The city never sleeps is a claim that belongs to Madurai and some other select locations in the world; but is equally apt for Surat- the diamond and saree heartland of India. The Surtis are a proud and wealthy lot who have been demanding their very own international airport, very own cricket stadium, and what not ( so far they have not asked for their very own parliament )

All through the 24 hours, you can hear the clattering of the power looms weaving out dreams in myriad colours, designs and vehicles transporting them to the different units for further processing. It all starts with bundles of useless piece of plain dull grey or white fabric that we generally would not even touch or cast a look. This undergoes many processes like bleaching, printing, dyeing, polishing, chumki and stone work on Chinese machinery and suddenly a beautiful saree that vies for page 3 party wear emerges.. The city is full of numerous huge multitoreyed marketing complexes with atleast 200 whole sale saree shops in each. Visit two or three buildings and you’ve seen everything.

The synthetic sarees are more suited to ladies from north including Gujarat and Rajasthan. Even a Rs.300 saree on them looks great when compared on southies; The sarees perch themselves snugly on the perfect inverted hyperbolic curves that we call as hips. For having perfected the numerous mathematical equations that go into making these beautiful curves , I give Brahma a 100/100 in maths.

The traditional Gujarati thali served in hotels are elaborate. It begins with an array of atleast 4 starters with unlimited servings. The moment you touch the last piece of a variety of starter on your plate, the next one is served. You don’t need to wait or ask for the next one. The swiftness is a trademark of the  Gujarati thali. This is followed by Puri,  tava roti and a thick stuffed short bread . There are 3 side dishes –a potato one, a white channa one ,and a tomato-sev dish all bathed in an oil water liquid broth with masala. There is a fourth dish which varies upon the seasonal vegetable, All meals are accompanied with butter milk. Basmati rice follows with dal or kadhi and curd. I have never seen curd going well with basmati. Dessert consists of thick pulpy aam ras (mango juice) during the season or home made fresh super thick yummy shrikand loaded with lot of grapes and date fruit pieces. This is the one that lends the lingering taste and the heaviness to the otherwise light meal when compared to the Punjabi thali.

Navaratri is the most important festival spanning 9 days. The garbha and dandiya dances begin at about 8 PM to 10 PM and extend upto 1 AM daily. All People including kids, dance daily and still attend work /schools and colleges during the day. You can see girls whirring alone on the scooters even at midnight without fear during this period. The songs and beats are a class on it own  and can even force a non dancer to tap the foot or shake the legs. The brightly coloured cotton dresses  with lot of embroidery, mirror, chunky and stone work accompanied by the heavy metal rural jewellery are a sight to behold

During ones lifetime, there are few things that has to be seen without which life is not complete on earth.  Taj on a cloudless full moon night, a bathe in the Ganges, a trip to Mecca for the muslims etc. watching live dandiya for atleast one night during Navratri in Gujarat gets added to the list. 

The dandiya grounds in Pune nowadays are fully crowded even at Rs. 500 a ticket. There is hardly space to move during the dances ( Dont get shocked -I am only a viewer). I get the dandiya dresses for geetha from the Satellite area in Ahmedabad. A set including the jewellery starts at about Rs.1000/- Minute diamond studded noodle strapped  cholis are the way  Surtis like to show off their wealth and individuality.

Surat is one place to work, shop, dine & enjoy.