Good morning friends.  It’s good to hear that one International School will set to enter Gujarat.  Many parents will be glad as they can enroll their kids to a good school.

Podar International School is all set to enter Gujarat by opening a school in Ahmedabad from the beginning of academic year in June 2010.

The school will open in Chandkheda and offer both CBSE as well as Cambridge curriculum.

Talking to TOI on Tuesday, Podar Education and Sports Trust president Swati Popat said, “Apart from Ahmedabad, Podar International School will be opening in Bangalore, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Jalgaon, and Karad in June 2010. It is our mission to take quality education to towns and cities where students do not have easy access to it.”

The trust’s joint managing director Harsh Kodar pointed that all their 27 schools educate 40,000 students annually and are consistently rated as the best school both locally as well as nationwide. He said, “We hope to do the same in Ahmedabad with state-of-the-art IT techniques and infrastructure.”

After establishing itself successfully in various cities of Maharashtra including Nashik, Jalna, Aurangabad, Pimpri, Chinchwad, Ambegaon, Chakan, Kalyan and Nerul, Podar Education and Sports Trust had opened a school in Karnataka last year. – The Times of India

 On 6th December 1992, Babri Masjid for demolished by thousands of Hindu fanatics, and Muslims throughout the world express their grief and observe martyrdom of the mosque.

Ahmedabad/ Surat : While Justice Liberhan may have submitted his report 17 years late, an inquiry commission for the 1992 riots that broke out in Surat in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition was terminated in 1997 because it sought several extensions. And while a human rights group challenged the decision in court, this attempt failed to revive the commission.

Though the official death toll in the Surat riots stands at 152, many went missing, and property worth crores was damaged, no one has been held accountable. Lawyer-turned-BJP MLA Atmaram Parmar who defended the accused in the riots admits that there has not even been one conviction in cases of arson, rape and murder that are comparable to the 2002 riots in the state.

Incidentally, Shankersinh Vaghela, who as the chief minister in 1997 ordered the termination of the state inquiry commission, is the lone Congress leader to be indicted by the Liberhan Commission for his role in inciting the post-Babri Masjid demolition riots.

The ill-fated inquiry commission was ordered by Chimanbhai Patel’s Congress government two months after the Surat riots. It was initially headed by Justice (retd) I C Bhatt, but when he was appointed as the Lokayukta in 1995-96, Justice P M Chauhan replaced him.

Incidentally, it was on the issue of the Ayodhya rath yatra that Chimanbhai Patel’s support shifted from the BJP to Congress. Patel, heading the Janata Dal-Gujarat, became the chief minister with the BJP’s support in 1990 but the coalition fell apart on the issue of support to L K Advani’s rath yatra which began from Somnath in Gujarat. By 1992, Chimanbhai Patel emerged as a Congress chief minister after merging the Janata Dal-Gujarat with the party.

Further political ironies were to play out. Vaghela was the state BJP president when the riots broke out in 1992-93, but he went on to engineer a split in the party and toppled the Suresh Mehta-led BJP government in 1995. He then formed the government with the support of the Congress in October 1996. It was in 1997 that he ordered the termination of the inquiry commission, just when the final report was being dictated.

“I am strongly against giving extensions to the inquiry commissions as they become an instrument of getting various allowances only. And so, I ordered the termination of the Chauhan Commission when it did not meet the deadline,” says Vaghela.

While Vaghela’s decision to terminate the commission was challenged in the Gujarat High Court by a human rights group, Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), the division bench of the HC dismissed the petition saying that the state government has the power to terminate the inquiry commission. Mukul Sinha of JSM said that the HC decision was challenged in the Supreme Court but it “did not entertain the petition at the relevant time.”

The outcome is that the findings of the commission report may never be known. Justice Chauhan refuses to comment on it and the survivors — especially women and children who were raped and lost their entire families — are reluctant to recall the trauma they went through.

The only candid admission comes surprisingly from BJP MLA, Atmaram Parmar, who defended those accused in the riots’ cases “To the best of my knowledge not a single person had been convicted in any case of 1992 riots.”

-By Parimal Dabhi
Source: The Indian Express, Dec 17, 2009

——TOP

Gujarat has made voting compulsory in local polls, and Himachal Pradesh is keen to emulate the model :

Modi says the new Act will help increase voter turnout and will take away black money and huge spending in elections. ”Until now, voters were affiliated to a candidate, caste or party. This bill gives a chance for the neutral voters to participate in the democratic process,” said Modi.

But if a person fails to do vote he or she will be served a notice and will have to furnish a valid reason within 30 days of the notice being served. If the reply is not satisfactory, he or she could be declared a defaulter.

