It was in 1985, when I first came to Ahmedabad from my village with my father. On reaching the Geetamandir bus stand at around 9.30 in the morning, dad asked me, "Would you like to have some breakfast, son?" Walking from there he took me to the Aastodia Darwaza and my journey in this wonderful city started.

A completely new city and a beautiful morning, this proved to be a 'new morning' in my life. Reaching 'Chandravilas' dad said to me, "This is my most favourite place. When I was undergoing the training for a primary teacher at the Premchand Raichand training college, me and my friends used to visit this place very often to have the delicious 'Faafda and Jalebis'. Today, we father and son will enjoy the same." And that day I experienced the real Amdavad, the Amdavadi’s and the Amdavadi taste. It was indescribable experience, both gastronomically and culturally, and from that day I became an Amdavadi.

Recently on the completion of my Amdavad's 600 years, like other Amdavadi's, my heart also danced to celebrate this moment, this auspicious day. So how can 'Ahmedabad Mirror' remain apart from this celebration? They too decided to sing the songs of glory of Ahmedabad and decided to hold an art exhibition in its honour. Several artists like me accepted this idea whole heartedly. With just one phone call from Ahmedabad Mirror and I happily showed my consent and told them that I would create my best work and try to clear my debt towards Amdavad; which is so much that it is almost impossible to clear." I know many interesting stories about Amdavad and its heritage and so I was in a great confusion about the subject I should work on for the Ahmedabad Mirror Art Show. Anilbhai (Anil Relia) understood my consfusion and called me to discuss a few of my ideas. Finally he guided in this direction. He said, "Nabibakhsh, paint the faafda-jalebis." This came to me as a cherry on my cake. All of a sudden the taste of faafda and jalebi’s started to tickle my tongue.

The Sabarmati river, the Amdavadi culture, the monuments in the painting, are all who have witnessed Amdavad growing, they have all seen Amdavad blossom. Just like them, the favourite snack of all Amdavadi’s, faafda and jalebi, has also witnessed the same. This thought became the soul of my painting.

A while back my father made me experience this Amdavadi taste of faafda-jalebis, and today I'm making my children, Moobin & Mansoor, experience the same taste. Hoping that these two would further pass on this taste and experience to their children and so on.

I always wonder how many generations have witnessed this taste & experience, and of how many more generations will continue it further. This taste is also our heritage; and in this painting I have tried to convey the same. An old man and a young boy are seen having their best time, eating faafda & jalebi spread on a newspaper. In the background the river Sabarmati is swinging in its full mood, the river which has always remained a witness of this. Ellis bridge - joining two ends, joining generations, joining the two cities is seen. The newspaper which serves all interesting news is also enjoying the delicious faafda-jalebi. On the upper right corner of the painting, I'm seen enjoying the hot-hot 'cutting' tea along with my own Amdavad.  You can also see a foreigner, generously watching the magnanimity of Amdavad, this whole legacy. He's trying to capture this taste of Amdavad in his digital camera; hoping that he will spread this legacy back in his country.

I had these faafda-jalebi's with my dad, and now I'm having these with my children. This legacy has been going on for centuries and I hope that is goes for many more centuries. The people dining there will change, the time will change, but the taste will remain the same as ever for centuries; of the faafda's, of the jalebi's, of the papaya scraping, of the 'kadhi', and of the fried chilies!

I'm very thankful to 'Ahmedabad Mirror' for providing me with a wonderful chance of creating a work through which I was able to express all my good wishes to my very own Amdavad. I wish that my Amdavad will always be on the path of progress, its pride and dignity remains intact forever, and that there always is peace in my Amdavad. I would like to thank the very enthusiastic Anurita Rathore and the 'Ahmedabad Mirror' editor Pankaj Upadhyay for organizing such a wonderful exhibition.

Congratulations for their success!

View details of my work here

Newspaper Clippings of the show

The opening of the exhibition "A Day at Nathdwara" at the AMDAVAD NI GUFA on March 10th. 2010 was big success. Over 300 art enthusiasts, friends and art lovers were present at the event.

Here is what the artist Anuj Ambalal writes about the show and his experiences.

Everything about Nathdwara fascinates me. This quaint little town near Udaipur has all it takes to capture my imagination. A seeming chaos is what welcomed me as I entered the town for the first time as a kid. But over the years as I rambled along the narrow sinuous streets - without trying to decipher its randomness, the magic started to unveil.

This temple town comes across as a place bumbling with people and a flurry of activity. But then, as I wandered around exploring it, I experienced a strange feeling of stillness - almost timelessness - about it. I was struck by this duality and it eventually became bit of a challenge to depict it through photography - especially when I have had no formal training of the medium.

Another interesting aspect about the place is the panache with which its people use an array of strong vibrant contrasting colours around them. All around the town the walls of houses and temples are decorated with inconspicuous frescos & religious graffitis. These combined with its unique and distinct architectural idiom has successfully created an amazingly tactile, dynamic and a touching visual experience. And It is the ease and playfulness with which the people have derived such high aesthetics is something that never fails to amaze me.

Three years back I started taking photographs of the town with an intention to document it and also to capture these subtle nuances that form the core of the Nathdwara aesthetics. This exhibition is an attempt to relive that visual experience.

Press Coverage from the exhibition:

An article from DNA After Hrs. (Ahmedabad) - March 11th, 2010 (PDF 212.65 kb)

An article in Gujarati from Divya Bhaskar Ahmedabad (PDF 299.22 kb)

A glimpse of our forthcoming exhibition of photographs

A Day at Nathdwara

by

Anuj Ambalal

 Gaushala - I (2010)

More details coming soon...