Nagpur city. Former capital of the Central Provinces, now second capital of Maharashtra State. The city at the geometric centre of mainland India. The Orange Capital of the country.
There are numerous facets to the city of Nagpur, and to it's people. Allow me to illustrate them to you, as I have understood them in the past fifteen years of my existence.
Nagpur city is sprawled over an area of an approximate radius of seven kilometers. It has a population of about 3 thousand, thousand people. It is a big bustling city, no doubt, one of the largest three in the state of Maharashtra.
Nagpur- the city
One can say that the reason why Nagpur is so populous is that it is an excellent centre to organize trade- the distribution part of it, at least. Nagpur is very well connected by rail to most parts of the country, being the largest railway junction of the country. There is a domestic (and about-to-be international) airport in the city as well that has flights to all the metropolitan cities. From the road-ways point of view, again, Nagpur is very well connected.
Nagpur has two distinct divisions- the West Nagpur and the East Nagpur. This division between west and east is more pronounced than the North-South division for many reasons. The West Nagpur is a region dominated mostly by the upward-mobile cosmopolitan families of professionals as far as residential sectors are concerned, and the consumer oriented business centres as far as business is concerned. Most of Nagpur's most exotic shopping complexes and markets would be found here catering almost completely to the individual consumer like you and I. East Nagpur is the is predominantly the traders' area. You have the wholesale market here catering to retailers and bulk-buyers in the area. Most of the people living here are either these large traders or people involved in it.
West Nagpur
The most significant areas of West Nagpur are Laxminagar, Dhantoli, Ramdaspeth, Dharampeth, Shankar Nagar and surrounding localities as far as residential areas are concerned. You have Civil Lines where the Nagpur Bench of the honourable High Court is located. Then the areas of Sadar which is another large commercial area catering again to businessmen and the individual consumer. Most of the business in this area revolves around private individuals like you and I. You will have retailers selling daily-needs stuff, clothes and accessories, groceries. Then you have computer service retailers. You have an entire market called SitaBuldi which is a collection of a huge number of shops of all kinds.
West Nagpur is, as I said before, the more sophisticated area housing a large number of English speaking and well-educated individuals and families.
East Nagpur
This area is predominantly that of the trader class and that of the trader. Most of the business centres here consists of offices of large traders selling things like truck tires, ball bearings and industry related stuff, or you have wholesale traders of daily needs articles like clothes and things like that, et cetera. You also have a large number of hotels targeted specifically at pople coming to the town for business, the business traveler class.
The people of East Nagpur have this very prominent influence of the Orthodox Indian way of life, if that be the term used. A large number of bhikkhoos live here as well, so do many kirtankaars of the town. East Nagpur is also the hub of the city's religion, I daresay. The major part of the Muslim population lives here, particularly in the Southern parts of East Nagpur.
Of your Interest
The things that a person wanting to settle in the town would like to know are:
Where is the right location to buy a house in terms of security and money?
And;
Where should I set up my business so that it flourishes as much as it can?
The first question answered:
The most ideal residential areas of the city are in West Nagpur, namely: Laxminagar, Ramdaspeth, Shankar Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Ram Nagar and Dharampeth. Next to that I'd name Ravi Nagar, Trimurti Nagar and vicinity. But the problem is that housing is extremely expensive here. More affordable housing would be found in Trimurti Nagar and parts of West Nagpur around it. It is rather far from the hub of the city's activity, but it can't be helped.
The second question answered:
Dharampeth, Civil Lines, Shankar Nagar and Sadar are the areas where most of the business occurs. These are the areas where the private consumer, like you and I, goes to buy things he needs so it is most ideal to have a shop, or your office, here. If you are not a seller but a professional offering services, like a doctor or a lawyer, then I'm afraid I can not help you here. But for traders and businessmen, I have said what I could say.
Nagpur- the people
Nagpur is a huge mix of cultures. Apart from a large bulk of Marathi speaking people, Nagpur is a home to Marwaris and people from Madhya Pradesh and the Hindi-siders as they are called here. People from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have also made their homes here.
So the most popularly spoken language is, inspite of Nagpur being the second capital of Maharashtra, Hindi. The Hindi of Nagpur has a distinct and very noticeable influence of all sorts of languages. People speak a Hindi with embroidered with Marathi and the Hyderabadi Hindi, if that makes any sense to you.
Nagpur- as a small town
Inspite of a huge growth which refuses to stop, Nagpur still has this small town attitude towards people. Which in a way saying that people here are very rude. You won't find the precision timed punctual business here at all. It's a sleepy affair here, catering to a customer. Nine in the morning usually means sometime after lunch.
People, the common man so to say, are still of the same narrow attitude with few who dare to think different. Most of the people here believe that beyond the boundaries of the city, the world ends. I suppose this is a typical small-town approach to things. This attitude reflects in business, in education and choosing a career.
Nagpur- as a big town
Nagpur hosts the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Nagpur was given the privilege more as consolation for having lost it's state-capital status after it became a part of Maharashtra than anything. Nevertheless, it occurs here every year.
Nagpur has a few good colleges as well. The VNIT (Visweswaraya National Institute of Technology), an NIT and a probable IIT, and te GMC (Government Medical College) are two particularly well known colleges. Then there a plethora of other colleges, YCCE, RKNEC et cetera.
Nagpur- as a place to visit
Nagpur isn't a tourist attraction by itself. Among the attractions of Nagpur, the most prominent is the Buddhist Stupa, where thousands of people convert to Buddhism each year.
Nagpur is a good place to be because it is very well connected and because it is a big city. Then you can visit places in Madhya Pradesh like the Kanha National Sanctuary, Panchmarhi and places in Maharasthra like Chikhaldara, Tadoba Project et cetera. All these places are not more than a day's trip by road away.
