Jaisalmer - "The Golden City"

Jaysalmer, nicknamed "The Golden City", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located 575 kilometres (357 mi) west from the state capital Jaipur. It was once known as Jaisalmer state. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples are finely sculptured. It lies in the heart of the Thar Desert and has a population of about 78,000. It is the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer District.

Origin of name

Jaisalmer is named after its founder Rao Jaisal Yadav. "Jaisalmer" means "the Hill Fort of Jaisal". Jaisalmer is sometimes called the "Golden City of India" because the yellow sand gives a yellowish-golden tinge to the city and its surrounding area.

Location

The district of JAISALMER is located within a rectangle lying between 26°.4’ –28°.23' North parallel and 69°.20'-72°.42' east meridians. It is the largest district of Rajasthan and one of the largest in the country. The breadth (East-West) of the district is 270 km and the length (North-South) is 186 km. On the present map, district Jaisalmer is bounded on the north by Bikaner, on the west & south-west by the Pakistani border, on the south by Barmer and Jodhpur, and on the east by Jodhpur and Bikaner Districts. The length of international border attached to District JAISALMER is 471 km.

History

The majority of the inhabitants of Jaisalmer are Bhatti Rajputs, renowned as warriors. This area was part of the Gurjar - Pratihara empire and until the 11th century was ruled by a powerful Bargujar King. Deoraj, a famous prince of the Bhatti family, is esteemed to be the real founder of the Jaisalmer dynasty, and with him the title of Rawal commenced. In A.D.1156 Rawal Jaisal, the sixth in succession from Deoraj, founded the fort and city of Jaisalmer, and made it his capital as he moved from his former capital at Lodhruva (which is situated about 15 km to the north-west of Jaisalmer). In A.D.1293, the Bhattis so enraged the emperor Ala-ud-din Khilji that his army captured and sacked the fort and city of Jaisalmer, so that for some time it was quite deserted. Some Bhatti's migrated to Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib in Distt. Nankana Sahib (Punjab, Pakistan) and others settled in Larkana (in Sind, Pakistan) under the name of Bhutto. In Nankana Sahib, the Bhatti Clan can be traced from the lineage of Rai Bhoe and Rai Bular Bhatti. After this there is nothing to record until the time of Rawal Sahal Singh, whose reign marks an epoch in the Bhatti history in that he acknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Jaisalmer princes had now arrived at the height of their power, but from this time till the accession of Rawal Mulraj in A.D.1762 the fortunes of the state rapidly declined, and most of its outlying provinces were lost. In A.D.1818, Mulraj entered into political relations with the British. Maharawal Salivahan, born in A.D.1887, succeeded to the chief ship in A.D.1891.

The Maharajas of Jaisalmer trace their lineage back to Jaitsimha, a ruler of the Bhatti Rajput clan. The major opponents of the Bhatti Rajputs were the powerful Rathor clans of Jodhpur and Bikaner. They used to fight battles for the possession of forts, waterholes or cattle. Jaisalmer was positioned strategically and was a halting point along a traditional trade route traversed by the camel caravans of Indian and Asian merchants. The route linked India to Central Asia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Africa and the West.

Medieval period

During the Islamic invasion of India, Jaisalmer escaped direct Muslim conquest due to its geographical situation in the desert region. The Rawals of Jaisalmer agreed to pay an annual tribute to the Delhi Sultans. The first siege of Jaisalmer occurred during the reign of Alauddin Khilji. It was provoked by Bhattis raid on a caravan filled with treasure. According to local ballads, the Bhattis defended the fort for seven years until the enemy army forced beached the ramparts. Bhattis, facing certain defeat, proclaimed the rite of Jauhar. Later, Sultan Ferozshah also sieged Jaisalmer after the rulers of Jaisalmer raided his camp at Anasagar lake near Ajmer. The siege led to another Jauhar. Jaitsimha's son Duda perished in the attack. Duda's descendants ruled over Jaisalmer for about two centuries. Duda's descendant Lunakarna had a fight with Humayun when the latter passed through Jaisalmer en route to Ajmer. Mughal emperor Akbar was married to one of the Jaisalmer princesses. Later, Jaisalmer was ruled by a noble called Sabala Simha, who won the patronage of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for services rendered in his Peshawar campaign.

 Princely Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer was one of the last states to sign a treaty with the British. During the British Raj, Jaisalmer was the seat of a princely state of the same name, ruled by the Bhatti clan of Rajputs. The present descendant is Brijraj Singh. Though the city is under the governance of the Government of India, a lot of welfare work is carried out by him and his family. The Royal Family still commands a lot of respect from the people.

