In Jaipur, all the fables you have heard about India, converge. It is the capital city of the state of Rajasthan in north-west India - a region mired in legends of warriors and kings, dotted with impregnable forts, and coloured by the flowing skirts of village girls who sashay past with pitchers on their heads.
 
In Jaipur however, the legends take on a cosmopolitan hue, and a curious past effortlessly flows into a modish present. Here, you could walk down the ramparts of a massive, abandoned fortress, and be hosted in the elegant living rooms of the present generation of royalty; bargain for trinkets in narrow by-lanes, and select fine silver and silks in air-conditioned comfort. Here, you can hire a Mercedes-Benz and watch a game of polo; sip a single-malt and be enthralled by the dizzying swirls of a kalbelia dancer.