Sojourn at F'Nagar

The global dictionary of slangs may disregard the ‘F’ word as a taboo but when it comes to the employees of GSFC (Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals) Baroda, they have a completely different approach to look at the letter ‘F’. For them, ‘F’ means Fertilizer, that Fertilizer which earns them their daily bread. So deep is their respect for their product that they christened their company’s residential quarters as Fertilizer Nagar. Lovingly called as F'Nagar. 

Invited by the newlywed Mr. and Mrs. Roy (Mrs. Roy being an employee of this organization) to their new haven, I got an opportunity to visit this place and who had thought that one visit and I would fall in love with this place.

Located in the outskirts of Baroda, F’Nagar is situated at a distance which is about thirty minutes drive from the Baroda railway station. If you are a resident of this F’Nagar then conveyance is not a problem since the company offers a bus service which runs to and fro between the colony and the main city umpteen times on any given day. And a single journey costs you less than a rupee (Yes, this price is valid even if you are in the year 2013!).

Though located near to the fertilizer company, the atmosphere here is not at all hampered by the acrimonious smell of chemicals which usually surrounds such areas rather, the moment you enter the massive gate of the F’Nagar, you are welcomed by lush green gardens. All those trees and flowers which you must have learnt in your Botany class are available here and are definitely adding to the beauty of the place.

The employees are allotted with quarters on the basis of their cadres. As one moves up the career ladder, company ensures that one also moves to a bigger and a better home (and why shouldn’t be, after all it’s the law of nature). These houses are generally two storied and the construction is rock solid. Unlike cities like Mumbai and Kolkata, space here is not a problem and thus the quarters are built at a certain distance and follow certain symmetry.

When kids in Metro cities are acquainted with only two birds viz. the sparrow and the crow, kids at F’Nagar are privileged to see our National Bird Peacock dancing at their door steps.

Amenities like school and supermarket are inside the Nagar. Beauty Parlor is also available for the beauty conscious female residents. All daily needs being available in the vicinity of the quarters, people here seldom need to get out of the complex.

With long stretches of jogging tracks, a well equipped gymnasium, tennis and badminton courts around, this is actually a heaven for fitness freaks. If you feel that these facilities are common today even in the residential complexes built in confined spaces of cities then think again, because F’Nagar is also blessed with a Golf course and as if that was not enough, the place also flaunts a Cricket ground where state level cricket matches are played.

But as they say no place is hundred percent ideal and F’Nagar too is not an exception. Though very less, this Nagar too has its own drawbacks. It is very common for one to find snakes in the locality. Houses being built at a distance, there is a large space of no man’s land between each type of quarters. Though the Nagar offers you with various sports facilities but if you are not keen sportsman then sorry you will soon find boredom gripping you.

As it usually happens in company paid accommodations, people here are no alien to wasting resources like electricity and water. Tube lights and fans serve 24 x 7 no matter even if there is nobody to get served. Same is with water, house maids are seen washing the clothes or doing the dishes under continuous flow of water. People are to be blamed for such deeds but as one spends a lot of time at such “free” atmosphere, one unknowingly tends to develop such “waste” habits and all of us very well know that old habits die hard.

But these drawbacks are actually nothing when compared to the benefits and picturesque beauty which the Nagar offers. After all there is no better a pleasure than sitting in a verandah, sipping a hot cup of coffee with a novel in your hand, of course your loved one sitting on a chair next to you and a peacock dancing in front of your eyes.  

Oh God, it’s actually Heaven!

(And yes, completely mesmerized by the serene beauty of the place, I am eagerly waiting for the next invitation from the Roys!)