Jamnagar

I live with an Indian family in London and two of their children attend the youth club I run so when I told them about going to India, they were excited to coordinate with me to see their family in Jamnagar. Another kid in the youth club who lives on my street has family there and I met his older cousin at a restaurant while he was completing a masters degree here. I know it sounds like small connections to base a trip off of in a foreign country knowing hardly any Gujarati, but I went for it. This older cousin picked me up from the airport and took me around to see all the family members.

The city is very different than Mumbai. It is pretty quiet, small and less developed-I actually enjoyed how peaceful in seemed in contrast to the noisy, busy big city. One of the cousins who spoke some English took me around that afternoon to see the sites. We went to see Lakhota Palace in the middle of Ranmal Lake. It was very dry but come August it will be very full. The palace itself has been under renovation for years. Just nearby is Bala Hanuman temple which has had 24 hour chanting since 1964, a world record. We visited a beautiful Jain Temple with intricate carvings and art inside and out. Just across the street I had my first experience bartering/bargaining in India. It isn’t much different than in other parts of the world. I am still white and they still demand a much higher price as a result. I found a nice green bandhani silk saree. Bandhani is a unique style of tying and dyeing pieces of cotton or silk to make dots or other shapes in cloth. He started the price at Rs. 1200, I ended up getting it and two bottles of Pepsi for 800.
I loved meeting the families, telling them how their families were doing back in London. They were really interested in what I was doing there and glad to help me with some Gujarati. I know some sentences and the alphabet since I found a tutor one week before coming. So I can read and write but my vocabulary is horrible. Since I sing bhajans in Gujarati and Hindi I at least had a jump on the pronunciation. Every family welcomed me so warmly. I had brought gifts from their families in London, and they in turn had some for me to bring back to London. Half of my backpack was gifts!
Gujarati food is sweet and my favourite is malpua, like a sweet roti. The mango is in season, so I loved it. I was so full but everything tasted so good I wish I had a bigger stomach. I am pretty sure I gained 5-8kg. While I was riding around on the motorbikes with the cousins, we stopped for chai and pan (tobacco and some nuts rolled up in a leaf). With no signals, few lights and cows and dogs in the roads, you needed to honk at each intersection. Being with the families, visiting their shops and favourite places was a wonderful way to see the city.

The following morning my friend who studied in London showed me his factory. About 70-80 people work there processing metal in parts for residential and commercial electric bases. (He’ll have to help me out with remembering the details.) Sadly I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. He introduced me to the engineers, more cousins and other workers. They start by melting the brass into small but heavy bars. From there they polish, cut, shave, and drill into all sorts of part that will be packed and shipped all over India. They are also beginning to do business in Europe. It is a pretty big industry. Jamnagar is known for its metalworking, and I know hardly anything about metal so I can’t describe this very well. What I do know is that it is an intricate process that is eased by being able to purchase machines to save time and your back. After the tour, he took me to my bus. I was very thankful to have him arrange transportation for me and coordinate with my friend in Rajkot.