Wed 19 Nov Ahmedabad
It was 740 when we hit the street. Our hotel did not include breakfast, so we walked back to New Lucky Restaurant. Traffic was still light, since most things don't seem to open before 10 am. But there, in a busy street that we would fear to cross, a newspaper vendor had set up his wares in the street itself, taking up a whole "lane" of traffic. New Lucky didn't have the breakfast items we wanted - just a lot of white bread and butter.
It was a good time to see Sidi Sayyadi Mosque, just across the street from the hotel. Carol was not allowed in, but it is an open building - very simple and serene. It was built in 1572-3 by an Ethiopian (Abyssinian) merchant who had come to India from Yemen. Instead of washing faucets so one could wash before prayer, it had a washing pool - a feature that differentiates Indian Islam from other locales.
Carol wanted to show Mike some of the features of yesterday's walk, so we retraced the path she had taken before. We walked up Relief Rd toward Swaminarayan Temple, which Carol had seen but Mike had not. Along the way, we saw artisans applying a deep pink coating to taut white thread. The thread turns out to be kite string, and the pink coating is powdered glass, which will turn the kite string into a lethal weapon against other kites.
We stopped at the beautiful Jain temple Carol had seen the day before. Then we saw today's Heritage Tour group emerging from the Swaminarayan Temple to begin the walk. They recognized Carol and invited her and Mike along without additional payment. After 10 min or so, we realized that Mike had not viewed Swaminarayan and also we had not had breakfast, so we split off and went back to Swaminarayan.
Of to the back of the Temple there was something really important going on, involving flames, incense, dignitaries and an official videographer. It was clearly not a wedding or a circumcision, but what it was is beyond us.
On the temple facade we noted tiers after tiers of sculpted elephants doing different things, cows after cows, zebu after zebu. This is one of the features that distinguishes Muslim architecture from Hindu architecture - you don't see natural depictions in a mosque. So much naturalistic bas relief, reminiscent of Persepolis, done by artisans who knew their animals. In particular, there were many representations of mother animals suckling their young.
Back to the main road. We saw crowds eating street-cooked food. We ordered 2 plates for 15 R each. The dish turned out to be cooked, seasoned poha (small rice flakes) with some crispy things and some chana dal poured on top. Pretty tasty - and, most importantly, hot, fresh and safe.
At the cyber cafe, we checked online the possible ways to get around Gujarat and eventually to Jaisalmer. Airplane connections are abysmal.
Around noon, we walk over to Madhavi's project site. On the road over, at the entrance to Bandra Fort, there is a man sitting on top of an elephant - a live elephant. The elephant is decorated with face paint. It has been trained to "hand over" coins put on the tip of its trunk to the trainer on top. No political subtext. Everyone is participating including Carol, who puts a coin in the elephant's trunk.
At Madhavi's office we go up, but Madhavi is not there. We talk on the phone and make arrangements to meet at 4 pm.
We walk back to the hotel, past a plaster (or plastic) elephant with chrysanthemums in its trunk.
The live elephant is still there, and we take time to take photos of adjacent Fort Bandra.
A woman vendor is selling a black fruit with a white center. We buy 4. Pleasant - like a cross between potato and water chestnut. Back at the hotel, the office manager tells us that the Gujarat name of this fruit is singora. You peel off the outside shell and eat the inside. A winner.
We finally decide on the following itinerary: Go to Diu (an island in the Indian Ocean), then Sasan Gir (the lion sanctuary), Bhuj, and Jaisalmer - all by bus. There is no day bus to Diu, so we will take a day bus to Veravel, leaving 715 the next morning. From Veravel, there are many buses to Diu. Time to buy our tickets.
We have hoped to see the (now no longer functional) synagogue in Ahmedabad, which we have read is located across the street from a Parsi Temple. Around the corner from the hotel is - guess what? - a Parsi Temple. We find it but no synagogue nearby, although we look and ask around.
On the bus into town we had spotted another Parsi site. We grab a rickshaw to the Aspodia ST station to buy our tickets to Veravel. Mike is told to say: "Mane Veravel ni 2 tickets aapo." He says that at the ticket window, and for 474 R gets his two tickets. We have seats 4 and 5 among the three seats in the front row behind the driver.
We go out looking for a different Parsi temple we had seen on our bus into Ahmedabd. We take a walk up the street, past the brand new Bus Rapid Transit stations. There are burial tombs right in the sidewalk as we walk along. We walk without luck until we get to the train station. It is 1515. Time is running out. We have found neither the Parsi temple nor the synagogue we have looked for.
