Amdavad: Loitering in the city

Amdavad

Thanks are due to Apurva Bahadur for sharing the stunning glimpses of Amdavad and to friends for accompanying for the food trips.

Sidi Sayyed Ni Jali – a very unassuming but confident looking structure - stood at a busy junction. As I put in time looking with awe at its skilled artisanship and caressing its - rough with age – walls I wondered whether it was less than adequately maintained or just adequately used to enable it to be standing thus, more than 400 years after it was constructed. Just across the road stood The House of MG. The structure has been beautifully restored and besides the famed lodging its restaurants too are well known. I went to its recently initiated Textile Gallery which showcases images and textiles of different regions of Gujarat - from Patolas to Ajrakhs. The Gallery’s two rooms are the most exquisitely coloured ones I have been to in recent times. On the same floor stands the elegant Heritage Bookstore. It stocks books on textiles and other crafts.

Image Credit: Apurva Bahadur

There was a feel of contrast in how heritage manifested itself in these two structures, across the road from each other. The hotel was a sanitized beauty while the Masjid was widely accessible! Can the twain meet I wondered? But then, is there a need?

I had coffee at the restaurant on the ground floor; alone on a table where 6 could enjoy tea, snacks and conversations. An elderly European couple asked if they could join in and I said was just waiting for the bill. We don’t want to you leave, it’s nice to share tables with strangers and have conversations. We like it but do not see it in India. Over the next few minutes as we talked I asked them if during the coming weeks they would travel by train for then they would surely experience these. However, it was difficult within an upmarket restaurant in a city not exactly known for its modesty! Just opposite stands the Lucky restaurant - famous as the place M F Hussain used to frequent for tea and conservations during his trips to the city. 

From there I walked on to the Jama Masjid – a structure which makes you want to sit in its silent lap. It was Uttrayan (Makarsankranti) and in the large courtyard younger ones were trying to get the kites going up – above the huge dominating structure - while elders sat around the small pool at the centre and talked in murmurs. Gujarat Tourism website states this of the structure ‘The main prayer hall has over 260 columns supporting the roof, with its 15 domes, making a walk through the hall a beautiful maze of light and shadows.’ 

Image Credit: Apurva Bahadur

Then on to Raji no Hajiro – a little difficult to reach hidden as it is by shops. It is an example of how badly we maintain the structures that we proudly enlist on our City’s brochure.  I wondered if the situation would be different if history was taught differently to younger ones; in other words made alive and interesting. I recalled Khuswant Singh write that William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns: A year in Delhi was how history should be taught – it should be brought alive with its layers, sounds, smells and more. The Gujarat State Education Board, at least when I studied, mentioned neither these structures nor textiles; leave aside making them of interest. It did also not mention Champaner, 150 odd kms from Amdavad, and home to architecture of such exquisite beauty that it became the state’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As I walked around the Badshah no Hajiro – across the lane – I saw food being cooked in large pots; their upper end high enough to reach my thighs. The head cook then appeared to guide the assistants in putting spices. Some age old manner of preparing an exotic dish I wondering – prompted by my recent reading of Pamela Timms’ Korma Kheer and Kismet: 5 seasons in Old Delhi. I asked what they were cooking and promptly came the answer – Chinese Pulav!

Behind these stood a building of stunning grace that had me intrigued. I discovered that the abandoned structure once housed the Amdavad Stock Exchange. There was move to sell it off, during recent years, which was opposed by a section of citizens who wanted to convert it to a museum. For some reason, today, there stands a public urinal bang opposite one of its entry points.

Image Credit: Apurva Bahadur

Need to rest my legs, absorb what little I had seen and have tea brought me to an Irani Restuarant. The maska bun here was delicious. The staff-member managing a bucket sized container, more than half full of white butter, ensured that the fresh buns, place on the rack, metamorphosed into three layered delicacies. Each of these 3 layers was white and had equal width. Half of the bun, generous dose of butter and rest of the bun. All these put together, a lot of fun. As tempting to savour with eyes as it was with taste-buds.

Later during the evening mumi joined me for the Vessel Museum at Vishalla; yes, it is open till 10 pm. It was an experience to walk in a museum accompanied by fresh air and natural light. Most of the items were kept in the open; these included liquid containers bearing locks. What little was placed in showcases included a mind boggling array of sulis; nut–crackers. Is the importance of food more pronounced in these parts I wondered where even today the word Maharaj for cook is not uncommon? I also got to attend Sattvik - the traditional food festival, on the IIM campus, with a friend. It was fun to share food in a common plate amidst an array of stalls to choose from; difficult to resist food. We not only tried two finger-licking dishes from Kathiawad but also had brief conversations with those at the stalls. And of course, the favourite sugarcane juice to end the feast.

The City Museum, housed in a Le Corbusier designed building, showcases collections on kites and films as well. Its primary collection boasts of artefacts on city’s rich history with textiles – of the mechanical kind. Unfortunately it also appears to be an example of how not to maintain a museum. Monstrosity of the River Front lay down the road.

There were surprises as well! A housing colony we visited on the outskirts of the city had a blue bull on one empty plot and Indian Peafowl on another. Not many cities would boast of this! 

Further on Travel - Goa