Midway Street Food Plaza. Cube Stop.

 Midway Street-Food Plaza. Cube Stop.

We were going by car on a couple of-days trip to Bargi Dam and Bhedaghat, Jabalpur. 

We started from Nagpur at about 0830. After around two and a half hours of driving, at Mohagaon, saw a board with a fork and spoon logo announcing a restaurant. It was Midway Street Food Plaza. Cube Stop.

Stopped there for breakfast. It was a nice, recently built, at least not too old, building within clean and well-maintained grounds. 

Inside, the ambience was good, plenty of natural light and nice cross ventilation. 

Washrooms were clean and well-maintained. This being a necessity for highway travellers going long distances. One reason why it was written first, even before the food 😅

The Breakfast  Menu had wide choices. We ordered Idli, Wada, Dosa with accompaniments, meaning sambar, coconut and red chutney 😊

All the items were freshly made, hot and tasty, and served within a reasonable time. Filter coffee was good

The staff was courteous and polite, and appeared to believe in the motto "service with a Smile". 

On an enquiry, we were told that the grounds for the restaurant were provided by the MP Government to the promoter company, The Highway Food Co. 

Apparently, the MP Government, to promote tourism and for the convenience of travellers, is providing such parcels of land on all the major highways within the state. One of the terms and conditions must be that the operating company maintain a decent environment and nice food.

In this particular case, both the promoter company as well as the MP government have succeeded admirably.

Good "Breakfast-Halt" experience on a highway - Cube Stop. Midway Street Food Plaza. 

Midway Street. Cube Stop.

Stopped here for breakfast.

Midway Street Food Plaza. Cube Stop.

Stopped here for breakfast.

Dining Hall ambience.

 Midway Street. Cube Stop.

Stopped here for breakfast.

Midway Street. Cube Stop.

Stopped here for breakfast.

Midway Street. Cube Stop.

Stopped here for breakfast.

Midway Street. Cube Stop.

Stopped here for breakfast.

A nice breakfast at Cube stop.

MPT Marbal Rocks, Bhedaghat. Hotel and Restaurant.

MPT Marbal Rocks, Bhedaghat. 

Hotel and Restaurant.

Good location, on the bank of the Narmada River with a good view of the lush green forests and forested slopes. From one point of the hotel, the river portion where the Marbal Rock boat ride is done is also visible. 

Garden, plants and lawns are well maintained.

We had booked tented accommodation. Spacious and comfortable, the Dressing room and bathroom have proper brick walls, but the roof is tented.

The staff was polite. The aim of the staff, as told by one of the staff, was "customers should be made happy", and all of them seemed to follow this dictum; as a result, the service was excellent.

The food was tasty.

Good and enjoyable stay.

Out tent. 303.

The Rooms. 

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.o

oms. edaghat, Hoteand Resort

Garden, Children's corner on the left dining Hall.

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

Places of Interest info board.

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

Places of Interest info board. MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

View from outside our tent. Dense and Lush Green forests

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

View from outside our tent. MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

View from outside our tent. Infinity swimming pool amidst the Forest.

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

iew from outside our tent. MPT Marble ocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

Selfie at the swimming pool.

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

View from outside our tent. Captivating, lush green forest 

and the valley of the marble rocks.

Infinity Swimming Pool and dense forests as far as the eye can see 

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

 MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resor

Lawns, Gardens and well-maintained Grounds,

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

Entry to Gift Shop and Restaurant

MPT Marble Rocks Hotel & Resort 

Restaurant entry. MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort

Reception cum Tourist Information Centre, 

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

MPT Marble Rocks, Bhedaghat, Hotel and Resort.

Breakfast at Marble Rocks Bhedaghat.

View of Part of the Narmada River and the route of 

The Marble Rocks Boat Ride, 

Seen from MPT Marble Rocks Resort.

Tents 301 to 303. 303 closest.

Tent Numbers 301 to 303. 301 furthest, our tent, 303 closest.

View of Part of the Narmada River and Marble Rocks Boat Ride, Seen from MPT Marble Rocks.

