#olpad

Looking to invest in land in Gujarat? This prime land parcel located on Sayan Sugar Road, Olpad, Surat is available for auction! Whether you're planning for development or investment, this is a golden chance! 💼

🔹 Location: Block No. 285, Siwan, Sayan Sugar Road, Olpad, Surat 🔹 Auction Date: April 25, 2025 🔹 Type: Land

✅ Excellent connectivity ✅ High potential growth area ✅ Ideal for investors & developers

📌 View full details & place your bid: 👉 https://eauctionshub.com/auction/cm8ogptam02adcfx2ihxsqz61/land-in-surat

Size 14*36

1 bhk : 11.11 Lac

2 bhk : 13.11 Lac

3 bhk : 15.11 Lac

OLPAD SAYAN ROAD, OLPAD, SURAT

Call : 8140157875

The last time I came to India, in 2003, my Aminma's (that's what we call my paternal grandmother) home had hardly changed since 1979. No one had really lived in the place since she moved to California to be with us. I was amused to find that the place seemed a lot smaller to me as an adult than my memory of it as a 7 year old had it.

Some things haven't changed - the rooster down the street still crows at dawn (and dusk) and the goats still roam the neighborhood.

The front sitting area of the house is the same too, but I barely recognized the back half. My uncle and my cousin had a lot of things upgraded when they came a few years ago. The living room is still the same, but they retiled the floors. They doubled the size of the kitchen and put proper counters and a sink in and bought a fridge. They did redo the bathrooms, but they were still Indian style.

When I came in the 70s, we still didn't have running water, and had to walk across the street to the well in my aunt's yard to get water - this was a daily chore. In 2003, the village had gotten running water, but our house only had outdoor plumbing.

Whirlwind isn't quite the right word; what do you call a day that is long because it goes at a glacial pace but ultimately goes much longer than expected?  We accomplished quite a bit yesterday after having a day off here in Odpad.  (Ulpar?  The r's and d's here are confusing.)

The western shower takes a little getting used to, as it varies in both pressure and heat -- but you can get a decent hot shower out of it.  It's one of those things you take for granted when you're home, but in India you learn to appreciate consistant sources of hot water...

The problem we didn't expect to have is that of being cold.  It doesn't happen here as a rule, so when the clouds roll in and it rains -- a freak occurrance, it's supposed to be too warm here -- nobody is prepared for it.  Add in some wind and you've got yourself a regular Bay Area winter day, right here in Surat.

Yesterday we did a few things; we attended a ceremony dedicating the new computer center and science center in a school we've donated to.  I wasn't prepared to be on a dias in front of a hundred or so school kids and local dignitaries... well, at all, really.  When was the last time YOU listened to an hour or so of school dedication speeches, in a language you didn't understand?  <grin>

After that we had a little down time before heading into Surat for some shopping.  Rina did the bulk of the shopping and picked up what I presume are some very nice outfits -- and I got a couple short kurtas (shirts) for myself as well.  They feel really good in the heat, but with the weather the way it is I'm not sure that will be an issue. 

Shopping took several hours; we visited a few mall stores at the new ISCON mall in Surat, followed by a trip to G3, a place that's relatively more expensive but had quite a variety.  

Post-shopping we made a quick stop to upload our first batch of blog updates at Rina's cousin's place, where we ran into an unexpected difficulty, the flooding of his roof after his solar water tank sprung a leak.  They'll have no hot water for a day, but the damage was contained as the patio on the roof has decent drainage.

To cap off the day we went to a revolving rooftop restaurant in Surat, a process that took much too long -- almost an hour to get in -- but they were busy and the view was almost worth it.  The food was decent, so no complaints there, but it was difficult getting excited about the food at 11 PM when it was clearly bedtime for a number of people in our party.

After that we got a ride back to Rina's Grandmother's place and quickly headed to bed.  

Today we're preparing for a trip to a nearby town to visit another of Rina's family members, where we'll be staying the night.  Tomorrow we'll return here for an evening before embarking on our trip of the Golden Triangle... and beyond!

 - Rina observes

 - Ribbon cutting

 - Rina & Jim in the computer center

 - Great speeches in a language you don't understand

 - The science center in all its glory (that's not sarcasm)

This is what Jim calls me when he's getting tired of waiting for me to wrap up with the SLR. There is usually eye-rolling involved, and that's when I decide I need a few more shots.

Jim's last post had some great photos that gave a sense of what our trip to my family's farm was like, but I'm adding a few of my favorites. These don't provide the same flavor of our trip, but they're small details that I found irresistible (on both this and my last trip, but this time I have a camera that can capture them).

The one thing I did miss was the mango tree orchard that my maternal grandmother, my Hajima had planted, and that my aunts had watered. They tore it down a couple of years ago when they thought they were going to sell that plot. The only thing remaining were dug-up stumps. I know progress marches on, but this change made me a bit sad.