Badalti Jindagi, Ahmedabad ki!

Ahmedabad is changing every moment! It is not like Mumbai, but it's surely catching up.

A View of Ahmedabad, Sabarmati River

It's a big city! Becoming Bigger!

Faster! Things are moving quickly.

Infrastructure of high quality, better healthcare facilities, political stability, budding entrepreneurs, good quality educational structures and growing businesses are changing lives every day.

Look around and you will find that this is a city where you can see wealth everywhere. Money is being made like anything. People have become more and more ambitious. As soon as people marry, couples want to have their own home and own car. Child can wait, but car is must. The thought process has taken a complete turn around. Who is going to wait for retirement to buy home? Most people are ready to pay home loan installment and live life working to get free. We have become slave of our wishes.

With the population graph crossing 60 lakh mark, city is spreading in all direction. Towers are coming up everywhere to accommodate the burgeoning crowd. Though 2 bedroom new house in Satellite area may cost more than 1 crore, there are buyers. Rent of shops and homes are just going upside, but who cares. Just watch the road for 5 minutes during any busy hour and this city will start telling about itself. You will see Audis & Mercedes zooming around. School going students riding bikes. Everyone will be seen in a hurry. Roads are overflowing with vehicles, struggling to contain ever-growing traffic.

No one has time - that's what we all say. You will find people who hardly know their neighbors. Restaurants are full of customers on weekends. Malls are becoming place to pass time. Some have closed down as their were more window shoppers than actual shoppers visiting that place. Yes! Multiplexes are doing good business, in spite of hardly 10 hit movies in a year. The reason being that there are few alternatives for entertainment. Sports for children are luxury. Where can you find fields or playgrounds? Builders are minting money and leaving no place empty. Computer games have become the left-over option.

Lifestyle has changed, living standard has improved, but relationships have taken the beating. Now, there is less trust, more jealousy, less interaction and more gossip. With the single child policy being voluntarily followed, there is death of brotherhood and sisterhood. One silver lining on this ominous cloudy sky is that there are more females joining job now. So, gender bias is loosing it's strong grip.

As it is always said, everywhere in the world, you can talk to a person and identify their place of upbringing. So, future of next generation will be an alter ego of this city. The way we will treat this city will impact our children.

Lets respect this city and we will do a very good job for our kids.

Thanks for reading!

Advani Rath Yatra - Pyrotechnic

There was beautiful show of pyrotechnic to celebrate the crossing of Rathyatra through Vastrapur.

Diwali Night at Ahmedabad

Himalaya Mall

Gurudwara, SG highway

Patang Restaurant

Town Hall

Happy Dassehra!

One friend, Dharmesh Dobaria, has sent some clips to be posted here. He has been visiting the Durga Mata Pandal near Drive-in. Durga Puja is the most important festival in West Bengal.

Bengalis who are far from their home land, celebrate Durga Puja in Ahmedabad every year at this place. It' glad to see that these people have not left their tradition and do the Puja in similar fashion as in West Bengal.

Last night of Navaratri!

Last 7 nights were full of noise, joy, beating of drums, songs, Garba, Dandiya and what not. From tomorrow (today is Ashtmi as well as Navmi), things will again become normal.

Ahmedabadis will miss loud sound of speakers which could be heard till late night. Youngsters will miss the freedom and housewives too will miss late night outs. Navratri is the only time, when city forgets to sleep and the only thing in everyone's mind is Garba. 

Organisers at party plots have minted huge amount of money by charging to dance at a common place. This is that time of the year when a new record is created every time people go out to dance. Where else, except Gujarat, can we see thousands of people enjoying dance together at a common place? The best part is that such display of unity is really unique. Navaratri is all about madness for dance and celebration. It is also used as excuse and become means for reaching various ends for some.

Like all good things, it will come to a sweet end today and thus break many hearts. But, how will people wait eagerly for a year if it has no ending. So, just enjoy the moment. 

