Photos Men talk on the sidewalk in Anjar,
It was during 1965 that I was given responsibility to repair some of the vehicles of Electrical Party of ONGC. Mr. K N Bhave the Party Chief posted me with this responsibility in Kutch. These vehicles were lying in Adipur- A new township developed under SRC ( Sindhu Resettlement Corporation ).. In fact, Gandhidham, Kandla Port and few other small towns were developed in this region of Kutch to resettle the Sindhi refugees from Pakistan.
Myself, my wife, Sushma and our assistant Surendra took this journey from DehraDun to ADIPUR; This was our first journey in Gujarat. It was a night journey from PALANPUR to Gandhidham, most of it through the Rann of Kutch. For the first time, we tasted the delicacies of Gujarati meal at Palanpur; so many dishes with little of Jaggri mixed in all the dishes. Reached Gandhidham early in the morning from where we took another train to ADIPUR. Got down at a very small railway station without any sign of any kind of help or transport to take us and our baggage to ONGC office. God sent, Mr.Sahani ( Mr Sahni was In charge of Adipur office of ONGC) came there for some official work; He saw us helpless, was kind and nice enough to take us to the office. Not knowing anything about the place , I was in a fix as what to do next. We took shelter in the Stores of ONGC for the night. Next day arranged , one room accommodation with a Muslim worker of Kandla Port ; Stayed for a few days then moved to Jain Colony, Juna ANJAR with the vehicles, drivers- Bhairav Singh, Bhim Bahadur amd auto mechanic , Chet Ram. With altogether a different culture from Sindhi dominated region with the old traditional Gujaratis/Kutchhis over here. It was very different kind of experience living in Sindhi culture and especially in the township near to a very busy Kandla Port.
davendrak 