  Traditionally, the main source of income was the levies on the caravans. However, the glory of Jaisalmer faded when Bombay emerged as a port and the sea trade replaced the traditional land routes.

 
The Partition of India in 1947 lead to closing of all the trade routes on the Indo-Pak border and rendered Jaisalmer a drought-prone desert backwater on the international border. Ironically, skirmishes between India and Pakistan gave Jaisalmer a strategic importance and made it serviceable as an army supply depot. Later, the Rajasthan Canal served to revive the surrounding desert areas. Roads and railroads were then built, knitting the hitherto remote town with the rest of Rajasthan. Later, the Government of Rajasthan decided to promote Jaisalmer as a tourist destination.

 Geography

Jaisalmer has an average elevation of 229 metres (751 ft). It is situated near the border of India and Pakistan in West Rajasthan, and covers an area of 5.1 km². The maximum summer temperature is around 41.6 °C (106.9 °F) while the minimum is 25 °C (77 °F). The maximum winter temperature is usually around 23.6 °C (74.5 °F) and the minimum is 7.9 °C (46.2 °F). The average rainfall is 150 millimeters (5.9 in). Jaisalmer is almost entirely a sandy waste, forming a part of the great Indian Thar Desert. The general aspect of the area is that of an interminable sea of sand hills, of all shapes and sizes, some rise to a height of 150 feet (46 m). Those in the west are covered with log bushes, those in the east with tufts of long grass. Water is scarce, and generally brackish, the average depth of the wells is said to be about 250 feet (76 m). There are no perennial streams, and only one small river, the Kakni, which, after flowing a distance of 28 metres (92 ft), spreads over a large surface of flat ground, and forms Lake Orjhil ("The Bhuj-Jheel"). The climate is dry and healthy. Throughout Jaisalmer only raincrops, such as bajra, jawar, motif, til, etc., are grown; spring crops of wheat, barley, etc., are very rare. Owing to the scant rainfall, irrigation is almost unknown.

 
Distances: Jaipur (558 km), Ahmedabad (626 km), Agra (802 km), New Delhi (864 km), Mumbai (1177 km).

Economy
Tourism is a major industry in Jaisalmer. The Government of India initiated departmental exploration for oil in 1955-56 in the Jaisalmer area. Oil India Limited discovered natural gas in 1988 in the Jaisalmer basin.


Musicians and dancers are also a major cultural export from Jaisalmer to the rest of the world. Manganyar musicians have played the world over, and Queen Harish, the dancing desert drag queen, is touring the world and has featured in international movies.

 

Jaisalmer is also known for its leather messenger bags, made from wild camels native to the area.

Transport

Jaisalmer is the terminus of a Broad gauge branch railway of Indian Railways, which joins with the main system at Jodhpur. The Palace on Wheels has a scheduled stop at Jaisalmer.

 

 

 

  Demographics

As of the 2001 India census, Jaisalmer had a population of 58,286. Males constitute 57% of the population and females 43%. Jaisalmer has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 73%, and female literacy is 50%. In Jaisalmer, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The main part of the population lead a wandering life, grazing their flocks and herds. Large herds of camels, horned cattle, sheep and goats are kept. The principal trade is in wool, ghee, camels, cattle and sheep. The chief imports are grain, sugar, foreign cloth, piece-goods. It suffered from famine in 1897, 1900 and other years, to such an extent that it has had to incur a heavy debt for extraordinary expenditure.
  
Tourism

While Jaisalmer may always have been remote, it is filled with many artistic structures and monuments of local historical importance. Jaisalmer's medieval mud fortress and walled township make it a popular tourist destination. The surrounding desolate landscape evidences a stark, austere beauty. Camel safaris through the nearby desert dunes are popular with tourists; competition for business is fierce. A few quiet days spent wandering around the town and the surrounding desert can be a wonderful way of unwinding from the chaos of larger Indian cities.

What taxation

W2, or the tax form is one document that gets shoved in between the grocery lists till it is the 11th hour. Come April 15th and everyone’s Facebook wall is filled with updates about how much they hate doing taxes. Frankly, filing for taxes is worse than doing laundry, a task so unchallenging that you postpone it till you run out of underwear and are compelled to wear mismatched socks. In one out of my four years of tax filing, I have actually missed the deadline. It is something that keeps sitting like a log in your work schedule and you never want to get started.