2nd Day & Night - Navratri

Second day was though uneventful for me, but the mood was obviously picking up -

10.30am - Office seemed to be empty as most people came late. No one seemed to be interested in knowing the reason. As it was very obvious tell-tale sign of Navratri. Red eyes, taking small naps in the lunch break and leaving office early are some things which all office employees take for granted.

Garba

7.15pm - Traffic is more that usual work days and people driving their vehicle in hurry is common. All want to reach home early, change clothes and just go to the dance floor. The traditional dance costumes of  Navratri are Chania Cholis for women and Kurta Payjama or Kurta Dhoti for men. These dresses are bright and full of vibrant colours.

10.30pm - Night is like day time. Youngistan is here. Y generation are everywhere on the road. Lucky ones having their girlfriend and unlucky ones can be seen trying out their luck. 

1st Night - Navratri

9.30 pm - Aarti Started - It's a rare occasion when for these 9 days of Navratri, every society gathers at common area and do "Puja & Aarti". Same scene can be seen in each society and apartment. It's a great way of strengthening solidarity and harmony. Time is fixed and and it is one way of starting the Garba every night by first paying homage to Maa Durga. This is very traditional and colorful.

11.30 pm - Traffic signals were still being followed at many crossroads, as during Navratri, more Ahmedabadis spend their night on roads then at home. Though it was the first night, one could see young boys doing stunt on their two wheelers to impress girls. Police presence was there at those place where chance of nuisance and hooliganism was more. Road side eateries/food vendors could be seen having brisk business. No one seemed to bother about any terror attack.

3 am - Roads were empty, just the sign of storm that is just building up. Within next 8 nights, it will reach to a level when at 3pm, traffic will still be heavy and noise as loud as it is at daytime.

Happy Navratri

Happy Navratri to all our readers!

This is the best time of the year for all Ahmedabadis as their only focus is to take the best joy out of this festive nine nights. Lot of Garba and Dandia is to be seen everywhere. There is huge amount of excitement and enthusiasm in Ahmedabad. People have eagerly waited for this time of the year which is the main festival of Gujarat. 

Lot of drama, moments of joy, bunking offices and colleges, night-out with BF or GF, first love, stunt, dance, gossiping, etc happen during this period. Newspapers spend lot of space writing on such things. ApnuAhmedabad will try it's best to enjoy these moments with you all by presenting some interesting insights about this year's Navratri. 

Our Coverage will be different, spicy and something which will surprise you. 

So, this is just the start, wait for continuous coverage, starting from this moment. 

Sunday is Funday!

HIMALAYA MALL

Work Hard, Party Harder seems to be the Gujarati Mantra applicable specially for all Ahmedabadis. Sunday is always special. People wait throughout the week and crave for weekend. Sunday morning starts with Fafra & Jalebi. You will find people standing in queue to buy these delicacies. Afternoon is for siesta. 

Then as evening arrives, people start pouring on roads. As darkness falls, almost complete city is on road. Everyone is in mood to eat out and enjoy every precious moment. We really live the moment. All restaurants are overcrowded. Waiting for an hour or more is the norm. Noone cribs about this. More and more Multiplexes and Malls are required to cater to this burgeoning number of merry makers. Ahmedabad has some very good multiplexes like AdLabs in Himalya Mall, PVR cinema in Acropolis and Cinemax in Dev Arc Mall.

Roads are jam-packed with cars. Parking becomes a night-mare. Noise pollution by horns are irritating. But, everyone is care-free. No "Chinta", only "Masti'. It's all about enjoyment, fun, entertainment and lot else. Though Ahmedabad lacks night-life, but it hardly matters, we at ApnuAhmedabad love eating out, meeting friends, watching movies, going on long-drive, window-shopping and partying with loved ones. Night falls late and if a survey will show that on Monday morning 50% Ahmedabadis are late for office.

Stuntmania Returns!

