HUMAN PLAY-NET

RAJASTHAN is already one of the most favoured tourism hubs, both among domestic travellers and visitors from abroad. But we will not stop at just that,” says an upbeat Rajasthan Minister for Tourism, Usha Punia, enlisting her priorities. “We want tourism in the state to scale new heights, and that is why the state government has accorded due importance to this sector. Budgetary allocation in the current financial year for tourism-related projects has doubled,” she says, with determination in her voice. A clear-cut approach by the government towards the development of tourism infrastructure is also reflected in its decision to facilitate the progress of some projects through public-private partnership basis. Some of the major projects identified for this arrangement in the current year include the Jal Mahal Tourism Project, the construction of an International Convention Centre and an International Golf Course Project (all at Jaipur), developing the Tejara Fort as a heritage resort and...

THE ambience around that great pipal tree where Buddhism was born…the piety in the air…the people inhabiting the land… I had been longing to see them all. So finally, one winter morning last year, I took time off, shoved my travel-ware into a bag and set out on a journey to discover the present-day Uruvela, the ancient name of Bodh Gaya . It was my own discovery… I decided to undertake a train journey, for that’s perhaps the best way to see India, in all its hues. As the train rolled off the noisy New Delhi railway station, I closed my eyes to focus on the saintly Prince who had wandered far and wide in search of the supreme peace for six long years. But it was Bodh Gaya that spelt culmination of his holy mission. As the night crept past and I gazed into its the darkness outside, I thought I saw the silhouette of a smiling Buddha…through the windows of the running train - now there…now not! The next morning I alighted at Gaya , the railway station nearest to the holy city, about 16...