The North Part IV: Ahmedabad

I arrived in Ahmedabad early in the morning. After spending a few hours resting, I set off to explore the city. Ahmedabad is off the normal tourist circuit. I went there because I wanted to see Gandhi's ashram, which is located there, and also because I was wanted to eat Gujarati food in its native state. I found the city overwhelming at first. Like most cities in India it is crowded and traffic is horrendous, but the thing that disoriented me was the language. Ahmedabad was the first place I had been where Hindi is not widely spoken. The dominant language there is Gujarati. Even though I can't read a word of Hindi, somehow seeing all the signs in a different language threw me off for the first few hours. After a little while, though, I adjusted.

I mentioned Gujarati food. The distinguishing feature of Gujarati food is that it tends to be very sweet. It is sweetened with jaggery, or concentrated cane juice that comes in huge blocks. Here is jaggery being sold on the street in Ahmedabad. The food is sweet and also very heavy - lots of pulses and everything is covered with ghee. I don't think I could eat it more than once a month, but its fun to indulge. I had lunch at a Gujarati thali place and ate probably a couple kilos worth of food (no joke! thalis are little personal buffets, and most thali places are all you can eat with waiters who are persistent about serving you more).


The next day I spent the morning at Gandhi's ashram, the Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhi established the ashram in 1915 as a place for religious adherents to go dedicate their life to spiritual pursuit. It would later serve as the base for much of his Free India organizing. There is a great museum dedicated to his life there.


Gandhi's room


And his spinning wheel. He saw Indian identity as very intertwined with local production of goods, and in particular textile production.


That afternoon I visited an ancient step well on the outskirts of the city. It was one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.









And lastly, some Gujarati street food