As we are all set to enter the new year, let’s go down the memory lane and reminisce all that happened in pink city in 2013 🙂
Jolly January
The year 2013 began on a positive and clean note when Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Jaipur for Chintan Shivir. Even though the motive was to ‘connect’ with the urban middle class, Jaipur got a great deal as the entire city was spick and span, a view that we hardly get to see 😀
At the same time, there was one thing that sure was loved by us; Inauguration of Ghat ki Ghuni tunnel in Jaipur by Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi on January 19th. This 2.8-km long tunnel in Jaipur offers an alternative route to connect Pink City with Agra. The tunnel has sensors for controlling air pollution, display boards and cameras for checking vehicles’ speed !
Jaipur Lit Fest, Asia’s leading literature event that happens every year in Jaipur was this time graced by the great Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who came and enlightened us with his knowledge and superb wisdom.
Classy February
Royalty, class and pride, hail the Indian army !! The civilians of Jaipur got a golden chance to witness the 61st Cavalry’s annual parade, an elaborate cavalry drill organized by the army for the first time in the history of pink city.
This took place in Rambagh Polo Ground where 130 officers; sardars and sawars dressed in ceremonial outfits were seen mounting the well groomed horses. But of course the audience was seen behind the cameras clicking pictures like there would be no tomorrow to those precious moments 😀
Merry March
The pleasant march came with something that is close to all our hearts: luxury and cars. The 15th Edition Vintage and Classic Car Rally was held and people were seen mesmerized as it included rare cars like a 1923 Austin 7 Chummy, 1956 Thunderbird and a 1941 Packard that happened to be the first AC car that greeted the visitors at Hotel Jai Mahal Palace.
March came with a little hitch though. The much acclaimed Elephant festival this year was a little disappointment for the tourists as the major highlight “Elephants” were missing due to the ban by Government.
Exciting April
Our very own Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur proudly and gladly welcomed its first match of IPL Season-6 between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. Jaipur was seen overjoyed as the cricket freaks for whom cricket is more of a religion, could show their love by screaming and jumping in the stadium seeing their own team play.
With this, Jaipur also got a taste of Kingfisher beerup !! The famous Kingfisher Beerup event that happens every year, for the first time was also experienced in pink city.
Beer games combined with live screening of IPL, lots of food, dance, music and Jaipur blasted with endless masti. It was organised at The Forresta Kitchen & Bar and encashed really well on social media with the twitter world buzzing with hastag KFBeerup.
May dismay
As the summers were on the peak, every creature had their own way to deal with it. In an unusual incident, while two Italian tourists were having a happy elephant ride in Jaipur, the elephant decided to jump in the Maota Lake below the Amber fort to escape the terrible heat !!
Scorching June
The super hot June came with the sight of the largest Supermoon of the year!! Coined by astrologer Richard Nolle, the term “supermoon” means a bigger and brighter full moon. Many Jaipurites clicked and sent their pictures of Supermoon to Jaipur Beat.
In this glorious month, our historic beloved Amber fort made it to the UNESCO’s world heritage list in the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee. A proud moment that was 🙂
Progressive July
Bidding goodbye to summers, came July with some relief from the heat !! Along with this, The Jaipur International Airport also bid farewell to its international terminal, Terminal 1 and all the domestic and international flights to and fro are now taken care of by the Terminal 2 😀
Jaipur created its own textile park called ‘Jaipur Integrated TEXCRAFT Park Pvt. Ltd.’ The Park has been created to prevent and control the pollution caused in Sanganer and nearby areas due to the chemical disposition from dyeing and painting of clothes in a large scale in the area.
A two-day weekend festival called ‘Jaipur by Nite’ was held to promote Jaipur as an all-year destination. The colorful event saw the main historical monuments all decorated and the famous bazaars situated within the city walls were open till late night.
Included in the itinerary were two cultural evenings showcasing live music, fashion show, sound and light show, shopping, food and drinks at the City Palace and Hotel Clarks Amer.
The happening August
As the rain showered Jaipur, the Teej celebrations filled the pink city with joy and Jawahar Kala Kendra pepped up with a lot of folk dancers performing to this cheerful festival !!
Apart from these celebrations, there was one more thing that was seen rising and rising high: the onion prices. This was followed by a weird incident where an onion laden truck was robbed by a group of three armed men at Shahpura village on Jaipur-Delhi highway, believe it or not !!
In this month itself, one of the best schools of Jaipur; Maharani Gayatri Devi (M.G.D.) Girls school, that changed the way of girls’ education and took it to a new level, completed its 70 years.
Run September
With a lot of noise and excitement came chugging the Jaipur Metro with its first trial run on September 18 that was done between Mansarovar and Shyamnagar stations. The metro when it begins will hopefully ease off a lot of traffic issues and transport facilities in the pink city.
Along with this, to the delight of Jaipurites, started a tourist bus service namely ‘Hop on Hop off’ connecting all major tourist spots and market places of Jaipur.
Sporty October
Even though we love October for a plenty of reasons, this time it was for Indian cricket and the great wall of India. Yes, you got it right ! The gentleman of Indian cricket and then skipper of Rajasthan Royals, Rahul Dravid, retired after winning every match that he played in the S.M.S Stadium, Jaipur in 2013.
Moreover, in the ODI series of India vs Australia, Jaipur became the city to host India’s biggest ODI victory so far against the Kangaroos 😀 India recorded its highest successful run chase in this match scoring a 362 against 359 by Aussies with 9 wickets and 39 balls remaining.
Sweet November
As the cold winds entered the domains of Jaipur, it celebrated 286 years of its foundation on November 18 with a lot of dhoom-dhaam !!
This time, Jaipur hosted its first Art Summit at Jawahar Kala Kendra 😀 It was a true pleasure to watch the royal Rajasthan’s art being expressed in the forms of canvas, visual and digital art, sculptures, interactive art and other contemporary and folk-centric expressions.
For the first time ever, Jaipur hosted an electric concert ‘Rahmanishq’ by none other than the Oscar winning and soul touching music maestro A.R. Rahman, who came and sizzled the city with his voice.
Chilly December
Like it is said ‘Last but not the least’, this year December was surely the month that changed everything for the pink city. Rajasthan State Assembly Elections were held on 1st December with a voter turnout of approx. 74%, that was the highest ever for the state. With clear majority, BJP won the elections and Vasundhara Raje replaced Ashok Gehlot as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
Along with the new CM, came vrooming into our lives the brand that defines what bikes are all about; Harley-Davidson. Harley opened its first showroom in Jaipur at Sahakar Marg, while the owners celebrated it with a huge launch party and a rally of bikes.
After an eventful 2013, just hold your breath and get set for another year, that is about to begin !!