I’m filing this post under the ‘Stuff the government does it shouldn’t be doing’ category. This idea sounds all good and noble, but the government really has no business enforcing voting. I won’t talk about liberty; instead, my reason is : the government is not your mummy-pappa to make you a good or responsible person. If you smoke, you very well know it’s consequences as a responsible adult so the government shouldn’t play moral police. Likewise, for voting. I have seen a few posts around the blogosphere welcoming this move and therein lies another fundamental problem : We do not know why a government is in place. In the guise of doing something seemingly well-intentioned, the government is now involved is much more (warranting a separate category at this blog — at the very least). It can be argued that the need for wise voting and its underlying cause — electing good representatives — will partially be eliminated if the government performs just its minimalistic functions.

The ceramic hub of Morbi-Than was on the verge of closure since the last quarter of 2008. But as of November 2009, as many as 45 new units have come up or are about to start production. Besides the strong domestic market, the withdrawal of various incentives by the Chinese government to its domestic industries has been a boost for the over 500-odd ceramic units here, which account for 60 per cent of India’s ceramic production.

Karshan Adroja, the president of Morbi Tiles Manufacturing Association, said, “Fuelled by domestic and international demands, the ceramic industry has been improving after a bad year.”

The subsidies by Beijing had put the Indian manufacturers in direct competition with their Chinese counterparts on the price factor in the international market. But now, the export figures since the beginning of the second quarter has touched a new high – it is more than double compared to last year.

[http://videosfromindia.smashits.com/view/4866/gujarat-fast-emerging-as-hub-for-ceramic-industry]
The ceramic industry of Gujarat is fast carving out a place for itself not only in India but also across the globe for its world class porcelain and allied products. Morbi, a prominent town of Gujarat, of late is fast making its place on the world map as the new hub of ceramic products. The industry here comprises more than 300 ceramic and vitrified tile units. Apart from their own production, these units cater to the requirements of many renowned companies.

No one can escape the social responsibilities now.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarat-to-make-voting-mandatory-in-local-bodies/articleshow/5341971.cms

Dattatreya was India’s first Guru in the tradition of the Nath Sampradaya to which other famous gurus like Gorakhnath and Matsyendranath also belonged. Dattatreya was the first among these Naths and undoubtedly the greatest too. The story of the birth of Dattatreya is well known in Indian culture. Dattatreya is worshipped all over India and also in Tibet and Nepal.

Dattatreya was born to Sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. Anasuya was the ideal of perfect wifehood. Her pati-vrata (devotion to her husband) was envied by Sarasvati, Lakshmi and Parvati, the consorts of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. They envied Anasuya because everyone in the world considered Anasuya to be the most dutiful wife, while each of these three ladies considered themselves to be the most dutiful of all wives. Filled with jealousy, they coaxed their husbands to be participants in a ploy to set Anasuya up in a situation where she would be forced to choose between being unfaithful to her husband or be the cause for Atri and herself to be subject to a terrible curse.

Brahma, Vishnu and Siva dressed up as wandering mendicants and approached Atri’s hermitage while he was out performing his daily prayers at the river. They approached Anasuya with their begging bowls in their hand and expressed their wish to be fed some good food. Anasuya had just prepared meals and was ready to serve these Brahmins but they said that they had one condition that Anasuya must satisfy for them to be pleased with her. If she did not satisfy that condition, they were going to curse her and her husband Atri. Their condition was that she must feed them naked. The moment Anasuya heard this, she realized that this must be a test and she recognized these three medicants to be none other than the Trimurtis -Brahma, Vishnu and Siva themselves. She immediately prayed to her husband to give her the presence of mind to fulfill the three Gods’ desire without being unfaithful to him. Anasuya quickly thought of an idea. Anasuya’s chastity and devotion to Atri had given her immense powers and before the three Gods realized what was going on, Anasuya had turned the three Gods into 3 new born babies. Seeing these three babies and being childless herself, she developed a very maternal feeling for them and immediately fulfilled their desire of feeding them naked. At this time, Atri returned from his daily prayers and was very pleased to see Anasuya’s intelligent action. Meanwhile, the Gods’ wives realized what trap they had gotten into – their husbands had been turned into new born babies by the powers of Anausya’s chastity and their plan to humiliate her had been foiled. Now they rushed to the scene and begged forgiveness and pleaded to Atri and Anausya to restore their husbands to them. In return, they were willing to offer them a boon. Anasuya asked that a son be born to her who had all the best qualities of the three Gods. This boon was immediately granted and Brahma, Vishnu and Siva were restored to their original forms. Later, Dattatreya (meaning given to Atri) was born to them who turned out to be a great master and teacher who illuminated the minds of people with the wisdom in his teachings.

Dattatreya’s three heads symbolize that he was born with the qualities of the three Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Each of his three pairs of hands hold items that Brahma, Vishnu and Siva also hold in their hands. The cow he stands near symbolizes Kamadhenu (Kamadhenu fulfils all wishes. She also symbolized the mother earth and dharma). The 4 dogs that are at his feet represent the four Vedas.

