Ahmedabad

Due to the heavy city traffic, I had to get off on the outer motorway and take an auto rickshaw in to meet my friend. One nice thing about being a foreigner is that I’m easier to spot in a crowd. He took me to his house and I had dinner with him and his wife. He was surprised to see me sitting cross-legged eating food without a fork, knife or spoon. I had learned that much at least back in London, along with eating only with my right hand. He took me to a room I rented for two nights at a church. The next day was a long one, but good. I had breakfast with a family of a mutual friend and then he and I went to the Gandhi Ashram. It was a peaceful, simple and quiet place next to the river. After reading Freedom at Midnight, I knew much more about this unique, seemingly frail man who has shaped so much of India. I think he would like the ashram as it is. We left to Maninagar and saw the huge Swaminarayan mundir before arriving in the slum area that he has invested so much time in. We entered a small house and over 30 people gathered. We sang bhajans, I shared about what I’m doing in London and we prayed. Even out of their poverty they offered me lunch; I was honoured. While they were cooking I visited many families and prayed with them. All of them gave me water and chai (tea) so that my stomach was already pretty full by lunch. As I walked through the slum, I saw many people making incense to sell and doing handcrafts. Two girls I met were around eight years old and stitching small mirrors into cloth. It was beautiful but they would receive two rupees for their work though it would be sold in Delhi for about 100. After lunch, we went outside the city to a village. His brother lives there and parents are staying them briefly. He showed me around and introduced me to people. He has met and prayed with all the families there, around 35. It was great to see his passion to serve that community. We hopped on his bike and explored to local bazaar. Going through a city’s market is a great way to get to know the ethos of a place. I was looking specifically for a watch, since I didn’t own one and needed one. I searched for a small earring and drew a picture of what I wanted but no one had it. Many shop owners were surprised to have such a picky buyer. Afterwards we drove back, had dinner and got some sleep. The weather was in the 40s, normally people take a nap so he was shocked when he saw me still energized through the heat. Early the next morning he drove me to the airport and I took off to Delhi. There was a ton I did not see in Ahmedabad, it would have been nice to stay one more day.