Udaipur, Friday, 27 January 2000
On this day I was wandering around in the big courtyard of the lake palace of the Marana of Udaipur. I tried to find a “point of view” with a perspective of the palace’s façade that would fit the format of my sketchbook. The second condition to the position was that I wanted a place to sit in the shade.
I ended up sitting on the wide stairs of what originally might have been the gardener’s cottage. Now it housed a souvenir shop from the Râjasthân emporium. Some tree with low and wide-spreading branches and large leaves provided shade and cool. Even I know the technical explanation for the coolness it still surprises me when I walk under a tree during a warm sunny day.
From this vantage point the façade of the palace with its countless turrets, alcoves and balconies appeared like lined up bundles of pencils. Trying to capture the sugar cake impression from this challenging perspective, I gave myself permission for some artistic license. The towers further away actually were taller which somehow contradicted the rules of perspective; usually, things get smaller towards the distance. Can’t stop being an ingeneer, can I?
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As soon as I started drawing a group of about eight Indian men gathered on the steps behind me looking over my shoulder and watched me draw. This was accompanied by a lively discussion in Hindi, which sounded to me like a melodic gaggling of geese. It must have been a topic of some importance because the speed and undulation of sound increased and sounded very determined. When I turned around and looked at them they stopped, pointed at my drawing, they smiled and nodded towards the palace, saying: “We can recognize what you are painting.” That filled me with some relief and somewhere also some pride. I am not a skilled painter and needed every offered support.
They engaged again in their vivid conversation; therefore I returned to my drawing and for some time I worked very engrossed. Of a sudden their chatter stopped, something must have happened. I looked up and saw a man approaching us with determined strides, a man with a mission. I thought he wanted to join the group so I carried on with my drawing and focussed at the palace again.
However, the continuing silence indicated something odd, unusual. Curiously, I raised my head and saw the man waiting about two meters away from me, outside my line of view towards the palace but now there was no way of missing him. Almost staring he looked straight at me, commanding my attention. He didn’t say a word and after a few moments, a bit irritated, I looked down at my pad trying to continue drawing but I had to look up again.
Once we had made eye contact, he stepped two strides towards me. In clear, well accentuated English he announced: “You will be back here within a year’s time, with your wife and she is 38 years old.” Just like that, short and clear-cut.
Slightly confused I uttered: “What?” He precisely repeated his sentence. “How do you know?” was all I could say. “I know”, was his reply. Without further ado, he turned around and walked away in his army-like stiff strides.
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I looked at the men behind me who had been all ears. With a silly grin wanting to ridicule the awkward situation, I asked: “How would he know such things?” The man who answered nodded seriously: “He knows.” Even I was quite bewildered I felt a strong sense of happiness and excitement. And then I completed the drawing.
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Now, how about that? Having returned home, the impression has faded and sometimes I even believe the whole story had been an imagination. But when I look at my sketch of the palace and my notes in my travel journey, it is there and I can’t deny: “A funny little incident it has been.”
And sometimes I catch myself calculating: When this happened I was 55. When I return I would be 56. Was she 38 at the time of the story or will she be 38 when we return? When will I meet her? But always the thought of returning with my partner fills me with joy.
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At the time of publishing this story on my website, 2019, almost twenty years have passed. I didn’t return to India and I didn’t meet her. So, what was this all about?
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written: Udaipur, Friday, 27 January 2000
published: 20 November 2019
A gallery of my photos from around the Udaipur Palace
Read the next story about miniature paintings
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