This will not be such a long trip, as the last one. For one, it took place over a weekend. My wife, a friend and I went to this place about 250 km north of Jaipur. The area is called Mandawa. The region is hostile. Very little grows there and, about 150 to 160 years ago, members from several families, made their way to Delhi ( about 400 km away ), got on boats and sailed on the Yamuna River, across the width of the country, to Calcutta. Once they reached Calcutta, which is situated on the Hooghly distributary, they alighted. There, along what is called the Strand today, they set up their business. They started as wholesalers, with the office below the living quarters.

About forty years later, members of the family went back and set up these mansions made of limestone. And, had them painted inside out. Some of the paintings are classics. They then left them in the hands of caretakers, never to return. The caretakers live there today, and earn money by charging visitors entry fies.

You can also buy "antique" furniture in Mandawa. Ha! Ha! The furniture is made, and buried in the limey ground for a month, to give it an antique feel!

This region's history is not marked for the history of the kings, but it is known for the history of the merchants.

The merchants today? Their businesses boomed and, their descendants are now members of the largest business houses in India - the Birlas, Ruias, Singhanias, to name just a few of them. These descendants are, today, setting up the Indian multi national companies that are slowly spreading across the world.