The first landmark I recognized, barely, was the main circle in the town of Pilani. There seemed to be more construction, more shops and more traffic. The little deer park (I've already forgotten its name) looked spruced up even as the talaab in front was as murky as it was in 1980. Finally, the road turned left after the park, from which it was a straight line into Nutan.
Nutan has changed quite a bit, about which more later. For now, let me say that the road is now paved, all the way through Nutan, even if the sides are still as dusty as before. The right side of the road (as you drive in) now has all kinds of private buses lined up. The left side is even more interesting - it's full of private SUV taxis. Lastly, a little surprise on the left just before the main gate: an ayurvedic/yoga facility under construction. Spa vacation in Pilani, anyone?
The main gate has been replaced with twin pillars.
The white banner above is temporary, and apparently
hasn't been removed yet. And the road leading out of the
gate to Nutan now has a divider.
Alumni, visiting faculty, and parents these days stay at the Visiting Faculty and Students Temporary (VFAST) hostel, the second building to the left inside the main gate, right next to Circuit House. Let me tell you, VFAST is pretty comfortable. The food is excellent and the rooms pretty good. Twenty years in the sanitized West has unfortunately made me slightly queasy about critters. I seemed to have lost my ability to ignore lizards and the like, and so I was very glad to have a completely critter-free stay. Pictured below is my host, Prof. Sundar Balasubramanium (the Chair of Computer Science), along with a student.
I couldn't resist noting how some VFAST guests made
themselves at home (see below).
At the time, I happened to be reading Dalrymple's
books on India in which he describes how Western
imports such as trains have been happily
Indianized. So it goes with the crisp and tidy
VFAST, with the courtyard railing used for
drying clothes.
