A few days back I visited Ahmedabad on a personal trip. Though I did not stay long enough to evaluate the communal and political fabric of the state, a few things jumped out as soon as my flight landed in Ahmedabad.1. The city seems to be a very safe place for women. Even at 10:30 PM or later, when it can be fairly dangerous for the fairer sex to be on the road alone in Delhi, it was not a rare sight to see girls riding their scootys.
2. The women folk in the city as well as the state (going by my experience in Gandhi Nagar, Surat, and Anand) are fairly bold and enterprising. It was not a rare sight to see women managing road-side dhabas.
The prize of the visit however was the trip to the Gandhi Ashram on the banks of Sabarmati, Gandhiji abode between 1918 and 1930. Its amazing how humbling the experience is, just being there and experiencing the place where Gandhi actually lived. The design of the Ashram, the houses, the verandahs, the doors, the windows, etc. is simple and non-obtrusive, very close to Gandhi's way of life. We met an interesting volunteer (I think his name was Amit!) at the house where Gandhiji lived for 12 years. Amit walked us through the house, explaining intricate details about various nooks and corners of the house and giving us some glimpse into the day-to-day lives of Gandhi Ji and Ba. Overall, the ashram has such a "strong personality" that one can actually imagine (and feel) Gandhi's presence at the place. It is sad that Gandhiji left the Ashram for good in 1930 when he went for the Salt march and vowed never to come back till India won freedom. We (me and my wife and our favorite aunt) spent more than 2-3 hours trying to understand why Gandhi did what he did. I think the visit moved all three of us, and the onward car journey to Anand (a good two hours away) was mainly dominated by conversation around the Gandhi way of life.
Gandhiji once commented - "my life is my message." This seems so true after a visit to the Ashram.
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