Dattatreya became a wandering mendicant from very early on in his life. Being very perceptive, he adopted different creatures and things from the universe as his teachers and learnt different lessons from them. One day, he narrates the different teachings he received from nature’s 24 gurus to King Yadu –

1. Earth and Water– All creatures live on earth by assuming different forms based on their prior karma. All creatures take the earth for granted. Man burns fires on the earth, digs, ploughs and drills the earth. Yet, the earth continues to provide abundance to all her creatures and houses and feeds them. Dattatreya learnt from the earth the essential qualities of patience and unconditional love for all beings. Water quenches the thirst of all living beings, yet never feels proud. A sage should get inspired by the humility of water and remain modest in service of others, while still bestowing everyone with health, peace and joy.
2. Sky and Air – Air is pure and odorless by itself. It blows on foul and sweet smelling things without discriminating between them. Even though it blows over foul smelling things also, air’s odorless nature does not get affected. The sky is omnipresent, just like the soul. It reflects the beautiful rays of the rising and the setting sun. It also dons the morose misty look when dark clouds fill the sky. Nevertheless, despite the duality, the sky remains unaffected and it does not identify with the colors. Similarly, Dattatreya learnt that living in the duality of this world, man must still maintain the purity of his inner mind and try to remain unaffected by joys and sorrows.
3. Fire and Sun – The fire by itself has no form. Whatever the fuel is, the fire dons the color and the shape of the fuel that we throw into it. The fire does not discriminate against the person who throws items into the fire. Whatever the object is, the fire burns it to ashes. The fire teaches us that the Self manifests itself in various forms depending on its manifestation, but inherently it has no form, just like the fire. The quality of the fire is to burn, and we should inculcate the burning quality in ourselves to burn down all our impurities. Similarly, the sun is just one, but when reflected by water in different vessels, appears to be many. In the same way, the Self is one, but it is being reflected in all beings as many souls. The fire and the sun teach us the true nature of the Self.
4. Pigeon, Moth– A pigeon couple and their babies once lived on a tree. The mother and the father pigeon had gone to get food for their babies when a hunter caught these babies in his net. When the mother returned, she was unable to bear the separation from her little ones that she jumped into the snare as well. The same happened to the father pigeon when he saw his whole family caught in the snare and they were all killed by the hunter. Blinded by ignorance, man also gets caught in the net of joys and sorrows in this world without realizing that he is actually the soul and is free from identity with the body. Thus man gets caught in the vicious and endless cycle of birth, death, happiness and misery. This is the lesson taught by the pigeon. Similarly, a moth always gets attracted to the fire and destroys itself in the fire. Like the moth, if a wise man is attracted to the fire of knowledge, it will ultimately cleanse him.
5. Python – The python does not move around too much to get its food. It waits until some creature comes near it and immediately devours it. The python eats only as much as it needs to satisfy its hunger, not to satisfy its greed. The python taught Dattatreya the lesson of contentment.
6. Sea – Innumerable rivers merge into the sea, yet the sea remains exactly how full it was before. Just like how the sea never overflows or crosses its limits, a wise man would never cross his standards of morality even amidst passion.
7. Elephant and Fish – Poachers of tusker elephants have an easy way of luring the elephant. The poachers raise a cow-elephant and let it loose around the area that they are carefully watching. As soon as the elephant sees the cow, he is overcome by his desire for sex and is lured into the trap that the poachers have set for him. When until man learns to control his desire for sensual pleasures, he will not be truly liberated. In this manner, the elephant is a teacher. The fish, overcome by greed for food, bites into the bait without realizing that the greed for food is the cause for its death. A man also, in order to reach the destination of liberation, must give up his greed for food.
8. Ant – The ant works tirelessly towards its goals of collecting food and storing. While we can learn from the ant about how to work tirelessly, we should also observe that the ant neither eats all the food it hoards in its ant-hill, not gives it away in charity. In some sense, the ant is a miser, and hoarding treasures increases the chance of the ant-hill being plundered by stronger animals like the rat or mole. Man also increases his chances of being robbed and murdered if he stores wealth unnecessarily and remains miserly.
9. Pingala – A dancing girl named Pingala expectantly awaited a customer who would way her handsomely for her performance and services. However, when he did not show up that particular night, Pingala was extremely disappointed. However she did come to her senses immediately and realized that she is sad only because the man she is waiting for is not eternal and the thing she wants –money – is not eternal either. So from that moment onwards, she realized that the only thing worth craving for is the eternal Self. Uniting with the eternal Self is the only source of lasting happiness. Dattatreya learnt from Pingala that once man starts expecting to receive things from others in order to make him happy, his misery starts. Renunciation is the route towards happiness.
10. Arrow-Maker – There was an arrow-maker that Datattreya once saw who was totally absorbed in his work of moulding an arrow. There was a lot of noise outside as a royal procession was taking place. There was loud music and people everywhere, but the arrow maker did not even lift his head up and continued to work oblivious to all disturbances outside. Dattatreya understood from the arrow-maker that a man seeking the true Self should have such one-pointed concentration to achieve his goals.
11. Little Boys and Girls – Little boys and girls do not have the concepts of honor, dishonor, mine or yours. Their minds are free from prejudices and from these unfettered minds spring forth abundant joy. A very wise man also becomes child-like as he becomes closer to the realization of his true Self. They are so happy and content within themselves that they never require any external object to make them happy. Their natural state is happiness.
12. Moon – While the moon waxes and wanes through various stages every fortnight, the body of man is also continuously changing forms. But, all these changes are pertaining to man’s body only and not to his true self. Just like how the waxing and waning of the moon is caused by the reflection of sunlight on the moon’s surface, the soul/mind of a man is also a reflection of his true self.
13. Deer and Birds of prey – The deer get caught by hunters and poachers because it is easily lured by sweet music that is being played. This taught Dattatreya that if man is caught in sensual pleasures and desires, he brings ruin and destruction onto himself. In the same manner, a bird of prey that is flying with its catch gets attacked by many other birds like crows and vultures who are eyeing the prey and want to snatch that away from this bird. The minute the bird realizes this and releases its prey, all these crows and vultures end their pursuit of the bird and go behind the prey instead. Thus the bird has become free now. The objects of desire and man’s attachment to them attract a lot of trouble. The minute man lets go of all these attachments, he is free.
14. Maiden – A young maiden had guests in her house that she had to entertain. She went into the kitchen and started making food for these guests. When pounding grains with a pestle, the bangles she wore were making a lot of noise. She was worried that the noise would bother her guests. She took off half of the dozen bangles she was wearing, but the noise was still there. She took off all but 2 bangles, yet some noise remained. When she removed all but one bangle, there was no noise and she could finish cooking the meal for her guests, without bothering them with any noise. Dattatreya interprets this in a very beautiful way. When man is surrounded by other people that causes a lot of noise and disturbance in his mind. In solitude alone can a spiritual aspirant carry on his quest of the truth. This inspired Dattatreya to resort to solitude. In this manner, the maiden was also one of his gurus.
15. Serpent – Dattatreya observed that a serpent never builds a dwelling for itself. Whenever it finds an old anthill the serpent begins to dwell in it. Worldly men raise monasteries and monks live in it. Or a monk simply finds an old temple or shady trees under which to live in. Also, just like how the serpent sheds his moult, a Yogi, in full awareness, gives up his body, as happily as an ordinary unrealized soul gives up old clothes for new ones.
16. Spider – The spider weaves it web from its bodily fluids, and after sometime almost effortlessly, rolls them all up into itself. Similarly, the soul bears the senses and the mind within itself. At the time of creation, the mind and the senses spawn from the soul and at the time of dissolution, they all are withdrawn into it again.
17. Caterpillar – The wasp takes its young one – the caterpillar to a safe corner and buzzes around it. The caterpillar is frightened by the wasp and constant contemplation on the qualities of the wasp transforms it into a wasp too. Dattatreya interpreted this very creatively. A guru trains a disciple to attain the qualities of the guru by making the disciple constantly meditate on those qualities he wants him to acquire. Thus, the caterpillar became Dattatreya’s guru also.