However, things get somewhat rosy once you are done with your taxes. As a student, you pay a meager amount as taxes and get most of it as returns. The same continues once you graduate from school but are still on OPT. Last year I actually made a trip to the North after getting my tax returns. This year I was hoping for something similar, wondering whether to go back again when I get tax returns. Things changed and I had to come back, which also meant I needed to finish my taxes a month before the deadline. It took me 2 days to find my W2 hidden in the hinterlands of somewhere and then another 2 days to figure out what I am supposed to do. I was still hoping I would make a small fortune from the tax return money and fund myself a trip for later when I realized with a broken heart that not just do I not get any refunds, but I owe the IRS some 1,000 bucks.

Don’t even ask me about the rationale behind it. Not that I was too interested in listening to the reasoning, given that I was left without a job, without any earning, without someone to fall back on, without any self-esteem, and without a trip. IRS could take all my money, all the social security taxes I paid and got no benefits in return, my savings, my ancestral property, and more if needed, and kiss my big you-know-what !!! No prizes for guessing, I was livid.

If only I could claim the sexy bartender I met at one of the bars as a dependent. If only I could claim buying a new car or a new house. If only I was dating an IRS gal. If only I had carefully saved those receipts of furniture donated to Goodwill. If only there were tax-deductible lay-off packages. If only I was retiring. Or getting myself a brand new wife. Or a job. The possibilities of saving on taxes seem endless now. If only ….

IIM Calcutta - what happened?

Life is full of what ifs.  The earth would not have moved of course, but it was one of the reasons I paid a visit to IIM C on the net through my friends a couple of days ago. That, and professional curiosity.

IIM Calcutta is the 'original' IIM. The first one that came into existence. And yet, despite its MIT lineage, the glorious headstart and impressive enough alumni network, it is now considered to be behind not just IIM A but IIM B. What happened?

Well, I can't provide a conclusive answer but here are a few quick impressions. I know IIM A background may be held against but in my defence I would like to point out I write about B schools and hence make it my business to gather first hand information about as many as possible.

Joka, here I come
The postal address of IIM C mentions 'Diamond harbour'. In the course of a 200 buck taxi ride from Howrah station, you get the full 'experience' of Calcutta. Past the amazing British zamaane ka buildings including the Governor's mansion and the India Government Mint.

Past trams, markets and streets and streets of grimy looking structures which look like they haven't been painted since 1947. The scenery does not improve until you reach the IIM C gate.

Inside, is the most beautiful holiday resort you can check into for two years. Yes, I heard of the 'lakes' but imagined they would be ponds. This is breathtaking.

So are the flowers. I'm told they bloom, all year round.









The whole atmosphere is friendly, not intimidating. I felt awe. I felt humble, insignificant.

In time, the maze of red brick buildings became more familiar and well loved than home. But a sense of this being a larger than life institution remained. That sense is missing at IIM C.

It may sound superficial to say that architecture can make so much of a difference in making or breaking a brand but it's true. When a newspaper has to choose a stock photo to go with any article on MBA, what does he or she do? 98 times out of 100 the photogenic IIM A makes it to print.

And with many other B schools from MDI to MICA also choosing the red brick look, it's more subliminal brownie points for Brand IIM A.

Looking deeper
IIM C grads themselves admit (and proudly so!) that the institute is extremely laidback. Not just in terms of atmosphere but academics. Even in term 1 only 75% attendance is mandatory. 

In contrast no one would dream of bunking in the early weeks at IIM A. Weeks which feel like 'Survivor' episodes although it's rare for anyone to actually get 'eliminated'. But everyone has a few of those nightmares....

IIM B was also laidback and less competitive. Except it was considered to be far far behind IIM C. It was, in fact, known as the 'public sector IIM' because that's where its grads generally got jobs.

Then, several things happened. A director who was earlier a faculty member at IIM A fiddled around and made the B program more 'tough'. More importantly, Bangalore's rise as an 'IT capital' saw its stock as a city zoom while Calcutta was stagnating. Placements at IIM B caught up with A and C to a large extent.

Then, circa 2000, a Business Today survey made IIM B the 'no 1' B school in the country. A ranking no one believed but had its shock value.

The next year, A regained its no 1 position but B was now ranked ahead of C in almost every survey. Yet, IIM C and its alumni remained complacent. 'Who believes these surveys anyways?' was their defence.

Which is true but a combination of all the above factors led to a 'tipping point'. Students who had the choice started opting for IIM B to C. Guided by buzz from seniors and advice from coaching institutes.

