14 Hours For 30 Minutes.
Gujarat is a dry state, and by that, I mean it’s truly dry, hot city with no sign of moisture in the air or in the bottles. But one morning, when my fellow Gujarat traveling associate decided work was more fun on the last day of the trip than staring at the statue, I took it upon myself to witness the fuss over the world’s largest statue.
Little did I know over the next 14 hours I would hop on a train, miss a train, dart across the city in a rickshaw, hitchhike on a bike thanks to a cop, board two buses that seem to be in no rush, suffer a cab journey only to endure a flight that tested every ounce of my patience.
This is my story of how I took 5 different modes of transport to cover a distance of close to 500 Kms, just to spend 30 whole minutes at the worlds largest statue.
7:55 AM : Ahmedabad Train Station.
Never dismiss the joy and simplicity of a train journey. The rushes of childhood come alive during these journeys : those random halts, the sound of changing tracks, the ever-changing landscapes, the joy of passing through cities, towns, and villages, and of course, the excitement of local food. The journey was seamless and clean, and I arrived at a spanking-new and extremely clean station: Ekta Nagar.
11:05 : Depart for Statue of Unity From Ekta Nagar Station
As soon as you exit the station, you will be welcomed by a series of electric buses ready to take you, all clean and prompt was a welcome change. The crowd barged in and in about 20 mins into the drive you get the first glimpse of the statue.
11:22 AM : The Race Begins.
So this is where the chaos kicks in, after deboarding the bus I was informed that I had to take the 12 PM bus back to Vadodara to make it in time for the 3:55 PM train back to Ahmedabad. Google Maps Timeline will provide proof that I spent the next 35 minutes sprinting across the place to reach the statue, which is nestled 1 Kms from the enterace. There was a long line at the security point is where I lost close to 10 mins coz the security check was slow, lazy and thorough.
11:40 AM : Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Statue.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is widely recognized as the “Iron Man of India” for his leadership in ensuring that over 500 princely states joined the Indian Union, which was key to maintaining the unity and integrity of India post-independence. The statue needless is huge and all you can think of how those 2000 Crs would have been better utilised.
While these statues are seen as representing unity and peace, the Statue of Unity is often criticised for being a divisive political symbol, with the government needing to overshadow Congress and Nehru’s contributions. Not to mention the local displacement and land acquisition issues that plagued the construction of the statue.
11:45 PM : Beautiful Narmada River
The Statue of Unity is located near the Sardar Sarovar Dam, which is built on the Narmada River. There are water activities that you can indulge in if you do not more than 30 minutes with you.
11:57 AM : Back at the Bus Stop
I was loving the set up so far until there was a slight deviation from the plan. There is a designated stop for the Gujurat local buses to pick up commuters from, but no one is present to offer any clarity on the bus timings or any available information. All the staff informed me was to wait there and hope the bus would arrive on time.
Now let me address why I was in a rush to be back to Vadodara before 4 PM. Simple coz the only train which goes back to Ahmedabad would leave the Ekta Nagar was at 9 Pm and since my flight was to leave at 10 PM I found myself in a spot to ensure I was there for my train on time.
The wait continued in the heat for 36 minutes before I decided to take action and find myself a route to the nearest bus depot
12:29 : An Auto and Bus Drive Later
It took me 2 modes of transport and 25 minutes finally reach the bus depot of the town of Ekta Nagar.
12:54 : At the Ekta Nagar Bus Depot
The bus depot was straight what you would expect form the depot. There was no one to tend to, the language about the bus schedule was written in Gujrati which caused a slight inconvenience to others because I approached them for translation. The conclusion. Anytime between 2 PM — 2 : 15 Pm would a bus appear to go to Vadodara. So now wit 30 minutes left I took off to grab a meal and some water since I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before.
1:10 PM : Met S.S. Tadvi
Tadvi was working for the Gujrat police force and was taking a break from the patrolling due to the heat. When I found him, he was unwinding underneath the shade of the tree. I struck a conversation about bus timings, lack of help and more improtantly water and a meal. I think he understood just the last bit because he immediately offered to take me to a place for a quick meal. I was legit taken aback with the kind gesture, he had every right to just provide me markets and fend for myself. But he went above and beyond to offer me a drop. And off we went with the promise that he would be back to pick me up. I was apprehensive about this commitment simply because why would he ?
1:16 Pm : Go where the locals are !
