The Gujarati thali

 Goodbye to Gujarat. No one can say good bye to Gujarat with out tasting the Gujarati thali and we did this on 26th december, 2018. We were taken to a very famous Restaurant in Ahmedabad, Grand Thakkar, which serves the best food in the city. There was a huge waiting line outside but since we had made a booking much earlier we did not have to wait. This restaurant started in the Saurashtra region and serves Kathiawadi food. The difference between Kathiawadi  and the regular Gujarat food  is that the former  uses little sugar and there is no sugar in the vegetables. However, the Gujarati's cannot stay with out their sugar and I found the dal and kadi to have a lot of sugar. A variety of food is served in a thali(Indian plate) and this includes a variety of chapatis made with Jowar, Bajra, and wheat. They have some western food items too like the pasta and noodles primarily for children but I preferred to stick to the authentic Gujarati cuisine. There was buttermilk, pooranpoli, kichadi, a variety of vegetables dals. One ends up eating a lot of food but the taste is really amazing. We just forgot all the calorie count and grabbed and tasted every individual dish. The hotel bearers serve you with so much efficiency and love that they never let any small katori (Bowl) in your plate remain empty for few seconds. I am amazed at the variety of food India has to offer the the regional varieties in this to suit every palatte. Good bye to Gujarat and the World Heritage city till we meet again.

Little Rann of Kutch

 A glimpse into the Bio diversity of the  Little Rann of  Kutch. Thanks to my friend Renu Singh Pandey and her husband  Chhavi Nath Pandey, who retired as the Principal Chief Conservator of the Forests and the Head of the Forest Force in Gujarat that we could get to see the little Raan of Kutch and the bio diversity here on 26th December, 2018. . A unique eco system this is about 5000 km of desert which lies near the sea and is a desert region and due to the nearness of the sea the land is very seline. However, it also becomes a wet marshy land and a water logged land giving birth to its own unique flora and fauna. As soon as we finish crossing about 130 km we enter the desert area surrounded by Prosopes Juliflora trees that survive in this rugged plain. One could see a large number of Flemingoes, Cranes, Pelicans, Spoonbills. At some distance we could see a number Wild ass who are known by the local name of  Ghudkar. A visit to the camp and the Information centre enriched our knowledge about the Rann of Kutch and we  could get a lot of information on the birds, animals and vegetation of this area. A variety of  local grass called seuda grows in the area and this is a very tasty grass with a pungent and salty taste and is the favourite food of the wild ass. The wild ass resembles  a cross between the Horse, Zebra and the Ass and is  very beautiful and majestic in looks. The setting sun looked beautiful as it disappeared into the horizon. This area also produces a lot of salt  and the backwaters of the Raan of Kutch  is the biggest breeding centre for prawns in the world. The evening was beautiful and one could hear the sound of silence across the desert with pin drop silence except occasional  chirping of the birds. The vastness of the desert is to be seen to believe and one can easily get lost in this vastness.This visit will remain with me for a long time as this was an out of the world experience.

Statue of Unity.

 If USA has its Statue of Liberty we have our statue of Unity. Located in Kevadia village, about 200km.from Ahmedabad. Visited this place on 25th December, 2018 and the only word that comes to our mind as we first glance at this statue is awesome and  colossal. Standing at a height of 597feet the statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of Independent India, is the tallest statue in the world. There are a series of escalators that take you till the feet of the statue. There is a beautiful huge gallery beneath the statue pedestal and it has a film running on the statue and Sardar Patel. There are huge display of photographs and it is nice to know that we are indeed showcasing  an alternate history and finally recognising the contributions of others also besides the Nehru, Gandhi family in the making of Modern India. There was a lot of criticism that so much land has been lost, farmers lost their livelihood and we have wasted so much money in the making of this statue. However, this has certainly given us Indians a sense of pride. The whole area surrounding this is a rugged terrain surrounded by rocky cliffs and shrubs. Nothing can grow here and certainly no agricture can flourish. This statue has given a huge boost to tourism and the whole area will now develop. There was a huge crowd near the statue. I only wish we Indians learn to be disciplined and keep our surroundings Clean. There should be a system of time alloted in a pass as is done in USA for the Statue of Liberty and though there is a rush in the US too, due to different time allotment, it is not so crowded as it was here. Any way, I am indeed proud of this  achievement and it was inaugurated only in October, 2018 and sure that  in the coming years the area will become more green and beautiful and will attract tourists from all over the world.

The mangroves of Picchavaram

 Visited the  mangroves of Picchavaram near Pondicherry on 16th december, 2018 which are the largest in India. I had never seen a mangrove. A friend of mine Chhavi Nath Pandey and also the husband of a very  dear friend Renu Singh Pandey who retired from Indian forest service and currently teaches at IIT Ahmedabad, is an expert on Mangroves. He had gifted me two beautiful books long time back on Mangroves and I was fascinated by them.  One of these was a Coffee table book and had lovely pictures of the mangroves. Finally in Picchavaram for the first time, I could see the mangroves spread for miles together. This is an amazing eco system and the plants are able to convert the salt water into enough fresh water to survive. I plan to go back to Chhavi's book again and read them. In fact this whole area historically was known as Thillaivanam  due to the Mangrove Jungles and it was the  Cholas who in 10th cen when they established the Natraja temple renamed this place as Chidambaram, clothed in wisdom. It was a beautiful experience roving miles together into the Mangroves and admiring them. We found a very interesting boatman, Ganesh, who spoke perfect hindi and proudly stated that he was the only one among the fifty boatmen who spoke Hindi for he had worked in Saudi Arabia for six years. He was born in this place and obviously very attached to it. A very interesting person who told us that the boatmen get Rs. 65 for each ride and since there are fifty of them some times their number does not come at all. They are all temporary employees but the persons who issue the tickets are all permanent employees of the Government and get more pay than them. He told us that the climax scenes of the film Dasavatara and Jamai raja were shot in he Mangroves. He had immense knowledge about the Mangrove, including their botanical names and lot of myths and stories related to them. He told us many things about Saudi too and his experiences there. He is an expert boat's an who can take you for miles together in the mangroves and keep talking about them. He also informed us that during the Sunami in 2006,this area was not affected and it was protected due to the Mangrove Jungles around it.

Bye to Thekkadi

 Bye to Thekkadi as we move towards the sea to Allepy. On the way stopped at few tea gardens and saw beautiful Churches and houses. I really love the Kerala houses and my driver Arun told me, Madam there are so many beautiful houses that if you click each and every one your phone memory will disappear in no time. Amazing structures, amazing houses and Churches.