During this long hot walk, we spotted a vendor selling "Blister" brand water, which is packaged exactly like "Bisleri" water, the leading brand. Ersatz designer water!
For 60 R we take an auto-rickshaw back to the hotel. Traffic is miserable and at spots, totally congealed. We are behind an auto-rickshaw on which someone has inscribed "I Miss You Mom."
Finally, we get off at Sidi Sayyadi, and walk the last 300 m to Madhavi's place. The elephant is gone, but it left "evidence" of its former presence on the street.
At Madhavi's program, everything is in full steam. Madhavi shows up. The women workers are offered tea and biscuits at their break. We go into a room - Madhavi and the two of us; the woman associate who runs the business hands on, and 10 women. Each of the women is an HIV-positive widow. A few have HIV-positive children. They work sewing sheets together to form a bedspread, into which they stuff all sorts of random cloth pieces. The whole thing is then stitched up. The workers get 20 R for each blanket, which takes apx 1 hour to prepare. The program sells the blankets for 54 R, generating some profit to continue. The workers get 20 R for each blanket, which takes apx 1 hour to prepare. Some blankets are donated outright to the homeless. As part of the program, the workers are given some nutritious food (crucial for PLWA - people living with AIDS), bus fare, anti-retrovirals, counseling, education, and other things to meet their needs. Some have been provided with sewing machines they can use at home. In January the program is switching over from blankets to making brooms, which they are about to learn how to create.
As Madhavi translates, several women talk about themselves and we introduce ourselves. They end with a sung Hindi prayer (in Sanskrit ?) which everyone knows. This seems to be routine.
It is now 1630. Madhavi and we go over to a nearby mandir, the Ganpati Mandir, and walk down to the shrine two floors down. This shrine features a snake. The main image is of an elephant-headed deity. We hug Madhavi and say our goodbyes.
Back to the hotel. At 1930 we go to the adjacent Food Inn, where we order Punjabi-style Butter Chicken and a mutton dish for dinner.
We pack for an early start the next am.
Thoughts about TRAFFIC:
Remember the film "Monsters Inc"? The source of power is children's screams; the motto is "We scare because we care." In Mumbai, Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad, the cacophony of car horns, trucks with air horns, police whistles, and bike horns is unrelenting. So maybe the noise noise noise is what powers ... everything. The motto of urban India: "We blow so all may go."
It was 740 when we hit the street. Our hotel did not include breakfast, so we walked back to New Lucky Restaurant. Traffic was still light, since most things don't seem to open before 10 am. But there, in a busy street that we would fear to cross, a newspaper vendor had set up his wares in the street itself, taking up a whole "lane" of traffic. New Lucky didn't have the breakfast items we wanted - just a lot of white bread and butter.
It was a good time to see Sidi Sayyadi Mosque, just across the street from the hotel. Carol was not allowed in, but it is an open building - very simple and serene. It was built in 1572-3 by an Ethiopian (Abyssinian) merchant who had come to India from Yemen. Instead of washing faucets so one could wash before prayer, it had a washing pool - a feature that differentiates Indian Islam from other locales.
Carol wanted to show Mike some of the features of yesterday's walk, so we retraced the path she had taken before. We walked up Relief Rd toward Swaminarayan Temple, which Carol had seen but Mike had not. Along the way, we saw artisans applying a deep pink coating to taut white thread. The thread turns out to be kite string, and the pink coating is powdered glass, which will turn the kite string into a lethal weapon against other kites.
We stopped at the beautiful Jain temple Carol had seen the day before. Then we saw today's Heritage Tour group emerging from the Swaminarayan Temple to begin the walk. They recognized Carol and invited her and Mike along without additional payment. After 10 min or so, we realized that Mike had not viewed Swaminarayan and also we had not had breakfast, so we split off and went back to Swaminarayan.
Of to the back of the Temple there was something really important going on, involving flames, incense, dignitaries and an official videographer. It was clearly not a wedding or a circumcision, but what it was is beyond us.
On the temple facade we noted tiers after tiers of sculpted elephants doing different things, cows after cows, zebu after zebu. This is one of the features that distinguishes Muslim architecture from Hindu architecture - you don't see natural depictions in a mosque. So much naturalistic bas relief, reminiscent of Persepolis, done by artisans who knew their animals. In particular, there were many representations of mother animals suckling their young.
Back to the main road. We saw crowds eating street-cooked food. We ordered 2 plates for 15 R each. The dish turned out to be cooked, seasoned poha (small rice flakes) with some crispy things and some chana dal poured on top. Pretty tasty - and, most importantly, hot, fresh and safe.