Dattatreya is believed to be immortal. On the peaks of mount Girnar in Gujarat, he is believed to be alive and visible to those who seek him as a teacher.

Photographed by Meanest Indian

Flying kites in the slum between Raikhad and Jamalpur.

– License

Gujarat, India

Naseem Shaikh, the President of World Faith Gujarat has officially started working.  Shakeel Basha, the National Director of World Faith India will be visiting next week to help get the ball rolling, and we are very excited to see what they are able to do in transforming the communities around Ahmadabad.

World Faith has always had a focus on targeting conflict areas for interfaith  service work, including places like Lebanon and Sudan.  Gujarat stands out as a blatant example of religious tension leading to communal violence, which manifested in the Gujarat Riots, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands.

The work Naseem is forming on the ground in Gujarat has the potential to vastly change the role of religious identity in Gujarat.  Current focuses of Gujarat World Faith are:

1.  Entitlements for the gujarat genocide widows.
2.  Peace-building and conflict resolution in villages and town in and around Godhara ( a town located  in Vadodara).
3.  Building up legal cases for human rights violations
4.  Organizing young Muslims, Dalits and Hindus for Interfaith work.
5.  Figthing for compensation for victims of Gujarat Riots.
6.  Helping with those dealing with livelihood issues.

http://morbilive.com/ceramic-glazed-wall-tiles.html

Ceramic Glazed Wall Tiles

http://morbilive.com/morbi-haritage.html

Tourist Attraction in Morbi City :
Hanging Bridge of Morbi is very famous tourist place. Palace of former Morbi King, Mani Mandir and Victoria Garden opposite to Mani Mandir are good place to visit.

