Malav Talav-Dholka

Malav Talav

This picture is interesting to me for two reasons. One, I spent about three years in this small village named Dholka when I was six or seven years old. I remember this Talav (lake) very well. To this lake we walked about a mile or so to do our daily laundry, just the way women are seen doing it here. Second, there is a legend associated with this lake. The queen mother named Minal Devi Solanki, at the time, was known for her sense of justice. She wanted to build a perfectly round lake at this location. But a woman, nicely called a courtesan, owned a small property which unless she was evicted would make the lake not so perfectly round. The queen mother visited her in person beseeching her to vacate the house in exchange of good sum of money. The woman responded saying, I love my small house as much as you love your palace. Would you vacate yours should some one ask you to, be it a queen or a commoner? She refused to leave. Minal Devi impressed with her courage and in all fairness decided to live with less than a perfectly round lake.