Education

One of the best things that could happen to a city is becoming the pivot of education of the state or region. Rajasthan has Kota, the North has Delhi(among others), Maharashtra has Mumbai, Pune and so on and so forth. Education gives a city the fresh vibe. Not that cities without major universities aren't cool, its just that being an educational hub gives a city a kinda youth influx that contributes a lot to the overall development of the city and ofcourse saves it from being labeled a boring place to visit. :)
Indore is doing pretty well when it comes to schools. There are many reputed ones present in the city with The Daly College, Choithram, Sathyasai, St. Paul, to name a few and new ones being opened quite frequently. We sure like going to school!!
In case of universities we are quite a big name already considering the ones we have, namely SGSITS, DAVV,Holkar Science College, SVITS, MITM, IET,...... (do we have a knack for abbreviations!!). Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College for Medical Sciences and the numero uno in management schools, the IIM. Rumour has it that Indore has been sanctioned an IIT. Oh boy, god save this city now. :)
Raja Ramanna Centre for Advance Technology, formerly Center of Advance Technology, is one of India's foremost scientific research institutions the one with India's largest particle accelerator. This is the reason why Indore had such a significant contribution in the making of the LHC.
The city has also been spawning scores of good quality coaching centres recently. Be it commerce, sciences or foreign studies, we have 'em all here.

(pic: The Daly College, Indore)

Business

Indore is the ever bustling business hub of central India. Long ago, the textile industry constituted the major trade and commerce of the city as is evident from the numerous mills in the city, many of which are now dormant but the industry still runs strong making Indore the centre of the garment industry in the region. While maintaining the traditional stronghold, the city has also evolved drastically in primary industries like steel, alloy, automobile, IT and pharmaceuticals to name a few. Industries are mainly situated in Pithampur and Dewas with Indore being the commercial centre for them. Significant companies include Impetus Infotech, Elensoft Technologies, Mphasis, InfoBeans, Armour Software, Infosoft Technet, Suvi infotech, Web Dunia, Eicher Motors, AVTEC, Kirloskar Brothers, Tata Motors, Bridgestone, Novino, National Steel, Metalman Group, Nicholas Piramal, Ranbaxy, Tata International, IPCA Pharmaceuticals, Cipla Pharmaceuticals, Bajaj, Force Motors and L&T. phew...
To promote industrial growth the government has sanctioned an SEZ in Pithampur which will attract more companies.
Retail has also shown tremendous growth with the advent of malls and shopping complexes like Treasure Island, Mangal City, Orbit, M2K Mega Mall , Cine Mall, Indore Center and C21 Mal.
Also it is hard not to notice the big building on the Khandwa Road which was supposed to be the IT park in an abandoned and sorry state. Hope work starts on that one soon.

Commerce

Indore is undoubtedly the commercial capital of central India. From industries in Dewas and Pithampur to shopping malls and hotels, it has everything desired of a Tier-II city and almost everything desired of a Tier-I. Almost. All we have to to is increase the number of malls hundred fold, ditto for industries, traffic and pollution.
I never understand why our city is called Mini-Bombay. Indore is a looooooooooooong way to go to attain those heights. And why Mumbai, why not a better city, the like of which doesn't exist as yet in India. Mumbai was in the beginning a port and always the centre of activity and business and they cashed in quite well on all the attention it received and today it stands as one of the best cities we've got in the world, no doubt. Indore started from scratch, suffered because of conflicts of all kinds, religious, political(still on), financial and what not and we still stand strong and are getting better.
I say we make this city one which has a standing of its own, unique and unstoppable, clean and colossus, glittering and glorious... oh i can go on all day! :D

pic: world.yagniks.com

Population

Indore is easily the most populous city in Madhya Pradesh with a population of about 1.6 million(census 2001). For those interested in details:
Males - 53%
Females - 47%

We're quite ahead when literacy is concerned, 72%, but still not quite there yet. 13% of folks in Indore are under 6 years of age. Way to go kids!

