Jaipur: It was amazing to find a city dressed up so beautifully for a cricket tournament.
Jaipur, famously called the Pink City, in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, has some of the most majestic and stunning palaces, rarely seen in any other part of the world. Every building has been illuminated as this tournament coincides with Diwali, India's festival of lights.
What is hard to believe in this Indian state are the spotlessly clean roads without any potholes.
Even the trees around the stadium are all illuminated and when I walked in to watch the Indian team practice on Thursday night, it seemed as if I was walking into a sea of light, especially with the four towering floodlights on and all the buildings around the stadium being lit up.
It transformed the whole area brighter than daylight.
"Jaipur's image as a tourist destination is bound to increase after this tournament. The government has decided to go full out to project this beautiful city through this tournament," remarked D.K. Shringi, a resident of Jaipur for three decades.
Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, which calls itself the "The Greatest Show on Earth". The huge banners welcoming people to Jaipur has Sachin Tendulkar waving his bat on completion of his world-record breaking century.
Although the weather is still hot here, residents say that by October the weather in this city usually turns cool.
"Jaipur has remained hot this time to make life difficult for the England players who are playing their first match against India," remarked a patriotic volunteer at the press box.
