July 19, 2020
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Photo stories
Virendra Jayantilal Fadia is retired and lives in his ancestral home, surrounded by material objects that remind him of his loved ones with whom he once shared this space   
Student reporter: Urmika Wadhwa

National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

Virendra Jayantilal Fadia was a textile worker for over 25 years. He worked in one of the many textile mills for which Ahmedabad is famous. He is retired now and lives on a pension of Rs. 600 a month in his ancestral home in Manek Chowk, a crowded part of the old city. 

His house is mostly made with wood and he estimates it to be at least 300 years old. It has two rooms and an outer closet-like storage space. The building has six floors and a wooden staircase leads to the apartments above. It is part of a ‘pol’ or cluster of interconnected houses that form a housing society – a  huddle of homes. Pols are reputed to be connected through hidden passageways and there are estimated to be over a hundred pols with different khachos (streets). On one such khacho – Nawab nu khacho – is his home.  

Virendra bhai grew up in this house and lived here with his parents and two older sisters. His father had migrated to Ahmedabad from rural Gujarat to work in the textile mills. Virendra bhai is the only surviving member of his family. His relatives from the village write to him, or sometimes try to call him, but he says he doesn’t like to keep in touch and doesn’t respond to their letters and notes. 

He has a fixed daily routine: he cooks and eats breakfast, heads out to the temple, and then goes to the library. He returns home in the afternoon and in the evening he prepares his dinner. He can’t remember the last time anyone, including his relatives, came to visit. 

Within the old city of Ahmedabad, lies Manek Chowk, the historical city square planked on all sides by historical structures and markets selling myriad things. As you step in the recesses of the old city, you enter the pol area. A typical pol would have only one or two entrances and then some secret entrances only known to people residing in the pol. There are as many as 360 pols in the old city
The houses are mostly made of wood and are at least 300 years old
All the houses are connected to each other on all sides, and this feature is said to contribute to their long life 
Virendra bhai lives alone in the innermost house. He was raised here along with his two older sisters
The only remaining photograph of his family; despite meticulous care it was withering away with the passage of time. Virendra bhai never married as he was the youngest in his family and could only marry after his older siblings. His two elder sisters never married and so his marriage was also put off. They died in 2013 and 2016 
(Top left) He lives alone now, cooks for himself, eats by himself, sleeps alone, and is rarely ever visited by anyone. (Top right) An old Phillips transistor radio plays old music constantly. However, that is not the only thing that keeps Vijendra bhai company. (Bottom center) He collects and hoards, he keeps and stores, and as it seems, never throws anything away
(Left) Walls lined with stacks of newspapers, clothes and other things; (Right) Letters and handwritten notes from relatives, left unanswered
Instead of clearing and cleaning up the place, Virendra bhai sleeps on the floor amidst the clutter

At the age of 63, Virendra bhai has survived the passing of his parents and both his elder sisters. His home is crammed with household objects and other odds and ends, each one serving as a reminder of an earlier time when he shared this space with people and not things.  

Editor's note

Urmika Wadhwa is doing a second master's in Film and Video Communication at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She has a master's degree in Sociology and a bachelor’s degree in English. The PARI ‘open elective’ workshop encouraged her to explore the ‘everyday lives of everyday people’, and document them. She says, “Sainath gave us a thorough grounding in the ethics and principles of rural journalism which helped me go out and research this piece.”