Lake City - Bhopal

Colours of Bhopal ... Van Vihar

It is always a different feeling to be in a city other than yours ... a city so much like your own...A week ago I was in Bhopal to attend a conference on media diversity and plurality. I have always had some strange kind of affection and attachment towards Bhopal. The reason being ... it is my father's home-town. He spent his childhood there and gained his higher education in that city. He always had special memories associated with it. He used to fondly recall to me the time he spent there, how he and his friends went to watch movies on his scooter, his days at the Gandhi medical college. It felt good to hear from him about the city ...it was as if the city came alive in front of me when he talked about it. For me it was a treat to be in Bhopal for a few days, meet relatives and friends who received me very warmly ... as if I was one of them and meet a friend whom I had not seen in years.

View of the lake in Bhopal from Bharat Bhavan

Bhopal, being the capital of Madhya Pradesh (M.P) has all the grandeur that a capital city ought to have. Wide roads, government offices, housing colonies of bureaucrats, busy markets characterize Bhopal. But the most amiable feature of the city is that it is situated on hills and has these curvacious roads which go up and down so that you enjoy the ride in the city. Bhopal is a lake city and the lakes enhance the beauty of the city. The scene at the lakes makes you fall in love with mother nature. Apart from these, there is the Bharat Bhavan - a place for artists and theater people to showcase their work, the Manav Sangrahalay ... a museum which features the entire history of mankind and its evolution through replicas of man's ancient living systems, the boating at the upper lake is a joyous ride, Van Vihar - a huge forest area cum zoo. To the credit of the M.P. government, it is promoting tourism in Bhopal and many other parts of the state very pro-actively and effectively, which I think the Gujarat government should emulate. A quiet city which is a blissful treat for a tourist. See Bhopal from my eyes ..(my camera!!!)