His family escaped the quake without injury or death, and his house is intact, safe. In Bhuj, a city of more than 170,000 people, the clean up continues more than two months after the 7.0-magnitude temblor. Total impact on the local economy will not be known for months. City streets are slowly returning to life. Vendors, including farmers bringing in fresh fruits and vegetables, have begun to crowd the streets once again with their colorful wagonloads of goods.
Rickshaws carry people to shops that are reopening to sell medicines, clothes and supplies.
The commercial center of this regional city is slowly rising from the rubble. In many neighborhoods, since the earthquake, strong bonds have developed between families who did not know each other well. For the first month, evenings were spent sleeping in the street for fear of aftershocks. There was talk of the past and loved ones lost. But even in the darkest hours, people were talking about the future.