Saturday, November 23, 2024

The Rajkot Diaries - Day 1

 Took the direct flight to Rajkot at 230 pm from Shamshabad. Jyo bought some nice egg sandwiches which were very handy and we got on to the flight. Upma was ordered for us by the travel agent who use their creativity in such matters. It was quite nice though.

Rajkot is an hour and a half away from Hyderabad and that's when we realise that life is just that - it is so near but in our mind it is so far. We are somewhere on the westernmost part of India (to think that we were in Nagaland in January and in Kanyakumari in September - far east and far south and now far west!) The town is mall, clean mostly, lots of old houses most of which are being pulled down for big commercial buildings. The food is mainly vegetarian and there is no alcohol here so everyone is set to detox their system.

A walk in the morning led us to a public park not far from where we stay - and I was amazed at the number of people who were walking and running, many older women part of the walk/run/cycle gang. Quite encouraging. We did not step into the park because we did not have enough time but for sure tomorrow I would like to explore that part of Rajkot.

Cute little stores selling fruits, sweets, namkeen, chocolate items are all over and I could not resist taking their pictures. There's this lovely college with huge grounds on another side. I can see that there is a Mahatma Gandhi Museum closeby and one Watson museum both of which I would like to see tomorrow.

Spots not too far from here are Somnath which is three and a half hours away and Dwarka which is about the same. Hoping to do both while I am here. Meanwhile a good win against Meghalaya set us off right on the campaign. Now for the big guns. 

No comments: