Yesterday I went to see Bangalore palace with my wife. The entry fees was Rs. 200 for Indian adults. There was an ‘audio guide’ which was just an mp3 player that allowed to play tracks by selecting some numbers. There were altogether 21 tracks with a few sub-tracks. There was nothing much to see. Fees for still camera was Rs. 600 and for video camera it was 1250 (I felt bad about not having a new generation mobile camera phone as they have fixed fees for that at 250. Today most phones come with cameras that are much better than the standard digital cameras)
We completed the visit in about one hour. Once we came out, we saw the horse carriage ride. They were charging Rs. 100 per person for less than 5 minutes ride. Still I took ticket for 2 and we boarded the carriage. At the time of boarding, the coachman, an old man in shabby clothes, was begging for tips to the people who got down. They joked that “all our money got over after buying tickets from counter” and walked away.
While we were in cart, my wife asked if we could give him something. I had only Rs. 10 as change in my pocket. At first I thought what will he do with that money? He was covered in a blanket that was nothing less than rags. He had a beard and his face carried the features of a drunkard. Will he buy drinks with the money that I give him?
Well, when our 5 minutes drive got over, I found that he was not asking tips as he did last time. He was possibly humiliated enough by the behavior of last lot. My mind was still full of confusion. Gita talks about ‘patre dhana’. However, I decided to forget Gita for a moment. I gave him Rs. 10. Suddenly his face lit up. He held that close to his heart. His eyes turned towards me and they were filled with gratitude.
Till then I was thinking about the Wodeyars. The owners of that palace – A dynasty that stood with Britishers when Tippu fought against them, A dynasty which protected the dignity of their women by covering their face in ‘purda’ but adorned the walls of their palace with images of nude women, the king who claims that the palace is built from the profits of the trade by the royal family and not by the wealth of the people, a king who now uses a BMW with gandaberunda symbol on its front as his chariot when the man who was riding his old royal vehicle was covered in rags and begging for alms…
Well, I forgot all that by seeing the smile of the poor man. It was only his face that stayed in my mind when I was coming back.