When tourists see the glitz and glamour of Bombay (Mumbai), India, they forget they are in a developing nation. With skyscrapers, hectic traffic, more than 60 percent English-speaking population, girls walking around in minis, Mcdonald’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s and many other westernized restaurants, it screams occident.

However, about 170 miles north of Bombay, a six-drive hour drive in the Indian roads, lies a village named Ena. It is the real India with a twist of the west.

“Paris no tukdo (a piece of Paris),” as the locals and people from the surrounding villages call it. Although Ena is considered more forward than most villages of the Surat district in India in terms of decoration at the entrance, education and necessity stores, it is incomparable with Bombay.

It is spread out in a diameter of two miles with eight streets named: Patel, Jagirdar, Khadaki, Kumbhar, Vad, Bhramin, Bazar and Koshiya. Yet, there are many more houses scattered around the streets, still in the village-radius.

Located in the state of Gujarat, Gujarati is the primary language of Ena.

Only about 200 people know English and 3,000 know Hindi (India’s national language) fluently out of its 6,000-population, larger than most villages. Since many children of landowners go to schools where subjects are taught in English, the percentage of English-speakers is slowly rising. Even so, everyone still speaks Gujarati around the house and all get-togethers.

Yes, the caste system still exists in Ena.

Tailors do the tailoring, Priests do the religious work, laborers do the fieldwork etc. However, there is no physical violence towards the lower castes, as history says happened in villages of India. Every body is respected whether he or she is a Charotariya Leuwa landowner or a laborer, who works in his or her land. Everyone is also allowed to study, but most go into the occupation that was derived from birth. The main difference shows in marriages because there are 90 percent arranged marriages within a caste.

Putting the caste system aside, the people of Ena are as homey and welcoming as ever.

When there are 6,000 people living in a 2-mile diameter, the cliché, everyone knows everyone, does not do justice to the people. All the houses are lined up together in the streets with little to no room separating them. They are four stories high at the most.

The clothing is as rainbow-ish as the people’s personalities.

The females wear a churidar, dress with a pant and a long scarf called chunri, or sari, a cloth with special under garments that wrap around the body. If a female wears halters and anything showing thighs or knees, everyone will stare her down as if she were naked, and she will be called a slut! Along with other western-clothes, the males can wear shorts and go around shirtless without being awed.

Even though the roads of the streets are made of concrete, buses or trucks are rarely seen roaming around. Cars and motorcycles are frequently driven. Moreover, do not be surprised to see herds of buffaloes and cows on the streets; the locals patronize the cattle, their source of calcium. Dogs and cats walk around, too, but the people do not keep them as pets.

Ena’s town square, entrance, holds the most attraction.

All the monuments are in pale beige with red-magenta lines and text, and they are lighted at night from October through March. A 20 by 25 feet gate and a water fountain with a three feet diameter colored-globe welcome visitors. To the west of those structures, stands a lotus-shaped water tower. About 10 stories high, it is the tallest building of the village. At the east, beside the gate, is a westernized park with green grass, picturesque flowers and a gazebo. At the end of the garden, a temple of Lord Saibaba stands. With a height of two floors, three cone towers, more than 30 jeweled statues of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, and a rectangle area of around 40 by 70 feet, it is the largest temple of Ena. To the northwest of all this, is a two-story, single wide, triangular bus stand that is extended into a clock tower with food stalls, selling famed Gujarati snacks.

Yes, one cannot leave Ena without trying the appetizers of some family owned and operated food stalls that have existed for more than 30 years. Since one U.S. dollar converts to 46 Indian rupees, the food will be cheap.

For about two dollars, one can get two pounds of Radhe’s Gathya, thick, spicy fried noodles. When eaten in quantity, it does not increase cholesterol. The locals call Radhe Kaana Bhaiya, hole brother, because he does not have an eye.

Naathu Modi’s Khaman are available for 50 cents a pound. Naathu even delivers this treat; he walks around each street selling it every morning. This spicy, steamed, cake-like snack is dessert for people with diabetes. Naathu’s brother Lalu makes Khamani, a crumbly from of khaman, and sells it for similar prices as Naathu’s Khaman.

Want a dry snack? Verma’s has it all, from sweet to salty. In addition to his famous Daana Chana, tiny, baked chick peas and salty peanuts, he sells candy and sweets made of sesame seeds and molasses.

In addition to these foods, other items are sold—all cheap for travelers, of course. Nevertheless, all the foods are purely vegetarian, not an egg in sight.

Coming from the east, the first sight of Ena is the school Sardar Patel Vidhyalaya, a three story, acre-wide, blue-gray building extended in a triangular area.

Students under the 10th grade can study math, science, and social studies with classes devoted to computers, English and Hindi. Actually, the school is the only place that has computers. Areas of art, commerce and science are available for students in 11 and 12th grades. However, all the subjects are taught in Gujarati except Hindi and English.

The school also has about six acres of open space for cricket and other famed events such as the Navratri festival.

Navratri comes in the month of Ashwina, according to the Indian lunar calendar. It is celebrated in the nine nights of October, to honor the three Goddesses: Durga, Saraswati and Laxmi. Essentially, the festival is a dance of singing, twirling and clapping rhythmically while going round the Goddess’s statue. It is known as Garba. Ena began to spice this already prestige event in 2003. Even, thousands of people from neighboring villages come to enjoy these tremendous nights that last to around three a.m..

And who can forget cricket, the sport of the British Empire?

Although Ena was not captured by the British when they ruled India before 1947, the sport was impossible to ignore. Every year in the late winter months, Ena hosts the Charotariya Leuwa Patidar Samaj Smruti Cup where villages of the Charotariya Leuwa caste play against one another’s team. This event has been around for 15 years.

In Bride & Prejudice Johnny Wickham says, “You don’t need money to see India. If you have money, you never get to see the real India.” He is right. With the cheapness and lavishness of village life, Ena is a place to visit to capture India at its midline of east and west.