I arrived at the airport in Ahmedabad and my first sense was that it was hotter than New Delhi. And it was! After finding a hotel I made my way to Gandhi's Satyagraha Ashram on the banks of the Sabermati river. The ashram is a powerful reminder of the struggle that Gandhi fought while in Ahmedabad. The house where he lived is well preserved. You have to take off your shoes to enter the house. The ashram houses a reasonable bookstore and a library too.
I took a few minutes to look at the Sabermati river thinking that Gandhi must of spent hours on its banks contemplating various forms of struggle. I remembered how I watched the Wabash river in Terre Haute, Indiana, and wondered if it could possibly cleanse itself of the pollution that ‘modernization’ had poured into it. The Sabermati river is even dirtier than the Wabash. It is a shame really that so much of the river is nothing more than human waste.
In general, the pollution in Ahmedabad seemed somewhat more severe than New Delhi, and that is saying a lot. I remember now how dirty the air was when I left my hotel to find a bite to eat. The sun had just set and the call to prayer filled the air even as I choked and wheezed. It seemed as if I could reach out and cut a piece of polluted air. I wondered about the level of lead in the air and the related health consequences. Indians, however, seem to be resigned to living in these conditions even as their national leaders brag incessantly about the country’s entrance into the global era of commodities.
All the while people are choking to death on lead and carbon gasses throughout India. Gandhi would not be happy.
The pictures here are of the entrance to the ashram, Gandhi's residence, a view of the Sabermati river, and a model of the Salt march to Dani.
See Wikepedia for a background discussion on Mahatma Gandhi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi
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