Rich life of Ahmedabad, in its own words

Ahmedabad: What makes the potpourri called Ahmedabad? Who are its people? To be an Amdavadi means to be part of the confetti of strangely merging worlds, a profusion of identities with sharply defined stories — but stories merging to form a common narrative called Ahmedabad. In a new colourful book titled “People called Ahmedabad,” released on Saturday, architect Nisha Nair-Gupta through 17 writers explores the intangible idea of the 600-year-old city.

One story relates to Praveen Patel who tries to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals, does the Prabhat Feri on his bicycle, and is a daily visitor to the Gandhi Ashram. But he admits that he is not a Gandhian. Then there is a story of a story-teller: the munjawar (caretaker) at the tomb of sultan Ahmed Shah — the city’s sounder — who enthralls people with his mystical tales. There is also the story of a Parsi woman, Gulabi bai who received Gulbai Tekra, now Ahmedabad’s Hollywood, as dowry and allowed nomads from Rajasthan to settle there for a token rent.

Taraben, another person figuring in the book, dreamt in her childhood of playing badminton for India but could achieve it only at the age of 56 when she represented the country in a badminton tournament in Sweden. The book is an anthology of 55 stories. “We intend to revisit history, demography, and sociological structures through intimate reading,” Nisha said. “And the reason why we have 17 writers contributing to the book is to reinforce the idea of the plurality of a city.” She said that the book is non-conclusive, “Why should an exercise like enthnographic mapping be always scholarly?” she said. “The purpose of this exercise is to map the city through its narratives and effectively use them in the city’s planning to give a more personalized feel.”