What makes Gujarat different from the other 28 states of India? Modi? Being a dry state? Well those are not the only things that make Gujarat different.
Let us see what all does, and how a Gujju person would feel when s/he steps out of Gujarat…
1. Shops don’t close at 9.30 pm
As Gujarat is one of the safest states in India, it wasn’t achieved by keeping all regulations lenient! One of the ways for achieving it was shutting down of major shops by 9:30 or 10 p.m. (Obviously barring a few who have the license to keep it open).
So it is 10 o’clock and you need medicines, sorry bro, you have to bang your neighbour’s door!
2. Booze shops after every other kilometer
Gujarat being a dry state, this goes without saying that the first and most evident thing that a Gujju would find is alcohol shops or ‘thekas’ on every street, even sometimes in a kilometer’s distance.
3. Girls smoking without inhibitions
I am not being gender-biased here or saying that girls don’t smoke in Gujarat, but just that it is way more culturally accepted outside Gujarat in other states.
In Gujarat girls would smoke, but in hidden enclaves, while outside Gujarat it is no big a deal!
4. Plenty of night clubs and pubs
A non-dry state is bound to be plentiful with these. The part and parcel of an alcohol-oriented culture. These, many-a-times, also become the major attractions for a Gujju (the MUST-VISIT in the bucket list).
5. Finding crazy drunks at night questioning you
Yes, this is the 3rd alcohol related point, but nonetheless. People staying outside Gujarat would have several times witnessed crazy drunks loitering on the streets, shouting weird stuff, puking their lungs out or just weirdly dancing and singing – a rarity or a non-existent phenomenon in Gujarat!
6. People asking you, “Are you from the Modiland?”
Umm, this is quite an irritating thing that happens (especially when it is the fourth time you are being asked that day)!
7. A much more spendthrift culture
Gujjus are very good businessmen – a widely acclaimed saying! Did you ever think, how did they become so? Simple, they are masters in not only earning, but also in saving! So when a Gujju steps out and sees other cities’ people spending like mads, it surely is a shocker!
8. The beloved khaman-dhokla shops are not easily available
After business and money, the next best thing that a Gujju longs for is FOOD! And nothing can take the place of their favourite Khaman-Dhokla, whose shops outside Gujarat are fewer than the count of Anupam Kher’s hair.
9. Being the only vegetarian in the gang
When a Gujju would go out to eat with his non-Gujju friends in a non-Gujju land, he would be the only one ordering vegetarian! Again, I am not saying that all Gujjus are vegetarians, but most of us are! The phenomenon usually reverses itself, when the non-Gujjus come to Gujarat. And the reaction provided is like the one below!
10. Booze on call
Yes, this is yet another alcohol inspired point, but kya kare, ye chiz hi aisi hai!
11. Parents being freaked out!
Well, we all know how safe Gujarat is, so when one probably goes to the comparatively unsafe city/state, one is bound to find parents being freaked out if their child is outside beyond say 8 or 9 pm, due to the prevalent fear of pick-pocketing, kidnapping, robbery etc.
Below is a typical expression of a Delhi ki Mummy, when her daughter arrives late.
12. The fervor for Navratri
Well-known it is that a Gujarati’s real New Years or Sunburn is during Navratri. We told you how Garba runs in the blood of every Gujarati!
So, even though the other Indian states do celebrate this festival, the festivities, glamour, enthusiasm, euphoria and all the other happy and ecstatic adjectives are quite substandard to what one would find in Gujarat.
Well these are just a few of the many things that a Gujju would find new or different when he/she steps out of Gujarat. Do share your views or experiences if any that relate to this article.