MPT Marble Rocks at night.

TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part Three.Final Part.

TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part Three.Final Part.

I had written the blog series Travails of Toothlessness between August and November 2007.

I was 58 then and had just lost all my teeth with the extraction of the last tooth.
Even though I published the blog, I was not very happy.
I have redone it, and the revised edition of the 2007 Blog is being published now.
TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part One.
Part one covered my experiences about how I lost all my teeth over a period of 7 odd years.
TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part Two.
Part one dealt with how one's speech is affected and other incidental changes that occur after the loss of teeth

TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part Three, The last part.

Look at the extracted tooth; the root portion embedded in the gums is almost twice the size of the visible tooth. In some cases, as long as one cm. A wound a cm deep in the gum is not a laughing matter. You look at your jaw line, look at the root portion embedded in the gums, and you wonder and marvel at the fact that how 32 teeth were fitted so tightly in such a limited space of the jaw. God is great.
After the last tooth is extracted, the mouth is full of 32 wounded gums. Some wounds have healed, some are almost healed, while the recent ones are raw and painful. The healing takes time. Dentest give about a month to a month and a half before they call you for fitting the dentures.
That one month or a month and a half is full of challenges.
The diet of necessity turns liquidy. Breakfast is invariably porridge or such similar item. For lunch and dinner, Chapaties are put through the mixture grinder, the output is mixed with dal/vegetables and mashed by hand till you get a homogeneous slurry. Rice is not put through the grinder but given similar treatment till similar results are obtained. Then you more or less drink your lunch and dinner. All this for a month and a half. Thank God you have to go through such an experience only once in your life 😉
The dietary challenge is in addition to the challenges of a toothless, collapsed face, impairment in speech and saliva spray due to a few missing front teeth, though embarrassing, no doubt, but these are minor embarrassments and challenges compared to what is yet to come.
The biggest challenge during this period of a month and a half, between the last extraction and fitting of dentures, is totally unexpected and hits you out of the blue.
What happens is nature's response to all those wounded gums that need something to keep them infection-free and also help in the healing process. To do this body produces saliva. As we all know, Saliva, or spit, is a watery fluid made by glands in your mouth, mostly water (99%) but also containing proteins, enzymes, and minerals that moisten food for chewing/swallowing, begin digestion (starches), fight germs, neutralise acids, protect teeth, and help with taste and speech. In this case output of saliva increases manyfold to keep the gums almost submerged.
For this period, during which your gums heal fully, most of the time, your mouth is full of saliva.
The saliva quantity has to be controlled by occasional swallowing. A sort of suction has to be created before you open your mouth so that this excess saliva does not overflow.
However, in moments of carelessness, you DROOL !!!
If you are lucky, this can be when you are alone and if not so lucky, when in company. Unfortunately, this happens often as you have never experienced such excess saliva before in your life.
In those moments, you wish the earth to open up and you to vanish in that chasm!
Reminds one of the infant stage when such drooling could not be controlled, and one had to use a bib to protect the clothing and maintain hygiene!
It is for nothing that old age is compared to and is called "second childhood "!
After a month and a half, the gums are fully healed, and you visit the dentist. A mould is prepared. Another three or four days and you return to the dentist. You are fitted with dentures.
When you leave the dentist this time, in your mouth, you again have 32 teeth. These are no match to God given pearlies but you thank your stars and the technology because something is better than nothing.
Dentures are better than toothlessness 😁

Umed Bhavan Palace, Jodhpur.

 Umed Bhavan Palace, Jodhpur.

The year 2002.

Priti and I, just the two of us, were going from Delhi to Nagpur via Rajasthan, in our Maruti Car.  We visited Ume Bahavan Palace on 24 Jan 2002.

On our way to Umed Bhavan Palace, we did not see much traffic. In the final stretch, when we started climbing, our car was the only vehicle on the road. 

