Delhi- Mumbai- Silvassa- Mumbai- Delhi
Lemme start with solving the main query
first! The query of 80 % people reading this post! ‘Where the hell is Silvassa???’
Well it’s the capital (whaaaat!????) of
Dadra and Nagar Haweli (errrm……pardon..?) which is one of the Union territories
of Indian republic (I see)….
To be precise, this ex- Portuguese colony
is situated on the border of Maharashtra
(Thane and Nasik districts) and Gujarat (Valsad district), around 200 km from
Mumbai, 8km off Mumbai- Ahmedabad National highway via Bhilad in Gujarat. Closest
airport to this place is Surat (180 km) but more comfortable one is Mumbai (200
km), since Surat is connected only through regional flights very few in numbers
and also time taking. Closest railway
station is Vapi in Gujarat, 20 km away, which falls on Mumbai- Jaipur and
Mumbai- New Delhi railway line.
Even though I had lived so close to
Silvassa for 22 years, I never actually got opportunity to visit it. But while
in Delhi, my work took me there regarding presentation of two architectural
competitions organised by the administration of this U.T. in its secretariat. I
and my sir were all set for it!
Day1: An early morning Indigo flight took us to Mumbai’s ChhatrapatiShivaji airport. A swift desire
as booked already from Delhi was waiting outside the terminal for us. I was
already feeling so weird about coming to Mumbai from Delhi and not going home
to visit my folks. But anyway the short time wouldn’t have allowed me to do the
same, travelling from the airport to the tip of South Mumbai alone takes
roughly about an hour and half.
Soon on the western express highway, we
crossed Dahisar- the last suburb of Mumbai and moved ahead on the now called Mumbai- Ahmedabad national highway.
After an hour or so leaving Nalasopara, Vasai, Virarbehind, we actually started
travelling through the rural side of Maharashtra in Thane district. It was
mid-April, and most of Maharashtra had turned into a hotpot! But for once, the
desertish look of my state appealed to my eyes. This big open highway cutting
through the hills of western ghats, and the worn out trees still standing tall
in scorching heat of April in open desert, made me think of the road rash game
in Napa valley which I used to play when I was a kid. Rather much more
beautiful than that!
Kamath’s
restaurant somewhere on the highway midway to
Silvassa, is a must stop for its buffet unlimited south Indian- Maharashtrian
breakfast! Having eaten poha, batatawada and sheera after so long, the 22 year
old Mumbaikar inside me instantly took over the 2 year old Dilliwalah inside
me!
Travelling further ahead, we reached the
toll plaza on the border of the two states. As if to give me a complete homely
experience without going home, the Chikuwalas came selling their chikus for 10
rupees a dozen! Not to mention, it didn’t take me very long to finish all the
chikus which again I was eating almost after a year! …
Bhilad is the first place in Gujarat that comes on the highway after
crossing the border. Bhilad is where we halted for a while to get the tourist
permit for the car for Gujarat state. While travelling on this highway, one can
easily tell when they have entered Gujarat from Maharashtra. The width of the
roads suddenly changes to double the size at most of the places of that in
M’rashtra.
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| Tribal museum- Silvassa |
Taking a right under the first flyover
after entering Gujarat and travelling further for 8 km got us at the gateway of this Union Territory. A
statue of a Warli man playing Tarpa welcomes you to his Dadra and NagarHaweli.
Even though the territory is said to have
completely lost its Portuguese influence today- be it architecture, housing or
culture; a drive across the NagarHaweli and a pair of wide open sharp eyes, can
easily beg to differ with people saying that.
After entering Silvassa, we straight away
headed to the secretariat as the presentation for first project had already
started with the other competitors.
Post our awesome presentation, around 3 pm,
we left for Kamath’s‘Lotus resort’
where we had booked a twin bed room.
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| Tribal museum- Silvassa
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| Tribal museum- Silvassa
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One of my long lost friends who belonged to
Vapi but was in Mumbai for his education and job came to meet me in the hotel
room. I was meeting him almost after 2 years. After a while, my friend took me
around the city in his car- the first destination being the ‘Tribal museum’.
Tribal museum is a very small building in
Silvassa’s main chowk next to its Town
hall. Surprisingly the museum didn’t have an entry fee; they only made us
write our name and where we had come from. The museum had a neat display of
pictures, sculptures, masks, paintings and religious belongings of Warli,
Koknas, Gherias- the main tribes of Dadra and NagaHaweli. The museum with its
limited but informative exhibits gives an insight into the lives of the tribals
here.
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| Tribal museum- Silvassa |
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| Tribal museum- Silvassa |
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| Tribal museum- Silvassa
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| On the way to Madhuban dam |
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| On the way to Madhuban dam
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| Madhuban dam |
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| Madhuban dam
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Next was the famous Madhuban dam. An upward drive 10 minutes out of the city got us to
this view point from where one can get a close view of the massive Madhuban
dam.
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| Madhuban dam
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Coming back to Silvassa on the road towards
Khanwel at Vasona is the Lion Safari
park. A small safari bus takes around the park where a couple of Lions can
be spotted.
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| Somewhere in the UT.... |
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| Somewhere in the UT....
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Further ahead on the same road is ‘Satmalia sanctuary’ commonly known as
‘Deer park’This unusual drive in deer park also doesn’t have an entry fee.
We took our car inside and drove on the defined clay roads among the dried
trees with many deer running all around us. Few of them even came very close
thinking we were offering them some food. This was the first time I spotted so
many deer of different kinds- some spotted, some plain and some with horns; at
one place which was not an enclosed zoo. I must say the park is one of its kinds
and extremely well maintained one! At a point inside the park, one can have a
view of Madhuban dam again but a little distant one.
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| Deer park |
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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| View of Madhuban dam from Deer park
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| Deer park
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| Deer park
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My friend offered to take me to a place
called ‘Dudhni’ which was another 45
minutes driver- according to him, a very beautiful one. The place has water
sports facilities along with a garden. This place again offers a view of the
entire Madhuban dam and reservoir. (By now, I guessed the life this whole
territory revolved around the damn Madhuban dam!) Me not wanting anymore views
of the damn and most importantly having no time in hand preferred to head back
and spend some time on the banks of
River Daman Ganga which flows past the Lotus resort.
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| Daman ganga river.. |
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| Daman ganga river..
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| Daman ganga river.. |
The banks of the river which are now under proposal of developing into a riverfront look very
scenic. Quiet enough to come out of the resort and sit on the banks and have
some time off for yourself.
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| Daman ganga river..
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| Lotus resort |
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| Lotus resort
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After bidding my friend goodbye, I came
back to the room and joined sir.
With IPL Kolkata- Punjab match running on
the TV, and beer and chicken on the menu, I hardly needed anything else to pass
this night…..
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| Amli area |
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| Town hall of Silvassa |
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| Somewhere in Silvassa... |
Day2: After having repetition of earlier morning’s breakfast, we checked
out of the hotel. Presentation for today’s project was to be held in the PWD
department office of DNH administration.
After giving an impressive presentation
again, we had a quick beer + lunch at a decent hotel close to our resort.
Coming back to the PWD and having a brief
meeting with officials, Sir and I left for our journey back to Mumbai
………….first time without going home :(……….And then
to Delhi…..
