The Hot Gujrati Sun

I am now in Gujrat, the Westernmost state in India, just North of Maharashtra.  I came to my father's childhood friend's place in Bardoli.  It's a small town near the city of Surat.  Surat is know for diamond cutting and polishing and textile manufacturing.  It's a very industrial town with polluted air.  Bardoli, by contrast is pretty rural, it has just one big industry and that is the co-op sugar factory, the largest in Asia.

My father's friend runs a hospital with his wife, two sons and their wives.  They also run a 35 acre farm, in the neighboring village, Utara, named after Shivagi's stopping off during a campain.  The farm was originally intended to supply the farm but now also produces enough to turn a profit.  We hit the farm early in the morning, but not early enough to spot local peacocks.  We took the kids and harvested some fruit until the sun got too intense.  They grow mangoes, sugar cane, custard apple, and an assortment of vegetables.

I explored the town on my own and found it refreshing to be in a small slow paced town.  People are much friendlier, relaxed and curious than in big Asian cities that are used to tourists and scrounging for tourist dollars.  It's also really cool to be in a place that I know the local language, as broken as my Gujrati is, I can still just get by.