Adrita

Whoever thought of such a name!!  I shook my head in frustration after yet another failed attempt to explain the septuagenarian next to me, Adrita as in Aadrita... then why the hell second A is missing..we have kept it simple..mom's standard reply...oh really..Aditya, Adwita etc etc simple really.

Born in Delhi to East Bengali or to be precise to sylheti parents,(whose parents were in turn uprooted from another land),torn between Hindi, Bengali, the strange sounding Bengali I heard all speaking at home... I never knew which language to pick up. I remember picking up Hindi early in life.. guess it was a safe bet. And the yearly struggles when they took me to their respective home towns...my attempt to frame Bengali sentences...ridiculed by the other children at times but most of the times I loved the attention as they watched me speaking the language of the movies effortlessly. But why Adrita... Well there wasn't consensus in any more name...Mom used to say...Neera was my first choice ..from some Bengali poetry..But then people started saying it was an old name..so what next...i loved Mohona..u know where river meets the sea...your both grandmoms had objection...no naming after river...( imagine in the land of Ganga Yamuna Kaveri Sipra Narmada!!)...your teetu ( maternal grandma was teetu) dished out names after names from Bengali soaps Oishi, Oindrila and thammu ( paternal grandma) was after a name with 'K'.. Kanaya...to prevent the onslaught of K I dished out Adrita ( suggested by Teetu as she heard the name of a participant in Sourav Ganguli's show) and my own Drishti...and when the priest inserted chits of the three or four names under the earthen lamps...Adrita lasted longest...so here I was Adrita!

Then the constant frowns Adrita is it humidity...from Adrata I guess...nnooooo from Aadar...mom's standard reply..Aadar as in love in Bengali and not the kind of respect as in Hindi...I heard these the umpteenth time from mom. Why did they move to Delhi...why not stay contented wherever they were rather than dragging their world with them...was what I wondered in my teens..and yes I knew the answer ..to make it big or simply for living...but torn between rice and roti, Bengali , Hindi , some Punjabi and Jat...Durga Puja and Diwali, fish and rajma...huh who would understand my daily battles...

My flight took off finally from Delhi International Airport...after some normal hitches...and I turned my  the window after the not-so-smooth conversation with the elderly lady besides me..lingering over my name. Delhi was slowly vanishing from my eyes...I was touching the skies and within half an hour I would enter Pakistani sky...and then few more hours to Europe. How would I name the life inside me..an Indian name of course and spend few minutes explaining...as I am dragging little bit of home with me just as my parents did...and assert my existence in the land I live and force my child to feel in the world we are no longer a part of...

Touring Gujarat

A tour of six days... destination Gujarat, extended to Diu. We reached Ahmedabad via Rajdhani at a comfortable time, without having to wake up at wee hours,  a bliss!!

Day I   After lunch a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram...though a place too historical to be commented upon, but somehow the ' feeling' i was anticipating shunned me..but one visit might be too short to judge.

Sabarmati Ashram

Evening Prayer

Kankaria Lake

We were caught between Kankaria Lake and Akshar Dham...and after different briefings settled for the former. Well a great favourite with the locals though we found nothing much to do and took a ride in the train around the lake

                                                  Dinner at Govardhan Thaal

Definitely a must visit place to enjoy the ambience and feel of Gujarati cuisine , Rajdhani in Delhi would be the long lost twin!! But be prepared for the most...and best enjoyed with an empty stomach!!

Day II    

Again after a lot of debate and at my insistence we set for Diu, the unexpected twist in the journey for our otherwise planned itinerary. Misled by all it was a whopping 450 km from Ahmedabad with dilapidated roads after Rajkot, a shorter route is available via Bhavnagar...some say  road is worse. So day two was all about sitting in the car around ten hours of drive..to the point it led us believe Diu was a wrong choice. 

On the way to Diu

I guess the name of on the way stop for snacks was Limbdi...where i was absolutely delighted by the papdis and mirchis and i was hell bent on stopping at the same place while driving back to Ahmedabad and we did!! Only if the loos could be a bit cleaner...but Indian public utility systems.... a long long way to go.

Kathiwadi Thali.... Famous in these parts of Gujarat..

Diu wedding.. the  riding bride and groom 

Day III

Sea gives me an extra coat of enthusiasm and hence i was up the next day morning and awoke husband for morning exploration of the sea...morning gives sea  a different colour and a virginity...asking to be explored.

Nagoa beach 

Diu Fort

Sea food was a disappointment at least in the resort we stayed and prawns served were not fresh and well cooked. We consumed lots of coconut water as obvious and at a nice price. Diu Fort was interesting.. with history of Portuguese invasion and treachery. Panikotha  a structure in the sea... we could not visit due to weather...but as locals informed the movie Qayamat was shot there as i recalled a vague memory of a Neha Dhupia wailing and singing in the middle of the sea. lighthouse was something i wanted to see from close but in a hurry to reach Gir where we had booking for lunch at the resort and safari at Devaliya Park in the evening...all bookings done by methodical husband!! All in all we left Diu with a desire for more.

Pani Kotha

                                             
                                                 Lighthouse

Around two hours drive and we reached Gir... strangely without proper signages and had a wholesome lunch at the resort, bajre ke roti, gud..among other things. But then staying inside Gir does not serve much purpose apart from saving an hour of sleep in early morning before reaching at the long queue for safari..which again my methodical husband saved us the trouble by making all bookings online!! Resorts in and around Gir do not give any access to the forest just a nice and quiet place to stay.

Devaliya Park, Sasan Gir

Driver in day one told us Devaliya park is where old , sick lions are kept to our disappointment and dismay...but the bus safari at least gives a view of the lions which almost eluded us in the original safari and a lots of birds in the evening forest.

Day IV

Early morning safari

Yes we did spot a lion, it was dawn and a lion just crossed in front of our jeep...but somehow camera ditched and we could not click the creature...but then the long drive in the arid forest.. where not even birds were heard and the climax over lion foot prints...sigh!! Actually we began to feel tired and disappointed and i believe the lack of natural greens more than the lions led to the frustration.

Mama deer and Papa deer was what my sleepy four year old commented when she woke from half slumber to spot these....indeed who else locks horn and always at war...:) !!

Some good captures finally..

Somnath

The hotel run by the trust held a surprise with its excellent sea facing rooms just at Rs 1500...well that was the best sea facing room i ever lived in..bookings were again online and very smooth process.
Light and sound show at the temple premises was a disappointment with people pouring in through out the show and light work to a minimal and more mythology than history. With the excellent location and vibrant history it called for a better show.

View from hotel run by Somnath Temple Trust

Day V : Drive to Ahmedabad

Last Day:

Just before catching the train at evening...near Railway Station Ratanpur Market...was a delight to visit.All colours like a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie simply breath taking. Though could not pick up stuff as much i liked...but some other time may be...