We reached the central courtyard of Umed Bhavan Palace. We were directed to the parking lot by a very imposing personality with an impressive moustache and a finely attired Rajput gentleman. After parking the car, we entered the central Hall. We were very politely asked whether we had reservations. When we told them that we had come to visit the Umed Bhavan Palace Museum, we were informed that we were in the Taj-Umed Bhavan Palace Hotel. The Taj staff then directed us to the Museum part of Umed Bhavan Palace.

The present generation of the Royal family still occupies part of the Umed Bhavan. Part was given to establish the museum, the remaining portion was taken over by the Tata group, who operated the Taj- Umed Bhavn 

The museum itself was not crowded. We went around the museum, looking at the artefacts on display. It was all very peaceful and quiet. We could take our time to view all the items on display.

 After seeing the museum, we again entered the Taj, reclaimed our car, and left with unforgettable memories of the grandest and the biggest private residence of an individual in the world, the  Umed Bhavan Palace. 

We had a colour camera with a colour roll with only 36 exposures. Took only two photos at that time. They are given here before the digital photos taken during the 2025 trip.

Fast forward to 2025.

Plenty of traffic all over Jodhpur. Halfway up the final stretch to Umed Bhavan, our taxi took the left bifurcation in the road and reached the tourist parking area, which was already full. Our driver offloaded us and went in search of a parking place. Purchased an entry ticket and after making payment took a guide ti guide us through the museum. The museum was full of tourists. Noise level was high, and our guide had to really raise his voice to make himself heard. Could not spend much time in front of the exhibits, as another guide with his group was urging us to make room for his group. In a way, we were pushed along the museum due to the pressure of the crowd and completed the round of the museum. 

What a difference between our visit of 2002 and 2025.

Umed Bhavan was the same Museum was the same but the joy and pleasure of seeing such a magnificent sight and the priceless artefacts were not at all the same. 

Greatly disappointed.

Umed Bhavan Palace 2002.

Umed Bhavan Palace 2002.

The painting "Rajputs In Battle With Mughals". 

It shows Rajput forces, led by Durgadas Rathore on a white horse, fighting against the Mughals, with the Mehrangarh Fort visible in the background. 

Painted by  Polish artist Stefan Norblin in the 1940s. 

Umed Bhavan main Visitors hall.

The painting.  The Triumphant Return of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman to Ayodhya from Lanka,

Painted by  Polish artist Stefan Norblin in the 1944 and 1946.  

It is located in the Royal Throne Room of the Umaid Bhawan Palace.

Text of this photo is given below.

Welcome To

Umaid Bhawan Palace

Home to HH Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur - Marwar

Umaid Bhawan Palace, last of India's great palaces and one of the largest in the world, was commissioned by Maharaja Umaid Singh (1918 1947) on Chittar Hill, southeast of the city hetween 1929 and 1944. Named after him, the palace is today the home of his grandson, Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur-Marwar and in part a luxury Hotel of immense grandeur

Built as a drought relief measure amongst many other Public buildings Dams, roads and schools, the Palace construction generated employment for over three thousand people for fifteen years at a total cost of Rupees 94,51,565.

Designed by Henry Vaughan Lanchester, a renowned Edwardian architect, the Palace integrates many Indian architectural styles still imbuing Rajput traditions.

This magnificent edifice with Three Hundred and Forty Seven rooms is one of world's largest private residences. Converted to a hotel in 1978, the Palace was thrown open to the public at large as a residential hotel. The private museum attached to the Palace contains a special exhibition on Maharaja Umaid Singh and making of Umaid Bhawan Palace

'The Life Style Gallery' recalls life in the Palace in the 40's and 50's with displays of Art Deco furniture, dining and writing sets and a special Sporting Section.

The Legacy Continues Gallery is dedicated to the present Royal Family and their interests and preoccupations.

A superb collection of antique clocks rounds off a memorable experience

In praise of the Monarch, a Plaque in the museum,

 The text of this photo, unfortunately, some parts are not legible, is given below.

