I have heard so much about the friendliness and helpfulness of the people of Gujarat State. But when I got here it didn't seem so friendly and nice. The first day in Ahmedabad, when all I wanted to do was get to Junagadh, it was difficult and the people I was dealing with around the bus station were kind of idiots and morons. Then when I returned after visiting the Gir National Park, it was so hard to find a place to stay and the people I met in hotels were not very helpful or particularly friendly. I was a bit disenchanted.
But Ahmedabad is also the home of Gandhi's Ashram. I wanted to go and see it as I'm in the neighbourhood. So I stayed an extra day in order to do that. In the morning, after I checked out of my hotel I went to the bus station to leave my bag at the office of the bus company I bought my ticket from. Then I started out to try to find the ashram. I knew it would be possible to find it on the bus, but I couldn't get very easy directions from the bus company people, so I was standing on the street trying to figure out what to do. In the end I figured I would just wander around trying to find the ashram for the whole without a real hope of finding it. So I flagged an autrorickshaw down and had him take me to the ashram. This was kind of amusing. The driver was a Muslim. He started talking to me about where I was from and that sort of thing. Then he asked me my religion. When I said I don't follow one, he started extolling the virtues of Islam. It was an interesting lecture, not that it really did anything to convert me, but I do know that of all the religions I know of, I find that I trust Muslims the most. I'm not sure why, but I do. They almost always treat with the most respect and are very friendly and helpful.
He deposited me at the ashram and I paid him and he went on his way. I went inside and started to have a look around. This was Gandhi's ashram and home for about a dozen years, until 1930. That was the year he embarked on one of his higher profile acts of civil disobedience, the walk from Ahmedabad to Dandi to collect some salt, in violation of the salt laws imposed by the British. At the time he said he would not return until India was free. So he never returned. It was 17 years later that India gained independence and shortly after that he was assassinated in Delhi. But being possibly his last permanent home (other than the various jails in which he was imprisoned for his civil disobedience), the ashram is strongly associated with Gandhi and has come to be a place to remember him. Inside there is a really good museum with a timeline of his works and beliefs. The principles he established by which he guided his life and wanted his followers to guide theirs are presented. There are many quotes and photos and paintings from and of Gandhi.
Another room has a biography in timeline format with most of the major things he accomplished.
The ashram itself is somewhat dilapidated and shows its age, but it still seems to be a functioning ashram and there seemed to be many children who seemed to live there, or have some association with it. In fact many of the children apparently made some kind of card, which they offered as “gifts” to visitors. Before asking for money, distorting the meaning of gift a little bit, of course. But I don't know that they recognized that.
Having watched Ben Kingsley portray Gandhi, I was struck by how like Gandhi Kingsley looked. The transformation/resemblance was uncanny. And I gained a new insight into how important Gandhi was to this country. I need to watch the movie again.
Then I decided to walk back to the bus station area, since I had a few hours to kill. I thought I could visit a museum, but there really wasn't that much time to be able to visit the museum I saw properly, once I figured out how to reach it and then managed that. So I just walked the streets back to the bus station. I crossed the river and got a nice view back to the ashram in its spot on the river shore.
Something I have noted in the ins and outs of my trips around Ahmedabad is the new bus system they are putting in. It is much like the Busway system in Jakarta. In the center of some of the major streets there are dedicated lanes for buses. Periodically there are stations where buses pull up and let passengers off and on, then they go off to the next station. There are a few prescribed routes that the system's buses follow. I doubt it is called a busway, but it is the same in all salient respects. I rode it for a couple of stops just to see. It is really new, and the stations are still shiny and clean. I don't know how long that will last, but... It is not used very well yet, so it must be a really new concept.
I got off at a spot that had a remnant of some previous civilization, a stone gate of some sort. It was called the Delhi Darwaja.
Then I wandered along and found lots of interesting things between where I was and the bus station. And I met lots of interesting people as well. Lots of people were pretty much demanding that I take their photos. Like this guy in his crushed velvet pants (I think they were crushed velvet).
And then there was this guy. His friends wanted me to take his photo, all dressed up as some kind of entertainer.
Then I passed this mosque. Someone told me to go in and have a look. I feel odd about taking photos in mosques, so I didn't, but hopefully the view from outside shows how intricate the carving and detailing of the exterior was. It was an amazing building.
Then I went to another bridge and met these fellows. They chatted with me for a while. Their names were Ashish and Ajay. They wanted me to tell all the women of Canada they like Canadian girls.
Then I started wandering through some of the narrow streets as I was getting nearer the bus station. I happened on a bunch of kids playing or practicing cricket. They had me give it a go. I'm glad the ball was only a hollow plastic one because when I hit it, I nailed an old woman who was passing by.
Down the street from there, I met more children who made me take their photo. I haven't had so many demands for me take photos of people in quite a while.
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