(couldn't think of anything else! :))

Source:Wikipedia

It hurts!

This post was originally not scheduled to be here. I had thought of first building up a basic structure of the city and then turn to events happening in the city, but I just couldn't help it!
I don't know how many of you have seen the work of the BRTS (i think that is what its called) corridor in progress, i.e the A.B. Road in construction from Navlakha to Bhawarkuan. They had cleared the trees before on either side of the road. I know it was necessary but don't you all think the planning folks should design the city in such a way that they don't have to mar the beauty of one of the greenest stretches in the city during construction? It was heartbreaking how all that wilderness has become all barren with scorching heat and uprooted trees. (I am talking of the stretch just opposite the Holkar College on the other side of the A.B Road.) And when I saw yesterday, they had started cutting the trees from the Holkar College, closer to the road. I have never been inside the college but it hurt! I had been looking at all those scores of trees and vines adorning the boundary since many years now. And all of it gone. :(

I'll post the pics soon.

Road

Indore is well connected to other parts of Madhya Pradesh and India through national and state highways. And that is where the connection ends. Majority of roads in Indore are in a pitiful condition. They are narrow where they ought to be wide and increasing mobility, high travel demand and increasing intensity of traffic have further taken their toll. If Bhopal can have such excellent rods, wide and green, why can't we? I know there are development projects going on but that is another pain isn't it? They have dug up at many places in the city at the same time to make roads. Now that wouldn't be a problem if they just got it over with speedily, but some stretches are being made with such sluggish speed, it causes a lot of inconvenience to people whose businesses suffer because the construction is taking place immediately at the doorstep of their offices or shops. Even residences aren't spared. I long to see roads "whole" again and traffic moving on normal routes rather than cramped up in one lane or detoured!
All of them are not bad, the MR-10 and the BRTS corridor are a success.





The Major highways passing through the city are:

• National Highway No. 3 (NH3 - Mumbai Agra)
• National Highway No. 59(NH59 - Indore Ahmedabad)
• State Highway No. 17 (Connecting Bhopal)
• State Highway No. 27 (Indore to Maharashtra Border connecting Khandwa)

The Major Bus Stands:

• Sarvate Bus Stand (Near Indore Railway Station)
• Gangwal Bus Stand (Western part of the city catering to Bus services going towards Gujarat and Rajasthan)
• Navlakha Bus Stand (Luxury / AC / Volvo bus services to various cities operate from here.)

Rail

The Indore Junction (INDB) is one of the most important railway stations in Central India. It is part of the Ratlam Division of Western Railways. Unlike air transport, Indore is connected to almost all parts of the country (ofcourse!).
There are 7 train stations within the city limit. One would think thats a lot for one city. Well, Mumbai has 40.........

• Indore Junction INDB
• Mangliya
• Rajendra Nagar
• Lokmanya Nagar
• Saifee Nagar
• Lakshmibai Nagar
• Rau

The Indore Junction is the main station.

Not our station, atleast NOT YET!! :)

Air

Indore sure is flying high when it comes to the Airlines sector. The Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport connects Indore directly with Mumbai, Delhi, Gwalior, Ahemdabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jabalpur, Raipur, Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune, Bangalore and Bhopal. The only problem, its too damn far away!
The Airports Authority of India sanctioned its upgradation to an international airport sometime in 2007. High time Indore got one! Construction is underway (should be!) and it is scheduled to end by end 2008. Until then we're managing with just these airlines,

• Indian
• Jet Airways
• JetLite
• Kingfisher Airlines
• Deccan Aviation (now part of Kingfisher)
  

(Definitely not in order of quality service! :D)

HAPPY ANANT CHATURDASHI!

Wishing all the readers of the blog a very Happy Anant Chaturdashi!!
The festival was celebrated in the city with much zeal and a religious fervor which is an integral part of a city as devoted to its deities as it is towards its development.

