By Japan K Pathak, Amdavad, 26 February 2013

There’s a joke that when it comes to books, Gujarati people are interested just in pass books and cheque books! This joke is popularly used for the people of Ahmedabad – the city which is generally known as commercial hub.

But you just can’t ignore some appraisal this city has given to poets.

Years back, Indira Gandhi inaugurated a grand auditorium in Amdavad. The auditorium was named after Shri Ravindranath Tagore.

Tagore hall is one of the most famous halls in Amdavad, where important city level and state level functions are regularly held. Tagore hall has presence of Shri Ravindranath Tagore’s bust.

Let’s talk about the statues. The city has entire area named after poet Zaverchand Meghani. The area is called Meghani nagar, and it has a statue of Zaverchand Meghani.

City’s one of the oldest and biggest MJ Library houses a statue of poet Nhanalal. It’s a small bust actually. Once upon a time it was installed in the middle of road. Hit by a heavy vehicle it felled down and later was reinstalled inside the library building, located nearby.

In last ten years, the city added statues of three poets. Poet Dalpatram’s statue is part of heritage walk, and daily dozens of visitors visit it. Dalpatram’s statue is installed on a plinth of his old house. One can sit with the statue to have photograph.

At couple of kilometers away is the statue of another poet – Akha Bhagat. It is a wonderful piece of sculpture. A small 3D background created on the backside of the statue features Akha Bhagat’s shop. Akha Bhagat’s statue was unveiled by Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi himself, and this author was part of the function.

In last decade, city had another statue of poet – this one on the footpath of LD engineering college, just next to the Gujarat University. It is poet Narmad’s bust-style small statue. You can’t easily spot it, as some hawkers obstruct its view.

In short, you just can’t write off the city when it comes to appraisal of poets.

Today the city had another statue of poet. A full size statue of Gujarati poet Narsinh Mehta was unveiled in Vastrapur garden. A lake in the garden – popular as Vastrapur lake has been named after Shri Narsinh Mehta.