The Nehru Gate is made out of stone using elements of Rajput architecture with central clock tower, while another one uses elements of western architecture and is capped by a three-storyed cast iron frame structure with a dome. Darbargadh, on the bank of Machchu River is now heritage hotel. Lakhdhirji Engineering College is housed in Nazarbag Palace. Famous Ajanta Quartz and Samay Quartz, world’s largest clock manufacturer is located on Morbi Road.

In the surrounding of city there are plenty places for outing. Nani Vavdi is big and educated village in the Morbi taluka.the village had grown up more than 100000 trees last three years. Famous Place, Ishvariya Mandir, Hanuman Temple near, OM Mandap Service. Other well known cities like Dhrangadhra (royal palaces) 75km, Wadhvan (Royal Palace, bazaar, step wells) 107 km, Halvad (Ek-dandia Mahal-Zalawzad Darshan, wooden palace, Cenotaphs)48 km, Wankaner (Royal Palaces, step wells) 29 km, Maliya (Royal Palace) 32 km, Rajkot (princely architecture, Watson Museum, Rajkumar College, Rajkot, Ramkrishna Mission, Kaba Gandhi no Delo) 67 km far from the city.

History of Morbi
Home > History of Morbi

Morbi is a City of Rajkot District, 64 Km from Rajkot. Government ST is the main mean of transport.

Untill 1947 Morbi was a princely state. Raja Mayurdvaj was the king of Morbi. Morbi devastated in 1979 with flood. Most of historical monuments were ruined in this flood. But now Morbi is once again immerging as Hub for tiles & clock manufacuring.

You can reach Morbi within 2 hrs. from Rajkot. There are two busstands in Morbi New Busstand & Old Busstand.

There is Hotel Manali Just Opposite to New Busstand.You can easily find a room here. Hotel rooms are easily available between Rs.200-1000.

Mani Mandir is a temple situated in the courtyard of Wellingdon Secretariat. The images of Laxmi Narayan, Mahakali, Ramchandraji, Radha- Krishna and Shiva are worshiped in this temple. Mani Mandir is made out of Jaipur stone with excellent workmanship and exquisitely carved elements-arches, brackets, jalis,chhatris and shikhara. Wellingdon Secretariat is an excellent example of the application of principles of Rajput architecture by master craftsmen, at the turn of the century.

The prosperous city Morbi has much of the built heritage and town planning is attributed to the efficient administration of Sir Waghji, who came to the throne in 1879 and ruled till 1948. Sir Waghji acted as the Ruler, Manager, Patron and Policemen of the state with great authority, always keeping the citizens’ interests in mind. Sir Waghji, like other contemporary rulers of Saurashtra, built roads, Railway Network of 70 miles connecting Wadhvan and Morbi and two small ports of Navlakhi and Vavania for exporting the state’s production of Salt and Cloth. The railway station of Morbi is a beautiful example of Railway architecture, combining Indian and European architectural elements. In 1979, the city was badly affected due to flooding caused by morvi dam burst. But one can see the spirit of people of Morbi as today it is one of the most growing industrial cities of the state.

Welcome to MorbiLive.com
The Paris of Saurashtra

Morvi or Morbi is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat.

It was a Princely State ruled by Jadeja clan of Rajputs until Indian independence in 1947. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. In 1981, the city’s population was determined to be 73,327. Its chief products are cotton and grain.

The town is a railroad junction. The town of Morvi is situated on the river Machhu, 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the sea and 60 Kilometers from Rajkot.

8 December 2009,

Blind People’s Association, Ahmedabad

It was truly heart rendering to meet all those enthusiastic job seekers with physical disabilities at Blind People’s Association! I was so lucky to be the part of this employment fair organized by BPA as I represented Cybersurf India where I work. The auditorium was filled with more than 300 aspirant persons with disabilities, and there were more than 10 representatives from different companies who wanted to hire these people according to their needs. Safal Group was one of these companies who have recently received an award for employing the most number of persons with disability.

Mr Bhushan Punani, Executive Director of BPA, hosted the event where they allowed all the companies to present their needs and the types of jobs they are offering. The count of jobs being offered reached to 250 jobs within a few minutes and the job seekers were thrilled to receive such offering on the day of the fair itself.

I interviewed more than 20 candidates for the computing and data processing related jobs. The amount of readiness and enthusiasm was really amazing in those candidates. Many of them could not walk and made their way into the room moving on the floor. More I was touched when I was being looked as a ray of hope for them! They thought I will give them a job and they will start sustaining a good life ahead. I wish I could employ them all in any way…

The event arranged by BPA is really appreciable and also the companies who are actively taking part and hiring the persons with disability deserve a great deal of respect. Here, in a bit different context, in the context of equality; these were all humans whom I met and I was delighted with the positive energy they had and also the companies and organizers who did put an honest effort to gather both on a platform.