IIM B I would say there is a sense of forward movement, new ideas, new initiatives on that campus. The PGPSEM program - a 3 year part time course for software professionals is a big hit and will soon be extended to Hyderabad and Chennai. IIM C too has several executive programs but none is a brand name as such.

IIM B has set up an Incubation centre funded by Infosys' N S Raghavan, IIM C has a centre for entrepreneurship and innovation but it seems to be a far more armchair variety than hands-on.

Bangalore being a far more happening city also has an impact in terms of attracting faculty. The faculty list at IIM C is over 90% Bong. Now you can argue that is because Bengalis are one of the few communities naturally inclined towards academics. But the faculty at both IIM A and B is far more mixed.

So it does appear as if sentimental attachment towards Calcutta might be a deciding factor for an academic choosing to work at IIM C. And that very factor may put off others. A friend who taught at IIM C for some time found the city rather dead and oppressive.

That's changing, with Calcutta - and Bengal in general - now playing 'catch up' with the rest of India. But the Joka campus also needs to join that game.

Er, world class?

 Whatever the intellectual prowess of IIM C may be, some of the infra structure sucks big time. The hostels are shocking - ancient, lower middle class looking structures.The rooms are tiny- you can barely fit in one bed, and study table. The corridors are full of wooden racks where junta's underwears and banians hang to dry.

 Yeah, one of the hostels is 'co ed' (but there's a separate wing for girls - they don' actually have rooms next to each other). That one seems to have rooms with modest balconies. But the overall impression is 1960s, Marxist style living quarters. Peeling paint, rust, lack of maintenance.

IIM A dorms are, in contrast, far better. Even there, much needs to be done to upgrade the old campus housing upto the standards of the new campus. But at IIM C I think entire hostel blocks need to be demolished and rebuilt.

Meanwhile, adding a few modern amenities like a washing machine and mini fridge wouldn't hurt. To attract international students - as IIM C hopes to - these changes will be absolutely necessary!

Bottomline
I am sure had I joined IIM C I too would have fallen in love with the place, mosquitoes et al. I too would have fine memories of the 'Howrah Bridge', friends made, times shared etc etc.

I know a bunch of you are going to be quite upset by now... And that the average IIM C grad believes he or she is special, creative and different compared to the supposedly driven, structured and soulless types from IIM A.

But, to a dispassionate and outside eye, there is a lot that can and must be done to the campus. Rankings aside, IIM C needs to regain its clout, become a leader in certain chosen spheres. Right now it appears content to follow where others dare to tread.

A general upgradation of facilities across the board, all over India is in order. I think a tour of Infosys, Wipro and other such gleaming modern campuses should do much to inspire. On the other hand, civic sense needs to improve across the board among all Indians too. Without this, a gleaming, modern, new campus will quickly die of rot.

Well, i suppose the Marxist thoughts do flow over. After all , how long can a capitalist establishment remain without being affected by the unreasonable Marxist crap being talked outside the gates. The apathy has to carry over. Its not the IIM, Kolkata itself has that image of laidbackness, pointless arguments, apathy and gloom. 20 years of Marxism , nay more of Maoism rather than Marxism.

God Bless IIM C. In fact, I hope all IIM'S do well. Wish you success. (disclaimer: i am not an IIMian)

IIM's are so overhyped that people are not even ready to acknowledge the lack of adequate infrastructure. Someone commented on what difference would infra have for a potential B School aspirant. Well wait for another 5 -8 years when many top universities around the world come and establish their campuses ! Do you guys think they would provide the same facilities you have @ IIM- C ?

Why only look at the infra .all the IIM's should dig deeper into their dens and answer some basic questions like : In its so many years of existence why hasn't IIM's produced more than a handful of world class leaders as yet. Why are only most of the CEO's hailing from the Harvard's, and Wharton's of the world ? i guess something is terribly wrong with the system. Having said that I must accept the fact that most of the students who get into any IIM are very intelligent. But once they enter an IIM for most of them as someone rightly put it is a case of " I was born intelligent but education ruined me . "

These are the attitudes of the mind. I can't understand what the point u want to put forward. These sort of comparisons are for which kind of junta......U need not feel nervous as hell about IIM - C's tomorrow. Look at the horizon and its vast expanse, get absorbed by the feeling.

A quick example: IIM A starts a PGP X program (1 year MBA for execs with 7-15 years experience), IIM C follows a few months later. Does it matter who gets there first? Hell, it does!

Perception is reality when it comes to any kind of brand. And right now IIM C seems more slothful than swift. More content to rest on past laurels than carve out a vision for the future. It's time the institute and its alumni wake up and kick some serious butt.