This story book is an attempt to unveil to the new generationthe charm of this unique city through the childhood memoriesof someone who grew up amid its old ambience, and to instilinterest in its preservation and continuity.

An early 19th centurymap of Old Ahmedabad

Concept : Debashish NayakEditing : Vivek Khadpekar

Illustration : Vijay ShrimaliNagji Prajapati

Layout Design : Nilesh DavePrinting : Status Inc.

Published by : City Heritage Collection &CRUTA Foundation

Pratima as a little girllived in the walled city of Ahmedabad

In this story book she remembers her home in a Pol

Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 AD on thesite of two much older settlements,

Ashaval and Karnavati. It has some of thefinest Indian Islamic monuments andexquisite Hindu and Jain temples. Its carvedwooden houses are a unique architecturaltradition.

A special feature of the walled city ofAhmedabad is its numerous pols – self-

contained, enclosed neighbourhoods,each entered through a gate that could beclosed at night and in times of unrest.The Sanskrit word for such a gate ispratoli, from which comes the word pol.

The pols house large numbers of people.Some pols are virtually small villages.

Narrow streets crisscross them, usuallyterminating in squares with community wellsand chabutaras for feeding birds. Besides thegates, the pols had culs-de-sac and secretpassages, known only to theresidents, which offered further security.

This painting by Amit Ambalal alludes to the legend ofSultan Ahmed Shah of Gujarat (late-14th – early-15thc.). Hunting on the banks of the Sabarmati, he wasamazed to see a hare chasing a hound. Convinced thatsuch a place must possess some miraculous quality, heset up on the site a new city – Ahmedabad – to whichhe shifted his capital from Patan in North Gujarat.

Desai-ni-Pol,Khadia.

I am Pratima,from the Mehta

family. Let meshow you aroundmy childhood homein Desai-ni-Pol inKhadia, a part ofthe walled city …You approach themain door throughan otlo – a kind ofsmall, raisedporch. On eitherside of the maindoor is a gokhlo –an ornamentedniche in the wall.In the old days,divas – oil lamps –would be placed inthese gokhlas tolight the otlo.

My brotherPriyadarshan and

I grew up in thishouse. Ours was alarge family – ourparents Bhimbhai andChandravatiben; uncleand aunt Kanubhai andHiraben; our Dadaji(grandfather)Dahyabhai; and manyaunts and cousins.Dadaji was a lawyer,and Diwan (ChiefMinister) of some ofthe princely statesthat existed in Indiabefore independence.He built this housewhen our father wasborn. We had twograndmothers. Theelder of them had nochildren. It was shewho supervised theconstruction of this21-room house.

A pencil sketch ofnine-year oldPratima by thefamous artist, thelate Rasiklal Parikh(1910-1982) dated11th february, 1944

Inside the house is a big chowk (courtyard). The chowk had adisplay of brass utensils, and the doors leading from it into

the rooms were decorated with rich torans (hangings across thetop of the doorframe) of glass beads. We spent most of our timein the chowk. There was a hinchko (swing). After lunch, when theelders retired for their siesta, I would happily sit on it.

In a corner ofthe chowk was

a small, octagonalwell-likestructure, coveredby a heavy, dome-shaped copper lidwith a big handle.This was theopening for liftingwater from thetanku – a largeunderground tankwhich collectedrainwater fromthe roof. Afterthe first fewshowers hadwashed the wholeroof clean, no onewas allowed on it.The tanku was ourmain source ofwater through theyear.

Past the chowk, through a parsal, one entered the ordo – astorage area with an impressive display of large, white lime-

painted earthen kothis (jars) and, on top of them, brightlyshining copper and brass pots. These held our foodgrains forthe whole year. A cow-dung plastered floor kept the parsal coolin summer and warm in winter.

The rasodu(kitchen),

pooja room andpaniaru(water room),were all on thesouthern side ofthe chowk.The walls aroundwere decoratedwith manyghokhlas, paintingsand familyphotographs.Prominent amongthese was theportrait ofBharat Mataconceptualised byShri KrupashankarPandit of our pol.

Even inAhmedabad’s

hot summer, itwas comfortableinside the house.Cool air flowedthrough thefront windowinto the house,taking the warmair up and outthrough thechowk. Thiscooled theentire house.Our livingquarters wereon the firstfloor. Thesecond floor hadbedrooms, and insummer theagashi (rooftopterrace) was apleasant place tosleep under thestarry sky.

We could hear the bells and the chants of shlokas and aaratifrom temples on both sides of our house. Opposite us was a

girls’ school, from which the soothing sounds of morning prayersfloated across.

On the first floorwas the

diwankhand – the largehall where guests werereceived. Here Dadajiused to meetdistinguished visitors.One of them wasSwami Vivekananda.During the freedomstruggle many famousnational leaders, suchas Gandhiji, visited ourhouse.

Our elder grandmother, Jadavba,used to sit on the otlo in the evening and

women from the pol would come to discusswith her their personal and social problems,seeking solutions. Our younger grandmotherSavita Gouri was a pious woman whose liferevolved around prayer and ritual and seeingto the needs of holy personages.

There were lots of birds – pigeons, sparrows andgreen parrots with bright red beaks. They lived

in specially built gokhlas in the walls and ate fromthe chabutro in the pol.

We fed the birdsand kept water

for them to drink. Therewas a chokthu (openspace) in front of thenearby haveli of SirChinubhai Baronet,grandson of ShriRanchhodlal Chhotalal,founder of Ahmedabad’sfirst textile mill and thefirst President of theAhmedabad Municipality.Many leading Indiancricketers also stayedthere as guests.

In keeping with centuries-oldcustom, the food cooked in our

kitchen was first offered to thefamily deity and then to one ofthe many cows lazing around thepol.

Built by ShriDahyabhai Ijjatram

Mehta in 1896 as hisresidence, this heritagebuilding belongs to hisgrandchildrenPratimaben,Priyadarshanbhai Mehtaand their family. It is atypical 19th centuryexample of traditionalliving within the walledcity of Ahmedabad.

The Building is beingused by CHETNA,

Centre for HealthEducation, Training andNutrition Awarenesssince 1996, and wasrestored with theguidance of an architectfrom ‘Mandala’,Ahmedabad and CRUTAFoundation.This project paved theway for therevitalisation of thewalled city ofAhmedabad.

City Heritage Collection108, Anilkunj centre, Near Shefali Shopping Centre,

Paldi Char Rasta, Ahmedabad 380 007.Phone: 91-79-26579755, 26579180

House No.

Location of Mehta family house at Desai-ni-Pol, Khadia, Ahmedabad