The cleanest city in the country

Thats what the grapevine(read my bro) told me about Surat.I was pretty eager to see that for myself,and thats partly the reason why I endured that painful train journey described below.Already I was conjuring images in my mind of an Indian city like Singapore.Pretty obviously though,I was disappointed cos I realised later that it takes more than being a clean city to come even remotely close to S'pore.
Surat is a very clean city for sure.But it might not immediately strike you as being one,cos its also an old city.There aren't too many fancy malls and glittering lights.Most of the city consists of old and not-particularly-attractive buildings.However,as you'll notice later,trash mountains,blocked sewer lines and stray animals are conspicuous by their absence.The best thing that I found about the place is the 4 parallel and almost alike bridges over Tapti.Standing over one of these at around 11 in the night,I enjoyed the most pleasant breeze,and still can't believe that it is a regular feature,as my bro told me.The breeze was unusually strong to flow everyday,but he assured me it did.
The place does have its share of multiplex theatres and Pizza parlors too,and I made full and shameless use of those(I love my bro).However,I still got to explore a lot less of the city than I would have liked too,cos my bro works and lives in Hazira,an industrial hub around 25 kms from Surat.When I say industrial hub,I really mean one.The place has industrial setups of Reliance,Essar steels(where my bro works),NTPC, L & T and Kribhco.It is an awe-inspiring sight for a first-time visitor.And the fact that the place still manages to be exceptionally green and is flanked by backwaters on one side definitely helps in increasing its beauty.I reached there at around 7 in the morning and the weather was overcast with a pleasant breeze all over the place.Pretty breathtaking stuff.
I've always liked company townships,and Essar steels was no exception.Personally,I feel its a great place to live in.Add to that the fact that my bro avails the best of facilities:air-conditioned room,T.V.,a fridge that he had stacked full of chocolates,cakes,chips and colas(I love my bro) and a DVD player.Not to mention the movie and Pizza in the evening.After just a day there,it got so that I never wanted to leave the place,definitely not for a sleepy eastern UP town like Allahabad.It was like living my dream.After breakfast I'd accompany my bro to his office,spend an hour or two there-the first day he took me for a conducted tour of the entire steel plant,another awe-inspiring experience-then come back to the room and spend the rest of the afternoon lying on the bed savoring the goodies at my disposal while listening to Pink Floyd.I doubt there are more gratifying experiences in life,other than of course....ahem!
However,the stay was painfully short,cos we had to be back in time for my mom's birthday.and the fact that another 24 hour train journey stared me in the face didn't help matters much.Thankfully,though,this time I had the company of my bro and The Dilbert Principle,quite simply the single most humorous piece of work I've ever come across.Scott Adams is da man!and of course,so is my bro...