One more incident which really touched me inside out and really made my belief strong that one does not have to be an intellectual or a scholar to be a good human being!

One of my good friends insisted me not to tell this to anyone, but I really want to put this here without mentioning his name…

There is a little boy of around 15-16, and he was working at his office as an office boy for Rs. 900 a month. He lost his father earlier and his mother works as domestic help in neighborhood.  That boy’s willingness to work hard and learn new things got noticed by my friend. He talked to him; put him in a computer class for 6 months. He and his girlfriend collected some 4,000 rupees for the course and now after a year that boy is earning 4,500 a month. The little boy is also more encouraged to work hard, to learn more and lead a better life.

I met a human again…

In Keralam, we were not aware of religion. All sorts of people live in the same locality. There are no special areas for different groups, as in Gujarat.

In RAPP, Thomas, Xavier and myself used to meet often during lunch time. It never occurred to us that we belong to different religions.

Samoothiripad, the ruler of Malabar, had Kunjali Marakar, a Muslim as his Naval Commander.

Muslims offer special vazhipad (pooja etc.) at Sreekrishna temple at Guruvayoor, where they are not allowed inside!

But  intercaste or inter-religious marriages are strictly forbidden.

        Kemche! This typical greeting reminded me that I am in Gujarat. My sojourns around India took me to Gujarat, a magical land which is the host to ancient civilizations and myriad cultures. This fascinating state with a third of India’s coastline is one of the wealthiest states.

        Though I reached Bangalore airport by 4:30PM, the flight from Bangalore to Ahmedabad took off only at 11:30PM. RK Narayan’s The Painter of Signs was my only companion during this time. By the time the plane landed at Ahmedabad airport at 1:30AM (as opposed to previous day’s 8PM!), my itinerary had gone for a toss. Shriharsha Bhat – my classmate in college who works in Gandhinagar – was waiting for me in the airport. He too had tough times postponing and canceling the buses thanks to flight delays. We went to his home on his bike and had some food and slept immediately.

DAY-1
        We woke up at 5AM and after having bath, drove about 35kms to Ahmedabad to catch the 6:30AM bus to Junagadh. It was a nice, chilly morning. As the Volvo bus left Ahmedabad, we could see sun rising over the horizon slowly. The mist over the fields was glistening in that morning light. We were literally cruising on those good roads of Gujarat. While rest of the people in the bus were busy catching their sleep or watching the Hindi movie which was been played on the TV, I and Harsha chatted to keep ourselves abreast of happenings since past three years. We remembered our good old college days and discussed about future plans. We reached Junagadh at around 1:30PM.  Here we boarded a minibus, whose driver claimed that he will take us to Veraval within two hours. By now we were hungry and couple of biscuits, chips and Cadbury’s chocolates served as our lunch. By 4:30PM we managed to reach Veraval, a major fishing port in this part of country. We had planned to make this place as our base for our trip to Somnath and Gir. With the help of Lonely Planet guide we searched a decent hotel nearby the bus stand and checked in. We freshened up and dumped most of our luggage in the room and left the hotel.

        Veraval is a humid, dusty town which smells of fish almost everywhere. Somnath is just 6km from Veraval. An auto rickshaw took us to Somnath and dropped us just in front of the temple. There were lots of street vendors and quite a number of visitors there as there was a fair that night. The temple of Somnath is on the beach and is heavily guarded. Photography was not allowed inside the temple complex.

        Somnath is one of the oldest and famous temples of India. The oldest of all vedas – Rigveda mentions about this temple. As per the Hindu legends, the temple of Somnath is said to have witnessed the creation of universe! This is the first of the twelve jyothi lingas and believed to be built by the Moon god – Soma in praise of Lord Shiva. That being the legend, the history is even more interesting.

        This phoenix-like temple at its peak glory had so much of wealth that it attracted Muslim invaders. In 1026AD, Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Somnath, desecrated the temple and broke the idol. Thus began a pattern of Muslim destruction and Hindu rebuilding that continued for centuries. The temple was again razed in 1297AD, 1394AD and finally in 1706AD by Aurangzeb, the notorious Mughal fundamentalist. After its demolition in 1706AD, it was not rebuilt until the Indian Independence. It was due to persistence of Iron man of India – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the reconstruction of this temple was started in 1950. The first President of free India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad dedicated the temple to the Nation. However it took nearly 46 years to complete the temple and it was in 1995 the Somnath temple was finally completed.

        The feeling one gets while watching this magnificent Solanki-style temple glowing in the light of setting sun is unexplainable. While the waters of Arabian Sea turned red, the temple of Somnath seems to come to life. Daily at 7PM the priests decorate the lingam and aarti is performed. At that time the central hall of the temple is crowded by devotees from different parts of the country to watch the proceedings in sanctum sanctorum. The whole atmosphere is charged with the loud bhajans and the smoke of incense filling everywhere. This was a hair-raising new experience for me though I have been to many temples earlier.

