Last evening on the way to the Belagavi Railway station I was stunned by the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha, which is just 10 km from the Belagavi city centre. To know that this massive structure was put up as a counter to the growing demands from Maharashtra to attach this part of Karnataka to it. More than Rs. 500 crores was spent to hold one session of the Karnataka legislature every year! Situated on 125 acres of erstwhile farm land acquired from farmers, it is no less than a palace with facilities and functionalities that match royals of the past. While millions of people live beneath the margin we have a new ‘class’ of the empowered who squander public funds, mostly realised from taxes levied by the State and the Centre, and enrich themselves.
It was 750 km to Surat from Belgaum and I had to cross two state boundaries, that of Maharashtra and Gujarat. At the Maharashtra border in Kadal cars were channelled into a separate lane. I feared that I may be asked to produce documents that support entry into the state. Nothing of the kind happened. The constable on duty asked if I had a negative RTPC test report. I replied in the affirmative and enquired if the double vaccination certificate would hold water. He said it would. No documents were verified and I was waved onwards. At the Gujarat border there was no check. However, for the sake of understanding I asked an official if the vaccination certificate would suffice for movement in the state and he confirmed it would. Rajiv Shah, my friend in Surat, had warned me that entry into Surat is very strict and that an RTCR test report would have to be produced. I was armed with that and the vaccination certificate.
The Yashwantrao Chavan flyover on the Pune-Mumbai highway is nearly 100 km long and costs Rs. 270 to transit. It is worth every penny. At Thane I took a short break at the Hiranandani complex for a cup of coffee with my cousin and family. The complex is growing and expanding. It is a complete ‘city’ in itself. I was surprised by the traffic in Mumbai – normally the most vexatious part of the transit through Mumbai is to pass through the expressway landing to the Fountain Junction. The traffic was light and expressed the times that we are going through. Moreover, most shops were closed and weekend business was evidently dull. The 750 km from Belagavi to Surat cost me Rs. 1015 in toll charges, which included Rs. 270 for the Yashwantrao Chavan expressway. While I got 15 km per litre of diesel with the AC off, the mileage dropped by over a km with the AC on. I was amazed by the freight traffic in Gujarat. None of the states I had travelled through before this had such a large number of freight trucks on its roads. Surely, it is a sign of the vibrant economic in the State.
I reached Surat in time for lunch of my favourite Gujju diet of fafadas and Jalebi. In the warm and welcoming company of Hetal and Rajiv Shah I unwound for a while. During lunch I told Rajiv of a couple of places I would like to visit in the city. I was surprised to know that Surat had a Castle. Rajiv was even more so! The Castle and Fort were built in 1546 to defend Surat from frequent invasions and loot. Control of the fort kept shifting and finally ended up in British hands by the late 18th century. Presently, it has just vestiges of the fort and castle. A part of the fort is occupied by the Central GST and Excise offices in a modern building that clashes with the surroundings. The Surat Municipal Corporation is engaged in restoring a part of the Castle that looks majestic from the Tapi River front.
Andrews Library, which is a short distance from the Castle and the Nehru bridge that spans the Tapi River, is the oldest library in Surat, established in 1850. The library was co-founded by Jhaveri, a wealthy pearly merchant and is housed in a building that was owned by him. It may have run to seed now but was a flavour of many year in the past. The floods of 2006 is said to have destroyed over 25000 books and since then has never regained the glory of its past. Almost bang opposite the Library is the Bapu Garden. The crowds that milled around the Garden and the footpath vendors in the vicinity in Surat made one think that the pandemic has been forgotten and buried!
Located in Zampa Bazar area of Surat the Clock Tower is a historical landmark of the city. It was built in 1871 by Hormusjee Fraser in memory of his father and as a gift to the people of Surat for a princely sum of Rs. 14,000. When I was taking photos of the landmark and reading up the short inscription on it an auto driver looked up, read the inscription and said, “Acha, tho yahi hai yeh”! He had been parking his vehicle near the Clock Tower for many years and till that moment had not realised the historical importance of that structure.
Along the Ghod Dodh road in Surat trees were brightly painted and this was a first. I have never seen this in any place that I have been to. I was told by Hetal that it was the creation of the architecture students of Sarvajanic College of Engineering And Technology. What a fantastic innovation. I wish more corporations and city councils would open its doors to such wonderful expressions by the youngsters in creative institutions. Next, the piers of the flyovers in Surat, there are 15 of them, are painted creatively too.
The Anjuman apartment complex and Mulla Hashim Masjid is an imposing and impressive structure in the Dutch Garden Road facing the Tapi River. Next to it is the Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The service had just then ended and a large congregation, largely South Indians I made out, were exiting the premise. I went in for a few minutes of quiet prayer.
The Dutch Garden Road seemed to be a favourite with the locals. Brightly decked up tangas and horses were lined up for the usual customers. It was business as usual and the pandemic was not something that scared people any more, it seemed.
Most of the roundabouts in Surat have interesting sculptures and artefacts.
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