Maharaja Umed Singh 

'The Monarch'

There is about Maharaja Umaid Singh something uniquely exciting, an extravagance of vision, power not only to dream but even to realise, in many ways, albeit on a smaller scale. not unlike that of the Mughals. He enjoyed polo. So he took his ..... team to England with an army of ponies and syces and Jodhpur emerged a world polo power. He loved flying so the Jodhpur Aerodrome became an international airport  (connecting) Delhi, with three trans-continental airlines stopping here

This family which which suaves many a modern day develoment project, gave rise to one of the largest and mest magnificent royal residences in the world and a dam that remained, half a century later, Jodhpur's main source of water.

Yet there was in him an astonishing simplicity, a grace he was born with and carried always, whether playing polo at Hurlingham or big-game hunting in Africa, salmon-fishing in Scotland or foxing at his sumptuous estate "Arranmore" in Otcumond (South India ). Feted in the most fashionable of salons the world over, he was as Chief Scout of the Marwar State Scouts Association, equally at home at a boy scout's camp on the dusty grounds of his palace! It was this simplicity and humility, together with his stature and style, that earned for the thirty-sixth Rathore ruler of Marwar the nickname "The Monarch" And it was always used with affection and respect

Scale model of Umed Bhavan Palace on display in the Place Museum.

View of Jodhpur from Umed Bhavan Palace.

View of Jodhpur from Umed Bhavan Palace.

View of Jodhpur from Umed Bhavan Palace.

View of Jodhpur from Umed Bhavan Palace.

On the Rocks, Jodhpur.

On the Rocks, Jodhpur. 

Anuj loves food. 

When visiting new places, when 'googling', along with places of attractions, etc, he also googles for 'best chaat in ( place to be visited)', etc.

Another good source is the driver of the local taxi you have hired for the duration of the trip.

From these sources, for Jodhpur, we got Shahi for Samosa, Surya for Kaochri, Chaturbhuj for Gulabjamun, Janta for Ghaver, Gypsy for Rajasthani Thali, and On the Rocks for Lal Mas (Red Mutton). 

Believe you me, we tried everything, and it seemed that the sources were not lying. 

Now it was the turn of  'On the Rocks'  for Lal Mas.

Located in a single-story block of about 10 odd shops with a frontage of only about 10 feet, sandwiched between Kanchhi Jewellers and GS Art and Craft shops,  'On the Rocks' did not look impressive at all. Looks were deceptive. Like an iceberg, it showed much less than what it hid. 

Once you enter, first sight to greet you is an impressive artificial 10 odd feet waterfall from the wall built of big rough rock blocks. The  Pintails, the Red Stone Cafe, and the Tipsy Buffalo Bar, in fact, the whole place is built using only big blocks of rock. Maybe the reason for its name. 

Thereafter, the property is fairly large. An open courtyard large enough to accommodate 15 to 20 tables, accommodating four diners. It serves as an open-air dining hall. There are a large number of huge 20 years plus- old trees and other plants and giving shade and a very good, close-to-nature ambience to this open-air dining hall. Sounds of bird calls and Chirping of birds further added to this close-to-nature feel. Only after a little while, you realise that these bird sounds are recordings. Lowering the volume may extend the make-believe close to nature feel. 

During the time of our visit, mid-November, it was very pleasant, and we decided to enjoy our lal-mas in the open dining hall.  

For starters, we had Mixed Non-Veg Platter and Bruschetta. For the meal we had, Jeera Rice, Tandoor Roti, Dal Tadka, Chicken Curry, and of course the Lal Mas. 

The starters were quite good, and so was the rest of the food. Lal- Mas deserved and stood up to its fame. 

 The service was good.

                                                       On the Rocks, Kaya, still in her photo shoot dress.                                                                                                                                                           

Kaya, her photo-shoot dress.at On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

The waterfall. On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

The Water Fall. On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

Indoor dining hall.

Tipsy Buffalo, the bar. On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

Open air dining hall, On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

Open air dining hall, On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

Bruschetta. On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

Mixed Non Veg Platter. 

Dal Tadka and Chicken. On the Rocks. Jodhpur.

The Lal mas, 

Tandori Roti

Jeera Rice.