Round and About Indore
Round and About Indore
The city that never sleeps! You would think we're talking about Bombay but no, we're referring to Indore. With its sights and sounds, food streets, and people out till late night, Indore is something else!
Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor
Do you know Indore is known as Mini Bombay? And that the Indoreans are quite happy with that description? In the aspirational context it may be so, but having visited it, met innumerable local people, Team UpperCrust feels they have actually beat Bombay in certain ways. Like how friendly and warm and easy-going they are. How unmindful of difficulties, traffic congestions and mundane chores, they seem to be. Why take stress, is their mantra. Live life king-size. Tomorrow is another day. A friend, Bittu, even has a tattoo on his forearm, Carpe Diem.
It was pointed out to us that Indoreans are generally healthy. So laid-back are they, they experience the least number of heart attacks in any city of India. Oh well, if shop owners open their establishments after 10 am, some even at 12 noon, we can easily understand why. Indoreans are most happy go lucky.
Indore is the largest city of Madhya Pradesh. There is a vibrancy about it, which blends from the old to the new, tradition to modernity. So while you have chrome and glass in its swanky highrises and malls, lining broad and clean streets, with fancy eateries you also have their charming old city with red auto rickshaws and jostling jay walkers, wooden buildings, intricately carved, street-side vendors, round and abouts with busts of Ahilyabai, one of the dynamic founders of the Holkar dynasty reminding everyone about their rich cultural heritage.
That’s the main blend; traditional values and modern aspirations with emphasis on education and business. The Daly College is their crowning glory. A school set in 118 + acres, with an impressive list of students who went on to make their mark in life. Indore is among the few cities in India which has an IIT and an IIM as well as a super medical college, MGM.
So why the parallel with Bombay? Predominantly, its bustling nature and diverse population. You have Rajasthanis, Gujaratis, Marwadis, Sindhis, Maharashtrians, North Indians... And of course it's culinary scene, especially street food, where it beats Bombay, hollow. Chappan Dukan and Sarafa Bazaar are folklores here. But you will read about that in the pages that follow. Suffice it is for now to know that some of the best namkeen, savoury snacks, come from this city and that it accounts for one third of India’s production. We visited, on local recommendation, a shop called Apna Sweets, en route to the airport, and went pretty much berserk. Bought all we could carry back. They house over a 100 snacks and as many sweets. Mysore pak and sohan halwa blew our minds!
Traffic is bad in Indore. Working people have no choice but to dive into it, but most others shy away from going out during office or peak hours. Yes, the congestion can have you sweating it out even in air-con cars! But the Ring Road and the Bypass Road do help in easing the situation. However, the growing city is expanding its infrastructure to improve traffic flow and connectivity. The Metro which is in the making as of now, will start at some point late next year, something Indore is waiting for.
This is a city which is certainly on the move. It has a dynamic economy, fastest growing in all of India. While the textile industry, which was once the backbone of Indore’s economy, does remain one of the largest hubs of the nation, it is giving way to a variety of manufacturing sectors. The Pithampur Industrial Area houses over 1200 industrial units, earning it the moniker, Detroit of Madhya Pradesh. Incidentally, they even have a New York City in Indore. Curiously when we enquired about the signage that we saw in passing on the Outer Road, we learnt it was a large colony, new of course, with a huge Statue of Liberty at the entrance. Cute.
But what do tourists do when they visit Indore? That is, apart from enjoying culinary feasts? Well, for starters, there is Lalbagh. It is said to resemble Buckingham Palace and was the Holkar residence till 1978. A bit further down is the Rajwada Palace, the centuries-old residence of the Holkars and adjoining that, just around the corner is the museum.
There is also the beautiful Kanch Mandir, which we have dealt with in detail along with the Spice Market, also known as Marothia Bazaar, in its vicinity. There are many temples as well, like Annapurna, Shree Khajrana Ganesh, Bada Ganpati, and the Krishnapura Chhatris, intricately carved in stone memorials, for members of the Holkar dynasty.
Shopping can be fun in Indore, there is the famous Kothari Market which stretches for miles. Hundreds of shops, big and small, starting with electronics leading on to clothes, utensils, stationery and so forth. All one after another, offering huge choices. We saw shops loaded with air coolers, not the awful plastic kind, but huge machines which replace normal air-conditioners. These work only in dry climatic places and would be a disaster in Bombay. They blow out air which is soft, cool, humid and so old-fashioned if you add some khus concentrate to the water tank.
You could also visit the Yeshwant Club should you know a member. It's where the rich and the famous of Indore gather. For lunches and dinners, to gym and to party. And to discuss who bought the latest Ferrari. Hmm… Indoreans love their cars. Porches are passe. Mercedes and Audis
are everyday cars. Lamborghinis are in. These are boys which belong to the Super Car Club.
Have fun Indore, we love you.