        We left Somnath at around 8PM and had our lunch at a roadside restaurant before reaching Veraval. Soon after returning to the hotel, Harsha sat watching the India-SriLanka Cricket match while I started to prepare for next day’s trip. It was a long day and sleep came rushing in.

DAY-2
        We woke up pretty early at 4:30AM and had our bath before leaving for Bus stand. We had planned to go to Sasan Gir that day. So we took a bus which was supposed to take us to Talala from where we were to catch another bus to Sasan. But we both slept off and missed our destination. We got down in some obscure village and after waiting for nearly half hour got another bus to Sasan Gir. This bus – looked like it was bombed in WWII- was so crowded by people and their luggage, we hardly squeezed ourselves in. Finally it was big relief when we got out of that ‘bus’ at Sasan at around 8AM.

        Gir National Park and Sanctuary is the last natural habitat of the Asiatic Lion – Panthera Leo persica. Once upon a time, Lions were plenty in India, but extensive hunting pushed them to brink of extinction by end of 19^th century. It was due to the vision of Nawab of Junagadh who alarmed by the decreasing numbers of Lions, Gir forest was declared as the protective zone in the beginning of 20^th century. Today more than 325 lions roam here fearlessly.

        We went to the Forest Department guesthouse – Sinh Sadan to get the permits and arrange for the jeep ride in the open jungle. Soon after the formalities, I and Harsha were heading for the jungle in an open jeep along with a guide. We didn’t have time for breakfast, so munched a pack of biscuits and Cadbury’s chocolates. The rugged, hilly 1400-sq-km sanctuary has one of the beautiful and peculiar forests I had ever seen. The landscape was covered with plenty of teak trees with their gigantic leaves, thorny trees, bushes and grasslands in between the patches of dense forest. We drove on a dusty jeep track in midst the jungle desperately trying to spot the King of the jungle.

        We came across many herds of deer, stag and a couple of Nilgai. We also spotted a number of birds – kingfishers, cormorants, herons, peacocks, ibises, owl, parrots, cuckoo, eagles and many more which I couldn’t identify. But the lion was still elusive. We came across 5-6 jeeps on our way and none of them had seen any lion that morning. We drove in the forest for little over three hours but the only could see some lion pug marks.  But this disappointment was masked by that amazing ride in the jungle. One of my Gujarati friends who visited Serengeti National Park in Kenya, Africa remarked that the flora there resembles that of Saurashtra peninsula. It may be true as 200 million years ago; Gujarat was next to present day Kenya in the Southern super continent Gondwanaland.

        It was my birthday that day and I wanted it to be special. Going back without seeing Lion? That was unimaginable. It was nearly noon when we came back to Sasan. We had our lunch in a dhaba and at around 1:30PM caught a bus to a place called Devalia. It is a small village on the edge of the Gir forest which hosts the Gir Interpretation Zone (GIZ). Here an area of 4.12-sq-km of the forest is fenced and has a cross section of Gir wildlife and hence a safari here will guarantee the lion sightings. The safari here means going in a mini-bus with about 20 people. The forest in GIZ was unimpressive compared to what we saw that morning. Nevertheless we did spot a pride. I was seeing the Jungle King in flesh and blood!  The cameras flashed continuously while people and kids cried in joy, but the lions were aloof as before. The 30min safari ended quickly but not before we sighted some herds of deer and stag.

        We returned to Veraval at around 5PM. Instead of going to hotel we went to Somnath again. We went around the temple again and roamed in the market before settling down in the beach. That day being a Sunday, had attracted a lot of people to that place. This grey-sand beach was crowded by people taking camel and pony rides, little merry-go-rounds, coconut vendors, chaat stalls, and hawkers selling anything from shells to camera films. We sat on the beach, drank and ate coconut and chatted on almost everything under the sun. At around 8PM we left for Veraval. We went to hotel and checked-out and had a quick dinner before we boarded a sleeper bus to Ahmedabad.

DAY-3
        At around 5:30AM we stopped the bus and alighted at a place called Bagodara – a tiny hamlet 70kms from Ahmedabad. We intended to go to a village, Lothal which was as nearly 15kms from Bagodara. We went to a highway inn and after freshening sat on the charpai of a roadside Tea stall waiting for a bus/tempo/auto/bullock-cart! After waiting for nearly 30mins, we managed to get an auto rickshaw ride to Lothal. The early morning drive in the mist covered road flanked by fields on either side was ethereal. We reached Lothal at 8AM.

