Jaipur, the Pink City and the City of Palaces is also the City of Emeralds, Yellow and Blue Sapphires, Diamonds and other Gem Stones, which earn a sizeable revenue by being exported to many countries abroad.
I have visited Jaipur twice, on both the occasions to attend Educational Conferences. Jaipur is also a Centre of Education. The University of Jaipur is the first one in India to start post-graduate teaching and research in Adult Education with the help of Canada. My friend Asha Dixit is in that Department as a Faculty Member. The Rajasthan Adult Education Association is very active in organising literacy and adult education activities. Its monthly ’Anoupcharika’ is an excellent Hindi Journal on Adult Education. My very old friend Ramesh Thanvi edits it. When I was the Director of the State Resource Centre for Adult Education in Orissa, he was in Jaipur for the State of Rajasthan. Anil Bordia, who heads ’Lok Jumbish’ the SIDA aided Adult Education Organisation , is a former Education Secretary of the Government of India. An able Administrator, he is good at maintaining cordial human relations. His IAS wife Otima was the Central Finance Secretary. The Indian Institute of Health Management Research, a private institution, is doing excellent work in the field. My old friend, Professor J. C. Kavoori, is a Consultant there.
Jaipur means many things to many people, but for me it is a City of humble and friendly people, who can put you at ease when you are a stranger.