The Statue of Unity was a revelation. That this has been around for about 8 years and that I had not visited so far, was an apathy and I am glad that I could finally make it.
First the idea.
The history that we studied in school, thanks to whoever was in charge of writing that history, made Sardar Patel come out like one of the many other heroes of the independence movement, where the stars were Gandhiji and Nehru only. Maybe he deserved far better a position in the pecking order of our independence history. At least as per another set of people – and history is always a viewpoint, as there can only be a visualisation of the past, but not a perfect assurance. Anyway, not wanting to get into that debate, at least for Gujarat, Sardar Patel was their biggest hero and Modi and others chose to give him his due recognition. Before the statue, there were other spaces that got a Sardar Patel association, such as the airport, the Narmada dam project etc.
And then came this dream to build a statue taller than any other in the world. And with due planning, identification of the location, engineering and funding, the statue came to happen, and today, stands taller than any other, in the world.
One would wonder, what is the sense and need to do this?
Well, it may be a mix of a matter of pride, to show to the world that we can do it, but also beyond that, to perhaps create a tourist destination that can continue to earn for itself over a long number of years!
And indeed, that latter part is what I saw coming true.
So, as we drove down from Baroda and reached our river side resort near the Statue of Unity (SoU) in the evening, and before we could go to see the monument the next day, I happen to speak with another guest at the hotel, and he remarked that “you will spend 3-4 hours, take a 1000 pics, and that’s about it”.
And that statement stayed with me. As I thought that yes, beyond a point, how can a statue provide much excitement and how can it become a tourist spot for many to travel from afar and visit it?
I mean, Statue of Liberty is just off New York City and which is why maybe, it gets visited so much, whereas Mount Rushmore with the busts of 4 US Presidents might be getting a lot less visits, thanks to being in far flung South Dakota, which demands a very specific trip!
So, those were the thoughts I had that evening before we went first, for a river cruise with dinner and music and dancing packaged on it, and which took you to experience the SoU at night, and also the laser projection and sound show, about the statue and about Patel. Where you also got to see the Narmada Bank Aarti, like one does the Ganga Aarti at many other locations in India.
That cruise and the experience of the Narmada was the first glimpse I got about how the place has been made into a tourist attraction.
Next morning, the impact hit harder. Besides the SoU itself, there is a jungle safari, a valley of flowers, a glow garden, a cactus garden, the Sardar Sarovar Dam view, a butterfly garden and other such attractions that have been built around the place.
And I could see construction and boards that spoke of other things like some museums etc coming up around there.
All the roads and the overall infrastructure was absolutely superb. Nice divided roads, green all around, very clean, and easy to navigate. The view of the Narmada being a constant.
While not being a Himachal or an Uttarakhand or of course, Kashmir, and the natural beauty being relatively lesser, still, there are some hills around and a fabulous job has been done to make it a destination where one could visit and have a decent 2-3 days holiday with the family.
Coming to the SoU itself, it was an amazing experience! First of all, again, I marvel at the infrastructure! There is a place where you could get off your own vehicle, take tickets (if you don’t already have them – there is a good digital presence which offers and encourages advance ticketing), and even choose to have some meals etc, if one likes. But from this central point, one can choose to visit the statue itself, or any of the other attractions nearby. And to do so, there is a bus service that runs continuously and which comes bundled with the ticket price. Should you choose to not wait for the buses, you have an option of exclusive pink autos which are all e-richshaws! Pink autos are all driven by women drivers only. Such a huge statement- women’s employment and opportunity as well as environment friendly!
In spite of being a place that attracts thousands of tourists daily (numbers must be high during school vacations), you don’t see congestion or jostling anywhere. The space has been designed liberally to take the numbers.
For entry into the SoU elevators, going up and down, there were queues, but not very long ones. But when purchasing tickets, there was an option to purchase an ‘express’ ticket that enabled one to go straight ahead and not need to wait in the queue.
The basic ticket was cheap, and the express one, though more expensive than the basic ticket, was also not at all prohibitive in cost. It was an easy decision for me to buy the express one and save time on the queues!
The elevator takes you up, inside the statue to a level of around 40-odd floor level. And which offers a beautiful view of the terrain around, mainly of the Narmada River, the dam, the bridges across, etc.
As you come down again, you have an option to again go up close to where the feet of the statue are. That is a decent level by itself, but one does not need to worry about climbing up a lot of stairs, as there are escalators all the way up to the point, and down. And that height is also a decent height from ground level, and again offers some excellent views.
It was heartening to see a good stream of visitors even on a working day, in non-vacation time. There were so many school groups that had come in large numbers, and the excellent detail of Sardar Patel, of the independence movement, of the building of the statue, were all explained well, like one sees in any international place of interest, of this kind.
Even the laser projection show that we saw the previous night was brilliant. This projection tech is very fascinating in the way, it can be programmed and then convert to beautiful storytelling with the help of changing projections on to the statue, and accompanying story on audio.
Back at the SoU base, it is a decent distance from where the bus drops you and then you go to the statue itself. But if you thought you’d be forced to walk and it might get tiring, well, worry not! There are options of golf cart like buggies that can ferry you back and forth, but it you’d rather go a little slower and enjoy the scenery also, but not want to walk, there are travellators right through, so you just stand and get slowly moved up and down!
All in all, such a well-thought-through and executed project, one that has created an entire tourist destination from scratch and which gets a large number of visitors, day in and day out!
This is but one visible sample of Modi’s ability to visualize and execute at scale, which he did as CM of Gujarat and which he continues to do across a wide array of projects and reforms, as our PM now!
Random Musings 