Nagpur – The Heart of India
Writing by Ravi Krishnamurthi
The title is so because the Zero Mile Stone of our country is located at Nagpur. I came to Nagpur in 1983, at the age of 22, to take up my position for the job I had accepted. I still remember the day I reached Nagpur, because it was on this very day that Kapil’s Devils won the Prudential World Cup for India.
The atmosphere was scorching hot, and having come from Delhi, my initial days were a sort of nightmare, making me go back home once in a fortnight.
However, as my bread and butter was at Nagpur, I had to stay put despite my feelings. I found Nagpur to be a village growing into a town, roads crammed mainly with cycles, mopeds, autos, and cycle rickshaws — not to mention stray cattle raising dust, thereby making it difficult to walk on the roads.
A saying was very prevalent in Nagpur: “Anyone coming to Nagpur finally settles down here only.” At that time I used to scoff at it, as I never dreamt of doing that myself.
But things changed the very next year. With the assassination of Indira Gandhi followed by the massacre of Sikhs, Delhi was never the same for me, and I planned to shift my parents too to Nagpur, despite their reluctance. Over a period of time, I got married to someone from Nagpur itself, and since then there was no looking back. I started loving this place, which from an old dusty and rusty town has today developed into a mini metro city with urbanisation at its peak, without losing its old-time heritage.
Nagpur today stands tall with many “onlys” attached to it. To quote a few, it is the only city having:
- Title of Orange City
- Title of Tiger Capital (surrounded by around 10 Tiger Reserves & National Parks)
- RSS Headquarters
- Headquarters of PSUs like NSO, WCL, MECL, MOIL, Maintenance Command of IAF, etc.
- RBI’s Gold Reserve and Currency Chest
- Diamond Railway Crossing
- Nagpur’s “four-layer railway,” referring to its unique, world-record-holding double-decker viaduct, part of the Kamptee Flyover, featuring a road at the base, then a railway line, an elevated flyover for vehicles, and the Nagpur Metro rail on the top layer — creating India’s first four-tier transport system for incredible connectivity.
Nagpur is also one of the major educational hubs with many premier institutions including IIM, AIIMS, VNIT, LIT, GMC, etc., and many CBSE schools of repute.
Nagpur is a great medical hub, and people from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and other districts of Vidarbha throng to Nagpur for their medical needs.
It is also becoming an IT hub with companies like HCL, TCS, Persistent, Info Spectrum, and many others visibly present.
Nagpur is also renowned for its defence association with a huge regimental army base at Kamptee, Maintenance Command of the Indian Air Force, a Defence Ordnance Factory, and now Nagpur-based Solar Explosives Ltd., becoming one of the leading manufacturers of explosives for the Indian Defence.
Nagpur also boasts of being the country’s leading orange 🍊 growing centre. It also has abundant produce of cash crops like rice, cotton, and soya. Beyond cultivation, it is also known for the coalfields in its surroundings.
Nagpur is famous for its commercial activities spread across the city. While Itwari is a wholesale hub for everything and famous for its lanes for various segments like Kapada Bazaar, Loha Oli for all metal products, Sarafa Bazaar for gold & jewellery, Chitar Oli for idol making, Chuna Oli for construction materials, and Central Avenue for automotive spares and hardware — similarly, Sitabuldi, Sadar, and Dharampeth are the new-era markets with many malls operating in different parts of the city.
For transportation, one can opt for e-buses, Metro Rail, autos, and cabs. Nagpur, which was part of the Central Province, got included in the State of Maharashtra. It has a mixed culture, and in fact many areas can be identified based on their inhabitants: Itwari, Wardhaman Nagar, Ramdaspeth relate with Marwari and Gujarati communities; Dhantoli with Bengalis; New Colony & Byramji Town with Parsis; Mohan Nagar with Christians and Andhrites; Kadbi Chowk with Punjabis; Jaripatka with Sindhis; Gokulpeth & Ramnagar with Tamilians; and West Nagpur with Maharashtrians, etc.
Nagpurians are also great foodies, and Nagpur not only has many food streets but also restaurants serving different cuisines. Some names have received global recognition, like Chef Vishnu Manohar of Vishnuji ki Rasoi, who is not only in the Limca Book of World Records but today is the 4th richest chef in India. Similarly, Dolly Chaiwala of Dolly ki Tapri, a street vendor, rose to fame for his style and attire, and in February 2024 he served tea to Bill Gates, thereby rising to global recognition. Today he even participates in Ambani functions.
If we talk of cricket, Late C.K. Naidu, Prashant Vaidya, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Dravid, and woman cricketer Mona Meshram have Nagpur connections. Many other sports personalities also have been connected to Nagpur. In fact, it was Vijay Barse of Nagpur who took Slum Football in India to international fame. His biography was portrayed by none other than Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Jhund.
It wouldn’t be appropriate if I forgot to mention famous Bollywood directors Rajkumar Hirani & Subhash Ghai, actors Sonu Sood, Gayatri Joshi, brothers Rohit Roy & Ronit Roy, Sharman Joshi, singer Rahul Vaidya — who also belong to Nagpur. And the list goes on…
Noted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are also from Nagpur.
Not to forget Late ATS Chief, Ashok Chakra awardee Hemant Karkare, who was martyred in the Mumbai 26/11 attack, was also from Nagpur.
Nagpur also boasts of having many temples within the city and in adjoining surroundings, making it a place of tourist importance with many places to see around. It is the hub for tiger conservation with as many as six National Tiger Reserves within its radius of 100 km, which include Pench, Navegaon, Nagzira, Bor, Pauni, and Umred Karhandla Reserves.
In fact, it was the forest of Pench Tiger Reserve which inspired British author Rudyard Kipling to write the famous story The Jungle Book, which came to the limelight with the animated movie, making its characters Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, and Shere Khan legends among kids across the globe.
Nagpur is so centrally located that you can not only reach other tiger reserves like Tadoba, Satpura, Melghat, Bandhavgarh, and Pench with ease, but also hill stations like Pachmarhi and Chikhaldara, and the marble rocks of Jabalpur, Amarkantak, and Chitrakoot in Chhattisgarh.
Being centrally located, every corner of the country is connected by rail service with Nagpur.
My odyssey on Nagpur can go on and on and could transform into a book. But I would like to conclude my essay here with a gallery of picturesque Nagpur, inviting one and all to visit this beautiful place which offers you all seasons at their peak.
Author’s Introduction
A proud member of the esteemed Lifeplus Magazine Photography Club, Ravi Krishnamurthi is a retired corporate professional from Nagpur. Beyond his accomplished career, he pursues a wide spectrum of hobbies and creative interests, bringing a unique blend of experience, passion, and perspective to his work.
