AJMER

The golden desert and sand dunes,

Folk songs and the sarangi tunes,

Buildings of red sandstone that thrived forever,

All this and more float in front of my eyes, when I think of Ajmer,

The ranges of Aravalli

And within them great treasures of history,

Land of "The Khwaja",

Close to the Pushkar of Brahma,

Adhai din ka jhonpda,

The sacred Dargah,

Fort of Taragarh,

Lake Anasagar,

The prestigious Mayo College,

A seat of knowledge,

Various sculptures,

Rajasthani armours,

Tall, handsome, rustic men riding bejewelled camels,

Covered in a myriad of colours, the kohl eyed damsels,

Huge colourful turbans,

A mixed culture of the rural and urban,

Women decked up in odhnis and borlas,

The magical dancing of the Kalbeliyas,

This is the Ajmer of my dreams,

A land where I have never been,

Studied about in books of history

And all Mughal and Rajputana stories.

©®Madhumita