Dhokla is soft. News is hard. I chose dhokla. Best decision of my trip.
Gujarat is not just a state. It’s a feeling of enterprise, food, and resilience.
But when I opened “gujarat news today” before my trip, I saw:
Communal tension somewhere
Industrial accident somewhere else
Water scarcity in some district
Political drama in Gandhinagar
I almost canceled my dhokla plans. Then I decided: no news for 5 days. Just food.
The dhokla vendor who doesn’t watch news
I found a small stall in Ahmedabad. The vendor’s name was Hiral. She had been selling dhokla for 15 years.
I asked: “Do you watch ‘gujarat news today’?”
She laughed. “No time. I wake at 4 AM. Make batter. Steam dhokla. Open stall. Sell. Clean. Sleep.”
“But what about the problems in Gujarat?” I asked.
She said: “What problems? My dhokla sells. My son goes to school. My husband works in a factory. We eat. We sleep. What problem?”
“But news says…” I started.
She interrupted: “News says many things. But does news buy my dhokla? No. Customers buy my dhokla. So I listen to customers. Not news.”
What I saw in 5 days
No communal tension on the streets I walked. No industrial accident at the factories I passed. No water scarcity at my hotel or the restaurants I ate at. No political drama except on TV screens inside shops – and even there, people were ignoring it.
What I saw:
A new flyover that cut travel time in half.
A park where old men played cards every evening.
A college where girls were learning robotics.
A small factory making khakhra, exporting to 10 countries.
A family eating together at a roadside dhaba.
This is Gujarat. Not the Gujarat in “gujarat news today”.
The businessman’s filter
I met a small businessman in Surat. He runs a diamond polishing unit. 50 employees.
I asked: “How do you stay updated?”
He said: “I read one newspaper on Monday. That’s it. The rest of the week, I work.”
“But what about breaking news?” I asked.
He laughed. “Breaking news is for breaking businesses. My business grows when I work, not when I worry.”
“If there’s a real crisis, my employees will tell me. If there’s a real opportunity, my customers will tell me. I don’t need a news anchor to tell me.”