Sabarmati

A journey to Gandhi's life in Sabarmati Ashram

We had boarded an early morning train from Mumbai for a family vacation at one of the resorts in Gir Forest. The itinerary involved a stopover at Ahmedabad, affording upto 8 hours in this famed city. Checking with fellow travelers on important sight-seeing options, the list threw the usual – malls with their ensemble of shopping, movies and food courts, certain temples, and water-park. These generic list and the options did not somehow inspire uniqueness to the experience. At Ahmedabad railway station, my wife visited a Gujarat Tourism office and picked up a brochure. The attendant’s recommendation on possible options was the same list, we had disfavored. Facing his inadequacy at providing an exciting option, he threw his hands and uttered – “You may check Sabarmati Ashram”. My wife’s eyes lit up.

She shared the idea and I shared her enthusiasm. Places of historical importance have always superseded our interest for food and other “consumerism” substitutes. Sabarmati Ashram was not just another historically important venue.

The feeling of connectedness with the Mahatma descended as we embarked on our journey. You read about him in school, there is an autobiography which gets quoted, researched and widely read, you are fed his values from grandparents, parents, teachers, strangers with a sense of idealism, and somewhere down you are intrigued by his greatness. We were entering that hallowed slice of India’s history.

The Ashram stands by the banks of river Sabarmati, that lends its name to the Ashram. Inside the Ashram precinct there is Hriday Kunj where Gandhi lived with his family, Vinoba-Mira Kutir – that offered roof to Vinoba Bhave and later Madeline Slade (Gandhi called her Mira), Nandini – Ashram’s guest-house, Upasana Mandir – the prayer area that resonated with bhajans, teachings from religious scriptures and silent meditation, a building that housed Ashramites, a workshop and now a museum and book store. The museum area has a gallery that depicts his life through newspaper articles, quotes, photographs and creative illustration.

We spent over two hours traversing the muddy and brick lanes and its buildings that Gandhi inhabited, or sanctified between 1917 and 1930. Given the freedom struggle, he left in 1930 with an oath to return only after India got its independence. India got independent, but he never returned to this Ashram. The place bore witness to these thirteen years of experiments with truth. His daily life included prayer, attending to livestock, spinning Khadi, meeting visitors to the Ashram and be available for “constructive” activities.  His living quarters, Hriday Kunj has a guest room, visitor room, a kitchen and a bedroom that mirrored his simple and inspired living.

Various parts of the Ashram serve as an integrated unit, a crucible of constructive ferment. It is a picture of tranquility, of understanding, of engagement than breeding ground for agitation. The place did not serve to distance, but to practice a certain point of view, to be open to other’s point of view without negotiating on the vision. The biggest impression that the place left on our minds is that it was the place where Gandhi practiced a certain form of life and not a preaching ground. The statue of Gandhi in meditation is a statement of looking inward, of harmony and of inner strength.

The experience of visiting the Ashram is a milestone, a time frozen in our memory for its significance, for its bare display of practicing a certain form of life that raised the nation’s strength and self-belief.

On our way back to the station, we discussed the sight seeing options that our fellow travelers had suggested. We realized that we sometimes miss the most precious jewels of our history, of our identity ... of our inspiration.