Just. Rust & Dust - Saurashtra. Gujarat.

Saurashtra or Kathiawar, the southwestern part of Gujarat includes the districts of Rajkot, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Amreli, Surendranagar, and some portions of Ahmedabad. This peninsula is shared with the Kachchh region. The territory of Saurashtra, including that of the former kingdom of Sorath or Junagadh, is now part of the state of Gujarat.

 “Where is vhau (daughter-in-law)?” ask 74 year old Prem Ba, mother of our neighbor-and-relative, Harishbhai. I smile and respond, “all is well Ba, how are you?” 

Every time I go to my village, Daltungi, I feel and realise the essence of small, minute things and rituals, which in modern world are referred as formalities. Time seems to flow smoothly as early morning slips into late, then into a peaceful afternoon, where it feels the entire village becomes a single home and everyone takes rest. The noon awakens with smell of boiling tea with condiments that add flavor to a typical Gujarati or dare I say, a Kachchi tea. 

The evening with its soft tone color shades transforms into a night where stars are visible, shining. My mother and I made it a ritual to walk 5 kms towards the closest railway station, Modhpur, passing fields of cotton on both sides and invariably bumping into habitants who offered us glass of fresh milk by milking the buffalo right there. Small things continue to impact me, this time through the measure of a glass – a saucer, which is a distinct unit of measure for teas and milks across the tea-milk stalls. We drove across the dry land into the land of Krishna - Dwarka, Beth Dwarka, then to the historic Somnath temple, the Gir Forest and eventually the Junagadh pilgrimage where climbing 9, 999 steps barefoot was more an adventure than to worship the Jain temples, Devis and God Dattatrey. Poor Narubhai and Haribhai were dragged in too, but they couldn’t thank me enough for the experience and especially for their memorabilia – picture with a foreign lady. The lions at Gir forest didn’t disappoint me considering that we had only half and hour with us to visit them. A marriage night aint a small thing for any family and witnessing celebrations on the night before marriage was even satisfying to watch how simple it is to celebrate. 

I visited my village only the previous year after a gap of 20 years and yet, my connect with its soil, memories and culture came rushing to me and hugged me tight and close. A hug, after all, is a small thing, a small start to any relationship.