Our path to the elephant
spotting began with our visit with the Self Employed Women’s Association
(SEWA), a trade union that aims to empower poor, self-employed female workers.
In the morning, we met with one of the directors of SEWA who took us to a
bustling vegetable market where many SEWA members earn a living by selling
produce to the thousands of shoppers who visit the busy area every day. The
activity and energy of the market was palpable — we passed through merchants
organizing piles of fresh coriander, unloading trucks full of deep purple-hued
eggplants and setting up shop at stalls surrounding the warehouses. In the
middle of all the activity, the SEWA director suddenly began to play a game of
guessing my weight near a large vegetable scale. Next thing I knew, I found
myself on the scale. The SEWA
director seemed to enjoy it, at least. While winding through the market, we
found another elephant grazing with his owner and were naturally occupied for
the next half hour taking pictures, petting and feeding it. Total elephant
count now went up to two in one day — not bad at all! After our visit to the
market, we stopped by a SEWA bank branch where we learned the ways that the
organization helps to lift marginalized poor women in the informal sector out
of poverty. Our meeting with SEWA ended with a presentation on the group’s
initiatives and a tasty veg lunch.
Our afternoon was spent
at Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram, known as Sabarmati Ashram. The ashram was one of
the residences of Gandhi, who lived here for about 12 years with his wife
Kasturba and it was from this base that Gandhi led the influential Dandi march
in 1930 that sparked the Indian independence movement. The grounds of the site
were extremely peaceful, and I could easily imagine Gandhi finding spiritual inspiration
and repose here while watching parrots fly around in the trees and enjoying the
breeze from the River Sabarmati nearby. The ashram featured a detailed exhibit
of Ghandi’s biography and some of his most impactful and lasting work. Also for
anyone who might be visiting the ashram in the future: watch out for the
chipmunks. They can be a bit aggressive!
After going for a quick
coffee break to rest from exploring the ashram, we headed back to Ahmedabad
Train Station. With some caffeine in our systems, we braced ourselves for the
absolute chaos of the station as we headed to take the Swarna Raj Express
overnight to Delhi. With our large (and others extra large) pieces of luggage
in tow, we slogged through the station and tried our best to avoid the swarms
of loud crowds and suspiciously smelly pathways. By the time we reached our
platform, our tour guide Chetan was already sweating bullets and looked a bit
stressed at the thought of helping us board the train. Note to Chetan: you
rock. By 6 p.m., we were off. And thus was the beginning of a 14-hour journey
to our final destination of the trip, Delhi.
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