I live to learn...... eat and ofcourse earn... Review on Ahmedabad

Welcome to Gujarat - and two of it's locations - Ahmedabad and Baroda.

I am an ART STUDENT and this was my first trip to Gujarat to visit the art colleges and institutes there but little did I know that it would be not only educative but unbeleivably Fabulous experience. An experience which was positive, refreshing and might I add very fulfilling ( 'coz I had so much to eat....). and I reached today morning at 6 am and just couldnt wait to write about it to MS.. SO let me begin -

Firstly there were 4 of us ( Kunal , Reeja , Sania and me - TD ). The whole trips idea was given to us by our '' GURU '' Sir Ashis Das an artist from heart and soul , he has done his masters from Shantiniketan and he keeps guiding us on our field of study with whose help we have truly learnt a lot more and with his blessings will continue doing so forever.

We got only one train the Ahmedabad passenger ( it takes abt 14 hrs to reach Ah'bad - I know ) but you know what, even a train like that seems to brighten up your spirits when you have friends with you who are so full of life ( Thanks Buddies ).

We reached Ahmedabad on 22-11-05 morning 5 am and our Very dear friend Venkat was right there with his vehicle to take us to our Hotel - AAram ( dont go by the name.. it sounds wierd but it was a cool place to be ) we checked in .. got fresh and left for the HOLY SHRINE - NID - National Institute of Design. The place was awesome, the people were friendly, the faculties and staff were very helpful in guiding us through all the departments and studios there and the whole experience was superb. We got to learn so many new things, meet so many fresh talents and the location of NID just inspires you to be as creative as possible... filled with lush greenery and water flowing via sprinklers , fountains etc... it was awesome.

We came back to our hotel, took rest and had lunch at a place where they served authentic Gujarati Thali and by god it was scumptuous. ( Rs.55 /- Unlimited - worth every cent ) just a little too sweet for me.. but hey its gujarat.... yeah! Then venkat and '' The Gang '' left for a great nite out. We visited the khadi shop, parks, the lakes beautiful sprinklers and colourful fountains there. The city was very clean at least all the places we had been to.

Then we went to 4 / eleven the ultimate place for an awesome variety of '' godd o'l Junk with great quality food '' Pizzas n soups n garlic bread n brownies all unlimited just for Rs.100/- we hung out there for a loooong time and had a blast. Finally we went to cept, architectural colleges and other art institutes in and around that place and checked out their art works, their wall paintings, brick texture works and those life size greek / gothic style paintings and it was out of this world.

Finally we headed for The '' DRIVE - IN '' and saw what - I actually dont remember the movies name .. '' Ek haseen......'' nyways we had so much fun there just out below the starry sky wih fireflies n shooting stars ( two of them ) and it just kept getting better. We got back at our hotel around 2 am and checked out the next morning @ 6 am and back travelling and meeting the artists at work and learning whatever we could from the real pool of talent ( and they are so warm and welcoming - God Bless Art and its artists )

Then,we left for baroda , took a A/c Volvo from Ah'bad said bye to venkat who was there with us throughout and honestly without him our trip would have been hectic and we would have realised that yes.. we dont know the place. So buddy waiting for you to come to Bombay city ----- the city that truly never sleeps....

At Baroda we had only one place we were dying to visit - '' MS university - FINE ARTS '' and by god without the slightest exaggeration it was HEAVEN ON EARTH. We enetered the Massive university which had we felt a major part of Baroda in it and our true LUCK the first person we met there was the DEAN of the College Mr.Deepak . K. a gem of a man. A man whose persona is so reflected in the college and its students, unbeleivaly warm and down to earth to the core. These were people with actual talent, skills and everyhting that I speak of -PASSION. The Dean was so nice he actually helped us to get our luggage in one of their rooms, introduced us to the staff and students and then what we saw, met heard, learnt took our breath away. Before I speak more of this university let me just thank the students whose heart is much more huge than their skills n love for art which is at the top of this world - The students - ISHANI who guided us perfectly into the beauty of art - the heart of the college, Neha -Mural section, Rahima - Art History, Ved Gupta - Sculptures. Thank you all so much. We Kunal, Sania, Reeja and me... are truly touched by your hospitality and your pure genius for the love of art. God bless. Now The university boasts an unbelievably inspiring ambiance for producing breathtaking artwork.. filled with greenery all around and everywhere you see you can look at brilliant minds working on ideas, concepts which inspires all those who surround and all those who want to be around and trust me it is not for the feeble minded ..its sheer brilliance, pure genius and talent at its most beautiful form. The Sculpture department, the mural works, the painting section, the exhibitions, their collection of famous art works ( in canvas, print, crude lithography, proper printmaking, colours, textures, pottery and clay work just to name a few ). The students have a heart of gold and they were very kind to not only show us around all of the massive FINE ARTS sections but also explain on how things actually worked and were done.

Well, thats it for now.... its been a real long one but yet there remains so much to be taken in and so much to be worked on.

To conclude this was one of my best study trips so far so would like to thank everbody who made it happen and could help me learn something very important and useful - to name a few

• venkat, Ishani, Rahima, Ved, Neha, The Dean Mr.Deepak .K., the staff and students of NID, IIM ahmedabad ( awesome architecture ), cept, My Sir -Mr.Ashis D and ofcourse my brilliant, talented and fabulous friends for letting me be a part of the group and learn so much from you all - Reeja, Sania, Kunal. Thanks again.

Thats all for now.

Be well

Your truly

TD