Ganpati Bappa Morya

Transport

Now, a huge chunk of the city's reputation comes from its transport system - the roads, mass transit, distances, traffic management etc. Lets face it, the roads are not in a very good condition. However there are development projects being carried out but even those pose a problem nowadays. We'll talk about that in a different section.
The potholes are full of roads and the traffic congestion is at an all-time high. There came a a silver lining a while ago with the advent of city buses. Ahh!! How proud were all of us when we looked at them running smoothly letting in scores of people than actually intended for the poor vehicle. They did good, very good in fact. Indore had another feather in its hat, another thing to boast about. The transit system was efficient, stops installed at many places (eventually) some of them even sporting digital banners overhead. The office was also maintained quite well with the fleet looking nothing short of grand at night but now slowly, some of the buses have fallen prey to riots, negligence (perhaps, or if its something else, i don't know). One look at many of them today will give you evidence. The age old ad posters adorning the whole thing in and out are torn and cracked at places and some of them just don't look normal with the paints out of order and the windows broken in some. Not all are bad. Some are still maintained. Whatever the case, I hope the affected are restored so that we can enjoy one of the best city transit services of India and set an example as we always have.
The Metro Taxis rock big time!! They are one big reason I am proud to be an Indorian. We are better than Mumbai when these are concerned, the SX4s have old rickety Maruti Esteems for competition. The service provided is great and I manage to get to my destination in one piece most of the time. :)

Climate

Yeah I know we're cool, I know we've been way cooler since Treasure Island came up and all the other malls out there, but I 'll tell you what, Indore really is cool. I quote Wikipedia, "Unlike other places in central India however, the summer nights in Indore are cool and pleasant." The temperature can drop to almost 2°C to 3°C during peak of winters. During the summer, (April - June), the days are hot (35 to 40°C) with the peak-summer-day-temperature (in May) sometimes touching 45°C.
Rainfall is moderate with 30-35 inches during July-September. And its been what half of that this time or even less right? More on that later.
Heck I've seen hailstorms in Indore once!!!

Geography

Geography was always boring but this one is not that bad. Lets just get it over with quickly eh?
Indore lies almost in the centre of India and on an elevation of about 553 metres. Not too high but high enough to avoid those scorching days and experience some really pleasant winters. As stated in History, Indore was surrounded by rivers on all sides, what remains of those are Chambal in the west and Kshipra, a tributary of Chambal in the east. Kshipra also has two tributaries (that makes them distributaries right?) - Gambhir and Khan. Never heard of em! Have you?
There are also some mountains nearby. I know 'coz I've seen them while on the By-pass road. I guess they are part of the Vindhya Range.

History

Indore boasts of a history so glorious and royal, I wonder why it has been overlooked so. It was in its nascent stages, a small temple town on the bank of River Saraswati with rivers on all sides.
Rao Nandlal Chaudhary, the founder of Indore thought it to be a strategically safe location because Malwa was at that time under constant attack from Maratha invaders and so built the fort of Shree Sansthan Bada Rawala to protect the citizens in 1713. The city was named Indrapur because of the temple of Lord Indreshwar. Eventually the city came to be ruled by the Maratha Maharaja's of the Holkar Dynasty important among them being the dynasty's founder Malhar Rao Holkar(1694-1766) and his daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar(1725-1795).
After independence in 1947, Indore became part Madhya Bharat and then Madhya Bharat became Madhya Pradesh.
The rest as we all know............. is history and in wikipedia. You'll find the rest there. I am not about to publish an encylopedia. :p


Source:Wikipedia

P.S: There is an amazing collection of paintings of the Maharajas of the old in the main assembly hall in the The Daly College, Indore. Go check it out.

Indore

I was checking out blogs related to Indore and was surprised to find nothing or maybe I didn't look too hard. Either ways I wanted to tell the world about this great city. I'll try my best. Comments and suggestions are welcome.