AMAZING AMDAVAD
Probably the only metro with 24 hour uninterrupted power supply!
Probably the only metro which has no traffic jams! Probably the only metro
which has no parking problems! Probably the only metro which has no water problems!
Probably the only metro where you don’t have to dig deep into your pocket to
pay rent deposit! Probably the only metro which has a split summer – mercury
level varying between 40 & 45 degree Celsius and remaining there for most
part of the day throughout from March to June and then you will experience
friendly mercury for the next 3 months from July to September. When the mercury
is between 30 & 35, it ought to be friendly, right!
As I landed in Ahmedabad on the 9th of May 2006, I was
grimly reminded of my friend’s words – it’s very hot in Ahmedabad. I felt as if
I was walking through a furnace. The heat waves slapped me. Within seconds I
was drenched to toe in sweat.
“…thoda age jao, theen rastha ayega….”, was the response on seeking
direction to a certain place. I was stunned. How can a single road become three
roads! I followed his direction still trying to figure out what he meant by
‘theen rastha’. After passing a few blocks, I was intercepted by an
intersection. I looked around, not
sure which way to pick. Again I sought the help of a passer-by. “aisa
karo, thoda age jao, chaar rastha ayega….”. Trust me, I never got to hear the
rest of what he said – my head began to swim. ‘theen rastha’ was probably a
mistake, I guessed. Either I had heard him wrong or I didn’t hear him right!
Either way, I found it funny and strange and couldn’t hold the lips together as
I helped myself to a hearty laugh. And now, ‘chaar rastha’!! Well, well, well,
something must be seriously wrong somewhere. Bemused and befuddled, I surged
ahead, searching for the ‘chaar rastha’. Suddenly I found myself facing yet
another intersection. Copy the BOLD & UNDERLINED words above, paste it here
and read. The passer-by with his face held high to avoid spilling what appeared
to be a watery & rainbowish liquid in his mouth said, “aghad javena, cho
rasttha aave chhe”. I didn’t understand a word of what he said as it was pure
Gujarathi. A Hindi speaking boy translated it in Hindi for me: “thoda age jao,
chhe rastha ayega”! I felt stupefied. Too stunned to react. Theen rastha, I
somehow reconciled myself to it. Chaar rastha, I resigned myself to it. Now,
Chhe Rastha – six road, it was too much. Theen, chaar & chhe!!! I was to
learn later that ‘theen rastha’ meant a junction with road spreading out to
three directions & likewise!! That is Ahmedabad for you. Or Amdavad – as it
is traditionally known here. Amazing, isn’t it?
The roads here are so wide and well maintained that you will enjoy
driving. From Bhuj to Valsad and from Bhavnagar India Gujarat can do
it, so can other states. The powers that be of other states would do well to
visit Gujarat instead of making trips abroad.
It would save exchequer a lot of money! Even the state highway running through
a remote place is better than the best of national highways elsewhere in the
country. Most of the roads are four-laned ensuring smooth flow of traffic. The
400 KM stretch between Ahmedabad and Porbandar is unbelievably good. And the
Expressway from Ahmedabad to Baroda Gujarat ,
they don’t tolerate bumpy roads. Well, mate, read on and you will know. On
another occasion, we went to a place called Dakor – a small town about 80 KMs
away from Ahmedabad. When we started the journey back from Dakor, it was well
past 8 at night. I dread driving at night and avoid it. Yet this time I had no
alternative but to drive at night. The road was so nice that I enjoyed every
bit of it despite my aversion to driving at night. You know why, the road – a
state highway – was wide and totally free of potholes or bumps making it a
pleasure drive, notwithstanding the oncoming vehicles with glaring headlights!
The edge of the road is so nicely smothered to coincide with the mud surface
that even if you happen to swerve to the mud surface, you hardly feel the
impact. Elsewhere in the country, the edge of the road would appear as if you
are standing on the edge of a cliff, making you fidgety and edgy! Amazing. Truly
amazing.
For people coming from elsewhere – particularly down south, sipping
a simmering hot cup of coffee on taking a stroll early in the morning is like
breathing in and out. And down south, you will see coffee stalls and people
clinging like bees, trying to find the slightest elbow room to maneuver
themselves to a position from where they hope to lay their hands on the elusive
cup of coffee. If it is coffee stalls down south, it is pan parlors here in
Ahmedabad. You will see people lined up before pan parlors - some busy ordering
their choice pan, some carefully placing a powdery material in a shapeless
plastic piece measuring about anything between 2 and 3 inches from one side to
the other and rubbing it vigorously on the palm for about 30 – 40 seconds
before carefully tapping it into a smallish container so that they can keep
chewing the powdery thing at their chosen time. No sooner do they wake up than
they make a dash to the nearest pan parlor! Amazing! Truly amazing!
