Pankil's old neighborhood, the Central Library, the temple, this lake, the Central Market, the buildings below and the vegetable market, are all within a few blocks of each other, near the Center of the City of Vododara.
(When the Brits arrived in India, there were some place names that were hard for the Brits to pronounce, and so, they basically "renamed them for convenience". Mumbai was changed to "Bombay" for example, and for that reason, you sometimes hear Vadodara referred to as "Baroda". Bombay has been officially changed back to Mumbai, but Vadodara still deals with both names.)
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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After running errands mid-day, Pankil and I returned to the city center in the afternoon, to see the Central Market. We parked near the edge of Sur Sagar Lake, with its 150 ft statue of Lord Shiva in its center. Our parking spot was only a couple of blocks from the Central Market, but crossing the river of traffic in such busy Indian streets can be very dangerous for the uninitiated (me) and so Pankil suggested that we catch one of the (absolutely millions of) "Auto-Rickshaws" that putter around every street and highway in India. We took it for a quick spin around the lake, and over to the market (and let it navigate the street crossings).
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Old gringo in an "Auto" (Auto-Rickshaw)
Now, there are plenty of places around the world where I pay extra attention to my wallet when in a crowded place, even in the good ol' USA, so when Pankil told me to put wallet and cell phone in front pockets, I was already there.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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A very crowded place on a Sunday afternoon, this is where folks come to shop for all sorts of things, clothes, shoes, just about anything a family might need.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The hundreds of small family owned shops line several small blocks of very narrow, very crowded streets.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Keep your wits about you...you are constantly encountering folks driving motorcycles, winding their way through the crowds...if one hits you, it's your problem.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The "Garlic Lady" pulls her cart into the edge of the market.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Basically, all the buildings once built by the King are now publicly owned, and are used for hospitals, schools, colleges, government offices, etc.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Pankil's dad worked in this one as an Auditor, retiring a few years ago. If you walk through the archway, through an iron fence with a special gate that let's humans in and keeps cows out, you wind up in a popular...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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...vegetable market. Pankil says a man with a cart comes through the neighborhood, selling vegetables house-to-house for daily needs (I suppose business must be pretty good with more than half of the people in the area of Vadodara being strict vegetarians !).
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The moms then come down to the central market to buy bigger quantities, when stocking up for holidays, etc.
So, that pretty much wraps up my first India Trip. We were off to visit a refinery the next day, and in the afternoon I caught the plane to Mumbai, connecting on to home. I say "the plane" because the airport in Vadodara is very small. It's funny, because you don't get that impression out front, or in the ticketing hall, but as you pass through security, you see that the gates are right there, and the plane is just outside. (yes, "the", it was a 737-size Airbus, but it was the only aircraft on the tarmac at the time).
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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(Lady Liberty, taken from the harbor ferry on an earlier trip)
My connection from Mumbai was New York-Liberty Airport (actually in Newark, New Jersey, just across the river from New York, a technicality...). What I enjoy about landing at "Liberty" is that the Statue of Liberty stands out in the harbor, not more than a half-mile from the runway. As you approach (when landing from the North), and if you are sitting on the Right Side of the aircraft, you are looking out to the East, as you fly the length of Manhattan Island, with a great view of the skyline. But the best part is, just as you are about to land, you can catch a quick view of the Statue, standing out there to greet you. For me, that feels like "home".
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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This trip, I was landing just before dawn, but I was still able to pick out Lady Liberty, out there in the haze. I couple of minutes after landing, I walked down to some large windows and had a nice view of the new Freedom Tower, standing where the World Trade Center's Twin Towers used to be.
Y'all take care now,
- Mark W. Laughlin
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