At the cyber cafe, we checked online the possible ways to get around Gujarat and eventually to Jaisalmer. Airplane connections are abysmal.
Around noon, we walk over to Madhavi's project site. On the road over, at the entrance to Bandra Fort, there is a man sitting on top of an elephant - a live elephant. The elephant is decorated with face paint. It has been trained to "hand over" coins put on the tip of its trunk to the trainer on top. No political subtext. Everyone is participating including Carol, who puts a coin in the elephant's trunk.
At Madhavi's office we go up, but Madhavi is not there. We talk on the phone and make arrangements to meet at 4 pm.
We walk back to the hotel, past a plaster (or plastic) elephant with chrysanthemums in its trunk.
The live elephant is still there, and we take time to take photos of adjacent Fort Bandra.
A woman vendor is selling a black fruit with a white center. We buy 4. Pleasant - like a cross between potato and water chestnut. Back at the hotel, the office manager tells us that the Gujarat name of this fruit is singora. You peel off the outside shell and eat the inside. A winner.
We finally decide on the following itinerary: Go to Diu (an island in the Indian Ocean), then Sasan Gir (the lion sanctuary), Bhuj, and Jaisalmer - all by bus. There is no day bus to Diu, so we will take a day bus to Veravel, leaving 715 the next morning. From Veravel, there are many buses to Diu. Time to buy our tickets.
We have hoped to see the (now no longer functional) synagogue in Ahmedabad, which we have read is located across the street from a Parsi Temple. Around the corner from the hotel is - guess what? - a Parsi Temple. We find it but no synagogue nearby, although we look and ask around.
On the bus into town we had spotted another Parsi site. We grab a rickshaw to the Aspodia ST station to buy our tickets to Veravel. Mike is told to say: "Mane Veravel ni 2 tickets aapo." He says that at the ticket window, and for 474 R gets his two tickets. We have seats 4 and 5 among the three seats in the front row behind the driver.
We go out looking for a different Parsi temple we had seen on our bus into Ahmedabd. We take a walk up the street, past the brand new Bus Rapid Transit stations. There are burial tombs right in the sidewalk as we walk along. We walk without luck until we get to the train station. It is 1515. Time is running out. We have found neither the Parsi temple nor the synagogue we have looked for.
During this long hot walk, we spotted a vendor selling "Blister" brand water, which is packaged exactly like "Bisleri" water, the leading brand. Ersatz designer water!
For 60 R we take an auto-rickshaw back to the hotel. Traffic is miserable and at spots, totally congealed. We are behind an auto-rickshaw on which someone has inscribed "I Miss You Mom."
Finally, we get off at Sidi Sayyadi, and walk the last 300 m to Madhavi's place. The elephant is gone, but it left "evidence" of its former presence on the street.
At Madhavi's program, everything is in full steam. Madhavi shows up. The women workers are offered tea and biscuits at their break. We go into a room - Madhavi and the two of us; the woman associate who runs the business hands on, and 10 women. Each of the women is an HIV-positive widow. A few have HIV-positive children. They work sewing sheets together to form a bedspread, into which they stuff all sorts of random cloth pieces. The whole thing is then stitched up. The workers get 20 R for each blanket, which takes apx 1 hour to prepare. The program sells the blankets for 54 R, generating some profit to continue. The workers get 20 R for each blanket, which takes apx 1 hour to prepare. Some blankets are donated outright to the homeless. As part of the program, the workers are given some nutritious food (crucial for PLWA - people living with AIDS), bus fare, anti-retrovirals, counseling, education, and other things to meet their needs. Some have been provided with sewing machines they can use at home. In January the program is switching over from blankets to making brooms, which they are about to learn how to create.
As Madhavi translates, several women talk about themselves and we introduce ourselves. They end with a sung Hindi prayer (in Sanskrit ?) which everyone knows. This seems to be routine.
It is now 1630. Madhavi and we go over to a nearby mandir, the Ganpati Mandir, and walk down to the shrine two floors down. This shrine features a snake. The main image is of an elephant-headed deity. We hug Madhavi and say our goodbyes.
Back to the hotel. At 1930 we go to the adjacent Food Inn, where we order Punjabi-style Butter Chicken and a mutton dish for dinner.
We pack for an early start the next am.
Thoughts about TRAFFIC:
Remember the film "Monsters Inc"? The source of power is children's screams; the motto is "We scare because we care." In Mumbai, Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad, the cacophony of car horns, trucks with air horns, police whistles, and bike horns is unrelenting. So maybe the noise noise noise is what powers ... everything. The motto of urban India: "We blow so all may go."
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