Udaipur was one the exotic settings for the unforgettable James Bond movie “Octopussy” and you can still see photos of Roger Moore in various emporia posing with the owners having bought Indian goods to furnish the chalet in Gstaad. Curiously the Bond theme lives on and if anyone wants to know where Judi Dench buys her tunics, send me an e-mail.
“Octopussy”, so I’m told, featured a Rickshaw chase through the streets of Udaipur. ( The word comes from the Japanese word jinrikisha, or ‘human-powered vehicle’). How many people can you fit in a rickshaw? Well we’ve counted 10 children in one, being delivered to school in their pristine school uniforms (does the school tip the driver?)
Just as the rickshaw miraculously weaves its way through bicycles, pedestrians, cattle and other on-coming rickshaws, so the conversation with the driver meanders through the usual questions about where you come from, your opinion of India until you get to the chase : a friend who imports sweaters from Kashmir, a cousin who has worked for Maharajas and can get you genuine Moghul miniatures. Last night our driver was called Prince “like the singer”, and justified his higher price of 75 rupees because he had pimped his ride. While most rickshaws are old and knackered, his was nacré. The white upholstery had a spectacular sheen that was best seen in the light of the blue neon garland that decked the rear window. The seats had been pushed forward slightly to make way for his ‘Massala Sound System’.
Udaipur is beautifully situated on Lake Pichola, on whose banks ladies in saris beat the dirt out of multi-coloured garments while small boats chug across to the Lake Palace, now an hotel, with supplies that will be sold to tourists at prices that represent hundreds of years’ wages for most of the inhabitants.
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