You need to be very agile and athletic while walking on the
pavement. You also need to constantly keep an eye on the people walking in
front and on either side of you. You want to know why. There is every
possibility of any one of them or all of them or most of them slanting the head
across at any moment and spraying the brownish liquid in the mouth on the road
in jet speed. Now you understand the need to be agile and athletic! If you are
not, be prepared for a ‘pan-wash’. Or ‘pan-body-spray’ with ‘free-for-life’
label on it!! Add to that the ‘free-for-life-body-odor’ that will take the
breath out of you (pun intended)! The spray comes in two different styles – one
the jet speed kind (explained above), the other, an arc-like spray oozing out
of the mouth to splash across the surface that will remind you of the Hindu
mythology where upon the request of Bhishma lying on a bed of arrows, Arjuna
shoots an arrow into the earth and water springs out to quench Bhishma’s
thirst. The only difference is the movement – it is in reverse order. While it
is from earth to mouth in the latter it is mouth to earth in the former! You
will come across countless occasions where you see people skillfully pouring
the powdery thing even as they are driving on their two wheelers. The sight of
driver of a four wheeler suddenly slowing down and opening the front door a
fraction and doing-you-know-what are very common sight. Let me explain. They
simply empty the brownish liquid from their mouth on to the road! If you have
the habit of chasing the vehicles in front of you, then you need to rein in
your habit lest you might see your car getting a new coat of paint!! Amazing!
Incredibly amazing!
The people here live their life to the full. They love their food.
From roadside joints to luxury restaurants, you will see people lapping up
their favorites. The sandwiches, dhabelis, dalvadas, gothas, vada-paavs et al.
Add to this the dhoklas, kammans, shev – khamnis. They make you queue up to
these joints like a guided missile! My favorite among these is ‘daalvada’ – a
unique ‘nashto’ in the menu card. You will never find me saying ‘no’ to a plate
of ‘daalvada’!! I was scanning a menu card. One item caught my attention –
Jainwala Sandwich. Sandwich
sans garlic and onion is Jainwala sandwich, my friend enlightened me. Amazing!
Truly amazing!
The resilience of people of Gujarat
is admirable. To check this out, all you have to do is visit Bhuj. Does the
mention of Bhuj ring a bell? Yes, this was the town demolished by earthquake in
2001. When I went to Bhuj on a branch visit, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
There is absolutely no trace of the tragedy. Now it has almost turned into a
model town. Miraculous, truly miraculous!
Come October and the entire Gujarat
is on its feet to celebrate Navrathri Festival. And the intensity with which
they participate in religious functions is unbelievably touchy. You have to
witness it to believe the joy and pride with which they celebrate it. From a
five year old tiny tot to a sixty year old, you will find them dancing to the
lovely rhythmic tunes of Garbha melodies. The session starts as late as 10 at
night and goes on and on and on up until the early hours of morning!! With just
a half hour break for ‘nashto’ in between, the stamina of these participants in
indulging in this almost non-stop (except for the half-hour break) Garbha Dance
for about 5 to six hours night after night for nine continuous nights is simply
stunning. The climax is the ‘Dandiya Raas’. The Garbha session ends with
‘Dandiya Raas’ every night. The clucking sounds of the ‘dandiya’ played with
such clinical precision is so sweet on your ears that you would be willing to
swap your nine nights of sleep for watching it! It is worth it, mate. Surely.
And you might think that they would sleep the entire day. Not quite true. They
are up and away on to their routine life! Looking even more refreshing and
cheerful! Would you believe it? That is Amdavad for you – an amazing place!
Amdavad is no different from any other busy metros. The traffic
manners here are just as chaotic. But unlike other metros where such traffic
indiscipline renders movement of vehicles to a crawl, it is surprisingly smooth
courtesy wide roads, free left turn at every traffic signal and road divider.
Small wonder then that you can bet on covering a distance of 10 KMs in less
than 20 minutes even during rush hours! Amazing Amdavad, right?
In all of the 18 months of my stay in Amdavad, (at the time of
writing this) there was power failure on 3 to 4 occasions. Each power failure
lasted for about less than five minutes! Amdavad runs on Torrent Power – a
private company supplying ‘torrent’ial power!
We were taking an after-dinner walk. It was around 11 at night. A
lady in her teens breezed away on her two-wheeler, chatting animatedly on her
mobile unmindful of the time in such matter-of-factly fashion. We were shocked.
And surprised. Can you ever recall such scenes at any other major cities?
Whether a lady should be traveling at odd hours is irrelevant. The point is
they do so in Amdavad armed with the general feeling of ‘safety’ in their mind.
So very comforting.
At first I didn’t like Ahmedabad, what with mercury soaring so high,
sun seemingly hell bent on raining all its heat waves on people here. Next, I
began to like it. And now I have fallen in love with Amdavad. And with Dalvada.
Amazing Amdavad. Or shall we say, Amazing AMDA(L)VAD(A)!!
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