        Lothal means ‘mound of the dead’ in Gujarati language. Lothal was originally the site for the lustrous Red Ware Culture named for its micaceous pottery. In 2400BC it became a part of the Indus Valley Civilization when Harappan people developed this place as a port. Sea was much closer to Lothal at that time. The Indus civilization was the most extensive of the ancient riverine civilizations which existed from late fourth millennium BC till 1750BC. The orderly array of streets and lanes, crossing one another at right angles, and the division of town into various blocks on a gridiron pattern are the characteristic features which distinguish Harappan cities from those of Egypt and Mesopotamia. At its peak Lothal was one of the most important ports of the subcontinent where trading was conducted with the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

        The Lothal Archaeological Museum was not open at that time, so we directly went to the part where the city has been excavated. We were the only people in that place. It’s hard to imagine that a city of 20,000 people existed here during 2400BC. Now just the excavated remains of massive dockyard, a warehouse, acropolis, bead factory and lower town exist.

        Excavated in 1954, the ancient city of Lothal was situated besides the river Sabarmati, which has since changed its course. The most prominent structure is the dock. This trapezoidal dockyard measuring about 218×37m is the first ever known tidal dock of the world and regarded as the greatest work of maritime architecture before the birth of Christ. Capable of berthing 30 ships of 60-ton capacity this dock is as big as the modern dock at Vishakapatnam. More than a million kiln-fired bricks were used in its construction.

        Next to the dockyard is a warehouse which is located at a height to ensure its safety from floods and tides. Near the warehouse, also on a high plinth, is the acropolis where the ruler lived. This complex spanning 128×61m has private baths and extensive drainage systems which still stand as a testimony for excellent town planning by Harappan people. A short distance from acropolis is the lower town which had the commercial and residential area. The bead factory which had 11 rooms is situated next to the lower town. The micro-beads of Lothal were used for necklaces and were of high demand in ancient world.

        Lothal remained as the major port and a center of bead industry until 1900BC, when a great flood apparently resulted in 300 years of decline. However, the Indus civilization survived here till 1600BC, after which it disappeared.

        The museum which opened at 10AM contains the plans made by archeologists in an attempt to reconstruct what Lothal must have been like 4000 years ago. The beads, seals, painted pottery, bronze and copper mirrors and objects made of stone, shell and bone are displayed here. But perhaps the most unique feature of the Indus civilization in general and Lothal in particular, was the uniformity of weights and measures, despite the vast area under Harappan culture. Bricks were in perfect ratio of 100×50x25 and the decimal system was used. However, till now the Harappan script remains undeciphered which hinders our understanding of this great civilization.

        After visiting the museum we sat in a shade and ate our breakfast – chips, chocolates and biscuits. Harsha rested in the shade while I went again to the excavated site. I roamed in those ancient streets trying to go back in time…..when life was not all that far removed from our own.

        At 11:30AM, the auto rickshaw came and took us back to Bagodara on highway. Soon we boarded a bus and reached Ahmedabad by 1PM. We went to Harsha’s friend’s place were we had lunch and drove back to Gandhinagar. Reaching home, I took a nap. I woke up at 4PM and took bath. In the evening, Harsha took me to show his office. Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat and is a lovely city with lot of trees, wide avenues, and lot of open spaces. After roaming in Gandhinagar for sometime, we drove to Ahmedabad. The road from Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad is simply amazing. Sometimes I felt that these roads are better than that of Ohio! Driving here is a real pleasure. We did some shopping in Big Bazaar and headed for dinner of Gujarati Thali.

        This was the climax! The mouthwatering Gujarati dishes – dhokla, samosa, kadhi, dhal-bhaati, poori, farsan etc. served in a plate with chach. The service was also extremely good. We ate so much that we had a tough time getting up after dinner! Somehow reached home and slept off. Next day morning woke up at 5AM and Harsha dropped me to airport at 6:30AM. My flight was on-time and reached Bangalore by 11AM right in time for office.

        It’s been a dream journey and though very tiring, worth all effort. I’m lovin’ it.

 Glossary:

Aarti                  Offering prayers to god with auspicious lighting of lamps
Bhajan              Devotional song
Chach                Buttermilk
Charpai             literally, four legs; a camp cot
Chaat                 Snack
Dhal-bhaati     Curried lentil dish with fried chickpea balls
Dhaba                A roadside restaurant
Dhokla               A spongy cake usually made of chickpea flour
Farsan               Savory nibbles
Jyothi linga     Most important shrines of Lord Shiva, of which there are 12
Kadhi                 A sour dhal-like dish made of curd and chickpea flour
Kemche             literally, how are you? – In Gujarati language
Poori                  Deep fried wheat dough puffed up like a soft, crispy balloon
Samosa             Deep fried pastry triangles filled with spiced vegetables/meat
Saurashtra      Also known as Kathiawar peninsula, it is the bowl-shaped southern part of Gujarat
Thali                   South Indian and Gujarati all-you-can-eat meal; stainless steel or silver plate for meals
Vedas                 Hindu sacred books; collection of hymns composed in preclassical Sanskrit during second millennium BC and divided into four books: Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda

• The pictures of this trip are in Webshots album.