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Published: February 11th 2012
Kites in the Tree
Remains of Utarian fighting kites in a tree Last night we stayed at one of AWAG's safe houses in a fairly remote part of Ahmedabad. We woke when the chokidar (watchman - helper) brought us some tea. We ate some apples we had brought with us and sipped our tea on a warm veranda. A nearby tree held the skeletons of kites felled during the previous month's kite fighting festival of Utarian. Monkeys skittered along the walls and trees, and the birds, traffic sounds, and daily living sounds were just so different from our quiet woods at home that it was pleasant to just soak it all in.
It is good to see that the India we remembered from our trip in 1994 is still here. The familiar smells of cooking fires, neem trees, dust and whatever else it is that makes the aroma of Ahmedabad distinct brought back memories of our trip. We had heard that Ahmedabad was "booming" and so I was worried that it was going to be like visiting a big suburb or something. Not to worry ... the well worn mantle of a 1000s year old culture still envelops everything here. The gentle character of India still lives.
After eating we decided
Marie on the Veranda
Breakfast at the AWAG safehouse on a warm February 2nd. to walk a little outside the compound. I gave our apple cores to a man who was feeding his goats just outside our gate. The goats gobbled them up greedily ... a nice treat. A poor woman was giving her small boy a bath from a plastic tub of water. Numerous scruffy but friendly dogs lazed around hoping for handouts, and one had found a comfy seat in a vacant rickshaw. It looked like he was the rickshaw wallah (driver).
About 11:00 AM Ilaben Pathak (AWAG director and our host) and her driver picked us up and drove us to her home. Her son, Kalind, said that where we were staying was in an area that had nothing for us to do, so we should stay with them. Ilaben then gave us her room and she moved to a smaller bedroom at the back of the house. That afternoon Marie and I both crashed. We awoke the next morning feeling much better and ready to work.
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