Those who love to drive on edge, Ahmedabad road is the best place. Here you need to learn the rules of Stuntmania to survive. It is said, in Ahmedabad be like a Ahmedabadi, so if you are new to Ahmedabad, you must know these rules -

• first and foremost, use more horn than break
• always believe that other drivers are fool, so be highly alert and far from others
• keep your headlight on even during daytime
• be alert so that you don't hit anyone coming from the wrong side
• immediately give way to local bus which is coming from behind
• don't follow any auto as it can suddenly take a sharp turn without any indication
• don't try to overtake a car driven by any lady
• never be over-confident that empty road is safe as it may be a dog's day out or someone just having a race-practice
• don't go near government vehicles
• give way without any confusion to those who overtake from left-side
• at cross-roads, be aware that someone may break traffic signal and suddenly come in front of your vehicle
• keep one eye on rear mirror as someone coming from behind can hit you without any warning
• during night you must be more careful as some car driver may have forgotten to switch headlight
• last but not the least, you will have to play this game named Stuntmania to learn these rules

These are rules which i have learned during last 9 years in Ahmedabad, i hope these may be helpful for outsiders. Best part of this game is that you can customize these rules. The ultimate goal is survival and here we realize that Darwin was right when he said this world is for 'survival of the fittest'.

Sidecar ka kamal!

My wife has given me only half hour to complete this article.

I have always been mesmerized by Ahmedabadis driving a sidecar. With a child like innocence, i enjoy seeing them and love to see the expression on the face of the person sitting in the sidecar. It's always a joy ride, i think so, as i have never taken the ride myself. 

Today, i was astonished to see a lady in her 40s driving a motorbike (usually it is with scooter) with sidecar, i quickly took some pictures from behind. It was sheer amusement. A lady driving a bike was itself strange in this male dominated society. Then another thing was that she was not a young girl who was doing so to break any taboo. Hats off to the confidence of that lady. She was not only setting an example, she also proved that women in this town are ready to take over male chauvinism.

In Ahmedabad, sidecar is quite popular. I have been to all metro cities in India, but i have never seen even a single sidecar on road. Here, we have thousands of families using sidecar for different purposes. Some use it as a cheaper option to car, Dhobis use to move bunch of clothes, Paniwala use to move bottles, old people use it for safer driving, handicap people too use it for comfort driving. There are various other reasons. You can suggest some as comment here.

I have completed in almost half an hour! 

Stuntmania!

Airport Circle

Whenever i leave my home on my bike, i am not sure whether i will return safely or not. Driving in Ahmedabad is so dangerous. At first, when i started riding bike, i used to get frustrated with the way i was taken over from left hand side or someone coming from wrong side. Most disturbing was when people use horn instead of brake. But, soon i realized that i cannot change things, so better become a part of it. I had to go through nearly 50 minor accidents, before i became the master of this game which i like to name as "Stuntmania".

Don't you think, it's a mad game. Everyone is trying to beat one another. No one wants to be late! Sad. We all are playing a very dangerous game, that too on road. Many lives are lost. Limbs are crushed. But, who cares!

Now, i use those tricks which i have learned by being a part of this "Stuntmania". It's not surprising that things are simpler now. When someone from behind use horn, i use horn, lot of it! Louder. I go from wrong side to avoid traffic light. Some tricks, i am not sharing. As an Ahmedabadi, you must be knowing those survival tricks. I don't want to be the winner of the race, where everyone may be having different finishing points, but are running on same dangerous path. I just want to save my own life. I do one thing that many avoid, i don't go anywhere without helmet. I don't drive without headlight at night. I know my life is precious.

There are average of 50 road accident-related emergencies in Ahmedabad daily, which is the highest among all other cities in Gujarat. The city has the most unsafe roads in Gujarat, as per a reliable government data. There are growing instances of road rage and hit-and-run cases. In many of the cases, the victims are sole bread earners of the family.

Till the time, we keep playing like this, no one can live home at peace. It's a terrible thing that i am writing such article. But, i wish against hope that things will change. Traffic rules will become stringent and heavy fines will be charged for breaking any traffic rules. Thanks for reading.