HALF A DAY'S JOURNEY - DANDI KUTIR

Life of discovery to some and rediscovery to others

A day with self. Driving with no serious objective, onward with the pleasant monsoon winds, though the not so green pastures of the concrete jungle I chanced upon the thought of taking the road towards the green city of the Gujarat also the states capital. Had expected rather in all honest - had not expected anything that would make me thing. Rethink to a certain level, rather.

So what was this half a day with self all about. The objective was clear - to have a fair time with self and see if would be lucky enough to see some bounties of nature. Through the drive, having traversed through the rumblings and the madness of the twin cities it was interesting to note that for some reason everything that was passing by was getting filtered in the depths of my mind and my thoughts at a very abnormally slow pace. Possibly, I believe, it had a lot to do with the pleasant atmosphere that was visible all around. The darker clouds of monsoon were able to allow some glancing light pass through the radiant sun that lay behind them.

This journey for me was in totality a long drawn opportunity to spend some time with the many things or places I wanted to have an exposure since some time now but would let all opportunities pass where could have exploited it out.

My drive was towards Dandi Kutir, Mahatma Mandir, as it is also referred as. Once having reached the location I was impressed by the fact that the twin towers of the towering windmills were the first set that the eyes reached upon. A different structure than what had seen windmills generally to be like in the many journeys that had been through in the recent and further past on the numerous pockets of the coastal areas of this home state of mine. This structure was such for a very evident reason. Not only was it there such to create this initial awe but was in fact with them there was a suspension bridge that leads to a conical pyramid kind of a structure which when i reached turned out to be the famed Dandi Kutir.

A lot desired over the parking management at the venue, I moved around a bit to get a comfortable location to safely park my beast without having to be worried about possibly having any regulations or laws getting broken. The task at hand allowed me to circle around the structures to be impressed by the high source of greenery and open wide roads brought about. It also allowed me the pleasure to understand that the structures were in essence three independent units having three different objectives but connected in a manner to engage the thought of being one single wholesome entity.

Once having reached within the Goliath of the infrastructure that was in front of me, the next thing in mind was the impressive layered structure that was opening itself like a blooming flower. The circumference around the main unit that houses the museum has intricately created periphery of landscaped lawns followed by a water body. The walkway created as seen in the seamless pictorial is able to showcase a feeling of being around a beautiful place not as densely populated as most of the arcades built for community usage. It gives a fair view of the grandeur that such places are supposed to incite within the beholder.

People, mostly comprising of youngsters and a few families with young ones adorn the landscape making full utility of the water body and the suspension bridge as well as the landscaped lawns to have a hearty bonding family time. Glancing upon all the beautifying aspects that the wholesome structure had to offer and then glancing upon the primary conical pyramid in front, easily brought emotive best in many of these living bodies those were there to experience something equally different as themselves.

The journey towards the main attraction within the pyramid was in slots that run on specific timelines. This resulted in a lot of mismanagement on the booking counter with most of the ticketing process being done through manual bookkeeping of the visitors. The attendant given this task seemed high on low productivity which was a soar blot on the expansive experience of the place. Here I ended up giving a 2 out of 10 to the experience which subtracted a lot of awe that had been built as yet since having reached the place almost an hour back.

Making use of the available time until the entry time for my slot I glanced upon the entire structure and started walking around it, going westward to encircling the full facade of the structure from various angles and places. This mild walk around helped bring back the positivity back looking at the beauty with which each and every aspect that was making this puzzle seem so very interesting. A lot of great angles through which I could frame various angles and create for self a great mind image for looking into at a later date. The lens of my DSLR only added to the creation of these mind frames.

Now having found my way within and the primary structure being looked at from within was jaw dropping of sorts. What I had not expected was a structure created within the conical pyramid which housed an experience which I had not expected. Everything that I looked at was seemingly more interesting than what I had possibly pictured before reaching the final destination. A bit of waiting before the final show starts.

And finally the show starts. The people accumulated for the slot are now escorted as a single batch to a room to have the audit guides issued to each individual. The audio guide was something that not many people who had possibly been to many similar places of history, would have seen till this experience. This included me as well. Till date what I remember of historically significant places was either large swathes of crowds or possibly none with no information available to know the things on display in so minute detailing as what was about to follow. I was impressed as to how this piece of tech was being used to create an experience that not many people would forget any time soon. As one was escorted through the various floors and rooms that were created to have different forms of storytelling being done to incite understanding of the events that happened in those yesteryear's of the freedom fight as well as the life teachings and learnings that people of that gone era transitioned through. Some of the depictions and life stories are interesting enough to incite a sense of thought among the visitors provided the viewing points are taken in as individual morsels and not gorged upon as a singular mix.

The inner sanctum created is rich in visualization, storytelling and inciting the feeling of pride as well as inspiration in the same breath. A brief discussion with the attendants helped me learn that the discourse on this audio guide would be just a tad above 80 minutes. By the time I was done with most of it and had reached back out I had easily crossed over 120 minutes window and also realizing that some exhibits I had crossed over faster due to possibly high number of individuals involved with the exhibits. Certain other times i had noticed that the audio guides would have cross over midway and ignored it as a possible error of the device to later realize that at every individual exhibit the closure point was a specific beep which the initial attendant had missed informing the visitors about leading to possibly many among them having similar confusion as I. Or possibly it was not a lack of initiation but rather a habit they got into to have the slots through which people were being sent in, not getting crossover effect and resulting in commotion with the controlled environment of the museum. Anyhow, this piece of information should be used smartly to help the visitors be made aware so the full power of each storytelling experience is ingrained and enjoyed by the psyche of the visiting patrons. Now that I reminisce upon it I can for sure conclude that this piece of information would help a lot of first time users of the audio guide experience.

Outside, once I reached, I was greeted well in time with a fresh bout of seasonal rains helping the landscape open up its green arms and mother nature having great atmosphere and beauty lined up for the assimilation of the happy mind. The greenery, open spaces, the water, the experience altogether coming to leave a lasting imprint on the mind. A day well spent, rather half a day; enough to rejuvenate but a full week ahead, if not more.