Where Rajkot families settle, and how to time and plan the shift

Which part of Rajkot suits a family?

Most families who call us have already narrowed things down to a school or an office, and the area follows from that. The western side of the city is where most of the newer apartment societies are. Kalawad Road, Raiya Road, University Road and the long curve of 150 Feet Ring Road have plenty of mid-rise blocks and some taller towers, many with lifts, a security cabin and a society office that likes to know your moving date well in advance.

Further out on the same side, Nana Mava, Mota Mava and Munjka are still growing, and you'll see new societies coming up there every year. Families who want a bit more space for the money often start their search in these pockets.

The older part of town around Race Course and Jagnath Plot has more bungalows and independent houses, often with a small compound and a staircase instead of a lift. Grandparents tend to like these areas because the market, the temple and the family doctor are all close. Mavdi and the Gondal Road side make sense for people whose work is out towards Shapar-Veraval, and Madhapar on the northern edge is handy if you drive out on Jamnagar Road every day.

Visit the society before you book the truck

In Rajkot, the society secretary often matters more on moving day than the truck driver does. Before you fix a date, go and meet whoever runs the building. Ask about lift timings, whether a big truck can come inside the gate, where it can stand, and whether they want a letter from your landlord or your previous society. Some societies also note the loading crew's names at the gate, so we send that list a day early.

Look at the flat itself with moving day in mind, too:

• When the municipal water comes and how big the overhead tank is, so the first evening isn't spent without water
• Where the gas pipeline point or cylinder space is, and whether the kitchen has room for the fridge and the water purifier
• The measured width of the main door and the lift, for the sofa, the double bed and the steel almirah
• Parking space for the family's scooters and a car, if the society allots spots

Send us photos of the door and lift if you can. It helps at the free survey for your Rajkot move, because we can tell in advance whether a wardrobe or a double cot needs to be opened up before it goes in.

Coming in from Gondal, Morbi or Jamnagar

A good share of Rajkot family moves start in a smaller Saurashtra town. A couple from Jetpur shifts so the children can join a city school, or parents from Junagadh come to live near their son off Kalawad Road. These moves are short on distance and long on belongings. A home that's been lived in for decades has brass and copper vessels, heavy wooden cots, a grain store, trunks of old saris and at least one shelf of pickle jars.

For towns like Gondal, Morbi, Jetpur or Jamnagar, we can usually pack in the morning, drive over and unload in Rajkot the same day. Junagadh takes a little longer on the road, but on most jobs it still wraps up in a day if packing starts early.

A few things we've learnt on these moves:

• Sort the grain before we arrive. Wheat and rice in clean, sealed bags travel fine, while open bins bring insects into a new kitchen.
• Pickle jars go upright in their own carton with the lids taped, because one oil leak ruins everything packed next to it.
• Old wooden cots and almirahs are often held together with bolts. Ask us to open them rather than forcing them through a flat's door.
• Decide early what stays behind. If the family is keeping the old house, one locked room of stored things is easier to manage than a half-empty home.

Festival weeks and other dates to avoid

Rajkot takes its festivals seriously, and moving dates have to respect that. The Janmashtami fair at the Race Course ground draws enormous crowds, and roads around the centre stay jammed late into the night. Navratri follows, with garba going on till late every evening, and then comes Diwali.

Diwali is the one that catches newcomers out. Many shops, workshops and small businesses across Saurashtra stay shut for several days afterwards and reopen around Labh Pancham, and a lot of workers go back to their villages. The carpenter, the electrician and the man who fits your curtains may all be away. Move just before Diwali and you could be living out of cartons for an extra week.

November, once businesses have reopened, and the months of January and February are usually comfortable. On Uttarayan itself, terraces and lanes are full of kite flyers and loose manja, so skip that day. Keep an eye on weddings too, in your family and in the society, since a mandap in the compound can block the gate for a whole day.

Most schools here reopen in June after the summer break, so April and May are when parents with children want to shift. Summer mornings are fine for loading, but slots go quickly, so book early.

How we pack a family home in Rajkot

For most of the year, dust is a bigger worry here than rain. Anything left uncovered for a few hours in April or May picks up a fine layer, so mattresses and upholstered furniture are wrapped fully, and open cartons are closed between loads. In the monsoon months we add a waterproof outer layer as well.

Glass showcases, dinner sets and the idols from the home temple go into Perfect Box cartons, and each one is marked on the lid so the pooja corner can be set up first at the new house. Brass and copper vessels are wrapped one by one so they don't dent each other.

A family house also has things people forget to mention: the steel trunk under the bed, a sewing machine, an old radio, the children's cycles on the terrace. Tell the move manager about all of it at the survey. The packing list is itemised, and counting cartons against a list at the other end is far easier than hunting for them a week later.

If the new flat isn't ready because the painter is still at work, goods can wait in storage for a few days or a few weeks. Families moving from a big house into a smaller flat also keep some pieces there for a while before deciding what to do with them.

Leaving Rajkot for another city

Not every family is moving into Rajkot. Plenty are leaving for a new job or a child's college. Ahmedabad is about 220 km away and usually a 1–2 day move, and Mumbai, at about 680 km, takes 2–3 days. Going north to Delhi means about 1180 km and 3–5 days on the road.

On the longer routes, you'll almost always reach before the truck does. Keep a suitcase with a week's clothes, medicines, the children's school bags and important papers in the car or on the train with you. Our household shifting page explains how packing and unloading work on intercity moves, and the move manager can tell you whether your car should travel with the goods or on its own date.