Captivated travellers and travel writers often exclaim, after a surprising and fulfilling trip here:  “Gujarat’s tourism possibilities have simply not been exploited enough…”   And yet, the fact that the crowds and organised tour-groups haven’t reached here in huge numbers (like say, their tourism-savvy neighbour, Rajasthan) is what makes Gujarat so charming!

So while you may miss a handy tourist store outside every historical destination, you’ll be more than happy that no one is chasing you with souvenirs. Or that you’re the only one wandering amongst absolutely astonishing sculptures in a cluster of Jain temples. You may note with relief that the beaches are so clean, uncluttered, so few in number – despite the state owning one-third of India’s coastline. Everywhere,  you’ll encounter genuinely friendly faces and honest hospitality – still unspoilt by the ‘progress’ of tourism. So hurry up and get here fast.

Particularly as the roads to get to these little known wonders are superb. In a recent plan to spruce up for the demands (well, not of tourism!) but for the new-age information highway, the highways themselves have seen major makeovers, with impressive 4-lane, flower-decorated roads to speed along in. A welcome necessity in one of India’s more industrial, wealthier States, and reflective of typical characteristics the Gujarati is known the world over for: hard work, enterprise, and a very keen business sense.

Even if the most successful of Gujarati businessmen seem to have immigrated to foreign shores! About 40% of Indians in New York are Gujarati, and ‘Patel’ is a well-known surname abroad.

Well the typical Gujarati businessman is just one of this state’s defining stereo-types. There’s the typicalGujarati food thali (plate) – hailed by vegetarians to be the king of them all. The typical Gujarati handicraft –flowing out of the vibrantly creative Kutch. The typical Gujarati love of laughter – the country’s leading humour writers and comedic stage actors belong here.  The Gujarati’s irrepressible sweet-tooth, the Gujarati’s innovations in snack-foods, the Gujarati’s sparkling kitchen – each is a delightful cliché of this State’s charms, adding layers of contentment to a visit here.

And of course, this is the home of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. And that is the paradox. A tiny, powerful man of this state shook the whole world with an audacious new idea:  peace through non-violence. And yet some of the most horrific scenes of communal violence in India have rocked this State in recent times. As painful and life-changing as the devastating earthquake too that rocked Gujarat in January 2001…and even now Gujarat marks its changes, its achievements, its rites of passage, with ‘before the earthquake’ and ‘after the earthquake’. It’s a kind of 9/11 date in its destiny.

But leaving the bustle of its noisy dusty big cities, there’s Gandhian simplicity to be enjoyed in a countless charming ways, like a free, masala chai (tea) in a sparkling village hut. A hut that shares a wall with a huge heritage Palace, where a benevolent Maharajah worries whether the rains will adequately fill the new wells he’s helped the village construct.

Even if ‘organised tourism’ isn’t the best here, you’ll have plenty of reason to feel good with the ‘responsible tourism’ experiences you will encounter.