LEARNING A NEW WAY OF LIFE THE OLD WAY

My most unforgettable experiences are from the old-city of Amdavad. It is one of those strange yet remarkable places where one can find the most dated & historically valued 15th century structures aside unabashedly kitschy modern buildings.
The old-city is home to the “Pols” or traditional housing clusters, considered the city's tangible living heritage that boast of such stellar craftsmanship that acts as a symbol of pride in one’s craft. This spirit pervades every nook where the slightest gestures seem so meaningful & indispensable.The place is imbued with a myriad of characteristic traits, at times confusing & playful, at times predictable & at times incredibly surprising and rewarding. I savoured every minute as I spent manoeuvring about the serpentine alleyways, hoping to satiate my wanderlust at every turn. The Pols leave enough space for imagination & interpretation, and can truly inspire.
The Pol is also a testament to the joie de vivre of the Amdavadi people.The place reflects the people’s love for food, festivities, shopping, social schmoozing & the casual urban gaze. One of the spectacles here is Manek Chowk, a prominent city square, which changes from a vegetable market in the morning to a bullion market in the noon & finally into a street food plaza in the night.The concept of eating street food well past midnight, complete with tables & chairs, moon & stars, in a crowded yet intimate square in the old-city sounds so surreal in India, yet this defies all odds & boldly celebrates life & a palpable spirit of the collective. The presence of place shone through. I realize that while navigating the streets of the Pols I was also simultaneously crafting my own identity. I felt one with the place & felt extremely liberated. Also upon subsequent visits I began noticing something new or different about the very same places. They never ceased to surprise the senses. Such is the richness of ordinary life that it can't be manufactured. My poetic strolls down the lanes of the Pols gave me the chance to re-examine my own life when confronted with a new scenario & parameters. I can't wait to visit the old-city once again, to catch the lingering aroma of Gujarati sweets wafting in the air, to feel the buildings cast their shade as I walk through the narrow lanes, to watch the children scamper through secret passages & adults gossip loudly & re-discover its quirks, oddities and eccentricities, to fall in love once again, like in a long and steady marriage.