what Bati looks like. And yes, once you have finished your first Bati, they will bring you more till you tell them that you had enough.

You have to break it, dip it in the Dal or Kadhi (the two Yellow gravies in the center, Kadhi in the larger bowl, Dal in the center of the plate) and eat it. I find it delicious. The thali concept is that for a certain amount of price (60 rupees in this case) you can eat as much as you desire but subject to certain rules. The rules were displayed on a board and those of you who can read Hindi, would find the way they are expressed hilarious! For those who can't read Hindi, I will try translating it, but much will be lost in translation.

The House Rules for Thali Meals in Jaipur

*For children of over six years of age should please take separate token (what is implied here is that a child of less than 6 can eat with the parents, remember you pay for the plate and not the dishes)
*One person per thali please
*Please take food according to your need
*There is only one bowl of churma (sweet dish in the smaller bowl in the picture) per plate, no extras please
*Please take care of your belongings
*After 11 at night only Rajasthani Thali is available please
*Please do not wash your hands in your plate
*Please do not waste food
*Drinking Liqueur is strictly prohibited please

No doubt, Brat 2 and I had a good meal. In fact the Rajasthani thali is the background image on the Nokia N96 as of now.

Jal Mahal, Jaipur, A Small Video Captured on Nokia N96

Jal Mahal, Jaipur

I have to say that Jal Mahal is actually much more scenic rather than my video but I think I get better videos on Nokia N96, rather than my Nikon Coolpix 3200. The only thing is, the Nikon will remain with me whereas the Nokia N96 will go back after a while :D

The ATM Culture in Jaipur

Street Food near Abmer, Jaipur

While in Jaipur, I noticed that the place is not only colorful, but people behave differently too. I needed to withdraw some money from the ATM. So the auto driver, Gopi took me to one. I wonder what is your experience of taking out money in India but in NCR (National Capital Region comprising of Delhi and its nearby areas) there is almost always a security guard around and it is one person at a time. I know that is how it is probably world over. But not at Jaipur. The door to the ATM was open and you could queue in right inside the ATM behind the next person and no one seemed to be bothered in the least. So that is how I took out money in Jaipur, standing behind a person while he was doing his transaction and someone standing behind me when I took out my money. Can you imagine that in Delhi?

Jal Mahal, Jaipur (India) at Sunset

Jal Mahal at Sunset, Jaipur, India

It was a very pleasant Saturday evening (15/11/2008) when Sunil (my younger nephew, also referred to as Brat 2 in many of my posts, his elder brother is Brat 1) and I made a stop at the Jal Mahal in Jaipur. I was quite smitten with the atmosphere (minus the plastic littered at the shore and deliberately avoided while clicking the picture), there were flowers on the shrubs, reflection of the palace in the water. A lot of people walking around in the wide open space ,with the lake and the palace on one side and street food on the other. The weather was quite nice too, not too cold and definitely not hot. I am quite happy the way photographs have turned out on this day.

Later, we were having tea at a roadside shop and I was showing the pictures on the camera display to our auto drivers Raju and Gopi (I managed to acquire two auto drivers but that is another story). After a while I could sense they were just being polite and had no real interest in watching the pictures. I asked then, "Aap log roz wahi jagah dekh kar bore ho gaye ho?" (You guys are bored stiff with watching the same spots almost daily?). How heartily they agreed and that was the end of my photo display session with them.

The Puppet Show at Jaigarh Fort Captured on Nokia N96

A Puppet Show at Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan

I watched this puppet show through the lens of the Nokia N96 camera. The Rajasthani music is so catchy. But we were so hard presseed for time that I really did not linger around for long. Steve this one is for you. You have in the past enjoyed my videos, what do you say about this one?

Back from Jaipur- Drowned in Work

Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan

I am back from Jaipur with a lot of pictures, a few videos (on Nokia N96) and thoroughly refreshed. But before I start blogging to my heart's content, there are copies to grade! The idea of contacting Raju from Delhi itself was great and Brat 2 and I had a great time. So lot of stories to share in the days ahead. And I found that Ajmer Shatabdi makes a halt at Alwar too, how does that sounds for the next weekend trip?

Thank You Arun

update- i am right now in shatabde express blogging via the nokia n96. Now this is fun. Though cant figure out how to use 'enter' of the computer! So next line is from the scheduled post I wrote at home. I would be in Jaipur when this post gets publisahed. Would try live blogging via the iNokia N96 but then not sure how fast would be the connection and everything.

As I decided on Thursday that I am going to travel over the weekend, I knocked on Arun's Rajasthan posts and then mailed him messaged him and tried calling him to get Raju's contact. I normally prefer to venture on my own but this time I am too tired and watned to have someone around who knows about the place.

Arun replied to my mails, gave me a call and finally I could get in touch with Raju today.Thank you Arun.

Bomings in Jaipur

7 bombs are said to have gone off in Jaipur. So many dead, the Indian news channels going their usual way, all cacophony, here is the discussion on Indiamike.

I have spent quite some time near Jaipur and Jauhari Bazar (Jeweler's Market) is quite a familiar place for me where I used to shop. Certain things make no sense.