19.10.14
My work takes me to Gujarat often. Till a couple of years back, I used to park myself in Baroda ( Vadodara ) during my entire visit to Gujarat. From here, Surat, Ahmedabad, Anand, Rajkot etc are all within striking distance. You can start early in the morning, finish your work in any of these locations and be back in Baroda for a good night's sleep. The connectivity by rail or road is also excellent. I also rate Baroda as the most liveable city in Gujarat, both weatherwise and peoplewise. My favourite haunt used to be Hotel Hilltop , within walking distance from the station and bus stand. It also used to be a very Value For Money hotel till the management changed a couple of years back.
On one such tour, I traveled early morning by train to Surat. It was Karnavati Exp , if I mistake not. The Narmada bridge at Bharuch used to be a nightmare for travel by road. Traffic jams could last anywhere from 3hrs upwards on a 2km stretch. Travel by bus was, therefore, ruled out. Mine was a last minute, unreserved travel for a journey expected to last less than 2 hrs. Last minute seats in this prime time train headed for Mumbai are not available for love or money.
I manoeuvred myself to a comfortable standing position and settled down for the journey. These blessed trains in Gujarat are a beehive of activity and swarm with hawkers selling umpteen items and foodstuff. Ladies' imitation jewellery, chai, dhokla, bhel, trinkets, keychains, wallets etc. etc. It is a veritable mini mobile bazaar with its own vibrant life. The crowd in the trains is also mostly happily middle class. From afar I could hear a vendor selling some food stuff. From his uniform he looked like a regular catering staff. To this day I can swear that he was shouting "cutless Sandesh !". Now I have heard of " Boneless chicken " but never came across " Cutless Sandesh ". My curiosity and appetite were completely whetted by the time this guy neared us. His " Cutless Sandesh" turned out to be " Cutlet Sandwich "
From the time I had woken up, I had only a cup of tea in the hurry to catch the train. Just when I was diving into my sandwich, an elderly gentleman sitting in an aisle seat behind me tugged at my sleeve and asked me to sit in his seat. I thought maybe he is going to the loo and giving me a break. After grabbing his seat, I started polishing off my sandwich at a leisurely pace, ordered a coffee, ran through it etc, but still there was no sight of this gentleman. I must have been at it for more than 20 mins.Out of curiosity, I asked the gent next to me if " uncle " had got down at any station gone by. Pat came the reply :" કાકા તો તમ્હારે પાછળજ છે "
I jumped out to vacate my seat apologetically and requested કાકા to take his seat."कोई बात नहीं ,बेटा। खड़ा रह के खाते नहीं। पिशाच भोजन कहलाता है। " I was taken aback by his simple belief and faith. He was not only following it, but at great inconvenience to himself, he was preventing others also from doing what he felt was wrong. Humbly, I greeted him with folded hands " જય શ્રી કૃષ્ણા " ..." જય શ્રી કૃષ્ણા " he greeted back!
My work takes me to Gujarat often. Till a couple of years back, I used to park myself in Baroda ( Vadodara ) during my entire visit to Gujarat. From here, Surat, Ahmedabad, Anand, Rajkot etc are all within striking distance. You can start early in the morning, finish your work in any of these locations and be back in Baroda for a good night's sleep. The connectivity by rail or road is also excellent. I also rate Baroda as the most liveable city in Gujarat, both weatherwise and peoplewise. My favourite haunt used to be Hotel Hilltop , within walking distance from the station and bus stand. It also used to be a very Value For Money hotel till the management changed a couple of years back.
On one such tour, I traveled early morning by train to Surat. It was Karnavati Exp , if I mistake not. The Narmada bridge at Bharuch used to be a nightmare for travel by road. Traffic jams could last anywhere from 3hrs upwards on a 2km stretch. Travel by bus was, therefore, ruled out. Mine was a last minute, unreserved travel for a journey expected to last less than 2 hrs. Last minute seats in this prime time train headed for Mumbai are not available for love or money.
I manoeuvred myself to a comfortable standing position and settled down for the journey. These blessed trains in Gujarat are a beehive of activity and swarm with hawkers selling umpteen items and foodstuff. Ladies' imitation jewellery, chai, dhokla, bhel, trinkets, keychains, wallets etc. etc. It is a veritable mini mobile bazaar with its own vibrant life. The crowd in the trains is also mostly happily middle class. From afar I could hear a vendor selling some food stuff. From his uniform he looked like a regular catering staff. To this day I can swear that he was shouting "cutless Sandesh !". Now I have heard of " Boneless chicken " but never came across " Cutless Sandesh ". My curiosity and appetite were completely whetted by the time this guy neared us. His " Cutless Sandesh" turned out to be " Cutlet Sandwich "
From the time I had woken up, I had only a cup of tea in the hurry to catch the train. Just when I was diving into my sandwich, an elderly gentleman sitting in an aisle seat behind me tugged at my sleeve and asked me to sit in his seat. I thought maybe he is going to the loo and giving me a break. After grabbing his seat, I started polishing off my sandwich at a leisurely pace, ordered a coffee, ran through it etc, but still there was no sight of this gentleman. I must have been at it for more than 20 mins.Out of curiosity, I asked the gent next to me if " uncle " had got down at any station gone by. Pat came the reply :" કાકા તો તમ્હારે પાછળજ છે "
I jumped out to vacate my seat apologetically and requested કાકા to take his seat."कोई बात नहीं ,बेटा। खड़ा रह के खाते नहीं। पिशाच भोजन कहलाता है। " I was taken aback by his simple belief and faith. He was not only following it, but at great inconvenience to himself, he was preventing others also from doing what he felt was wrong. Humbly, I greeted him with folded hands " જય શ્રી કૃષ્ણા " ..." જય શ્રી કૃષ્ણા " he greeted back!
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