In food culture, there is a famous saying that always go where you see locals eat at coz thats your best bet of an authentic meal. So when I entered this unassuming place, little did I understand the food to be served would be one of the simples and tasties ones I would be trying in the state of Gujrat. This lady was unbothered about the crowd building and getting impatient about the “slowness”, served the meal. We did not share the same language, but the word Thali was understood and off she went to set mine up.
The meal was simple, clean and filled with flavors. Had an absolute joy going at the accompaniments, my favorite was the pickle made from a combination of raw carrot, mangoes and chilli powder. I had a very good generous serving of it which gave her the ick because “yeh sab ke liye hain”.
1:40 Pm : Return Of The Police.
While eating I was plotting my way back because I did not want to walk in 34C heat for 10 minutes to reach the bus depot. While deciding that, in entered Tadvi. A short bike journey later I was in the depot, I thank him with all my heart while offering him some money/water/meal but he declined and we took a picture to freeze this kind encouter. Wishing him nothing but the best.
1:55 Pm : Arrival Of The Government Bus
Finally, the bus to Vadodara arrived in all its glory, with heads hanging out for air, luggage clinging to the top, and an engine that reminded you of an airplane. But with only two hours to reach the station and make it to the railway station, I had no choice but to hop on.
3:32 PM : Realising the train is going to be missed.
So when the bus started at 2 PM, I was hoping for a miracle that I would make it for the 3:55 PM train. I was hoping that the bus would just cover time and reach it’s destination 5 mintues earlier than it’s designated time but alas at 3:32 Pm I would be late by a whooping 60 seconds and the additional time it would take for me to make it to platform 3. Either ways I quickly made peace and started planning my next journey via the bus.
4:32 PM : Onboard another bus to Ahmedabad.
So, after I made peace with missing the train and enduring a shorter journey, I waited for 20 minutes to board a bus with air conditioning. This journey, though longer, was at least a welcome change from the previous bus. But the traffic in Ahmedabad would soon instil feelings of pain and anger again in a couple of hours.
7:44 PM : Journey Of A Lifetime Back To The Ashram.
When the autoricksaw driver is not speaking to someone on the phone, would you want to guess who they are speaking to ? Well it’s none other than you the passenger. This guy had a gift of talking and my splitting head would not have the energy to tell him to shut up as well. This guy spoke about short cuts and this route took me longer than the one maps had laid out, but neverthless I was too tired and hungry to speak.
8:10 PM : Hunger strikes.
The lunch was filling, but hunger had struck, and I was feeling light-headed from all the heat-filled travel, so I had to make an emergency stop to have one last meal before dashing to the airport. I offered the driver a deal: he could make a stop, and in return, I would offer him some of my snacks. We went for vada pav, dabeli, and a Chinese puff for my snack. It was filling and extremely unhealthy, which made it beautifully delicious.
8:24 PM : Heading for the airport
A quick shower later, I headed to the airport, where I made it just in time for my baggage to be checked in. While I had been there before at the AMD airport, I’m not sure if the renovation was completed, but this time it felt a lot prettier, cleaner, and a tad bit more spacious.
950 PM : Flight Delayed Because It’s Air India.
After all the chaos, the flight was delayed by 45 minutes because it hadn’t arrived yet. After exploring the beautiful airport, relaxing, and coming to terms with everything that had happened during the trip, I finally boarded the flight. We took off around 10:30 PM, but hey, they made it up by offering extra sandwiches along with the meal. The mother next to me offered me her mango yogurt, which I accepted a minute after she offered it to me. Overall, I won’t complain because I saved that for my next bit.
12:23 AM : The luggage Delay
After a smooth and tummy filling flight, when I saw 2 other flights had their luggages to be cleared before getting to our flight I could smell trouble.
1: 09 PM : Finally baggage.
I usually don’t get into arguments, but this really tested my patience. Just two bags were delayed, and one of them was mine because they had mistakenly sent it to the internal transfer section for another boarding flight. Now, I don’t understand how this happened or why it happened, but sometime after 1 PM, I spotted my bag coming my way, and the relief was nothing short of the relief you get when you empty a completely full bladder.
1:48 AM : An Empty Gold Course Road Welcome
Rarely have I seen this strech devoid of any vehicular moment, but we zipped through the empty GGN roads I was just happy to be back.
1:56 AM : Home Sweet Home
Finally made it back home and squished the heck out of my cat, who was busy complaining about no one being there to take care of him. What started as a quick trip turned out to be one of the most nerve-wracking days, but it finally came to an end. And I was happy for it — happy for the people I met, the transports I took that I wouldn’t have ideally chosen, and the food I would have missed out on. In the end, it all worked out well.
