The first sound of the morning is a sizzle, as ganthiya dough is cranked through a press into hot oil at a snack counter. By evening the chatter moves uphill to Takhteshwar Temple, where friends sit on marble steps above the rooftops and a breeze drifts in from the Gulf of Khambhat.
Beyond the hill, families stroll the wall of Gaurishankar Lake at sunset, and Victoria Park keeps a patch of real forest inside the city. Summers are hot and dry, the monsoon arrives in June, and winter days stay warm and clear. A Local Friend can lead you through a door you would never have knocked on, like the family kitchen behind a favorite ganthiya counter.
