Junagadh (Gujarat)
2 August 2010
well it is, I can confirm officially: the monsoon is here and well! I thought very naively pass through by I do not know Auel miracle and the miracle has not happened but the monsoon is well!
raining continuously for 3 days, acalmies last 5-10min, time to close his umbrella and open it again!
I can not resist the pleasure to share with you this quote from my own that came today on the bus: he who has not experienced the monsoon in India can not enjoy a sunny sky .. . To meditate ..
I'll come back on these last 2 days but I must tell you about my day at Ahmedabad.
Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state, India's major cities overcrowded, noisy, polluted, as are all major cities of the world and India in particular. And yet very welcoming city because probably not used to seeing tourists, and in any case has little this season.
My hotel is very well situated in Relef road, not far from the station and feroviaire from downtown.
I begin my exploration of the city a little chance, or my feet guide me ... I get a small square in front of a temple, and I came face to face (or rather nose was wrong!) With an elephant! It is huge (normally you say, it's a elephant!), And he quietly plump bananas that he offer passersby and his driver ...
Can I continue my journey, determined to explprer the old city, its temples and mosques ... But we imagine such plans never go as planned in India ...
the bend of an alley, my eyes are attracted by the facade of a building ... so I head on this side, and I found a small temple dedicated to Lakshmi ... I think And that's where it all begins: I met a lovely grandmother, who does not speak a word of English but has nevertheless decided to make me talk! From
queue to another, she invited me to her house, or rather to his son, a few steps from the ... Their house is built on two floors: ground floor living Rausni, 15 years with his family. It sells water filtered. At first GATE
live Dinesh 18, Akshoy 15 years and their parents and the paternal grandmother.
and 2nd floor saw my grandmother, her son and his beautiful baby girl with their 9-month Veer.
noon I had lunch with my lovely granny and her family, a delicious Gujarati thali (rice, chapati, vegetables).
Then I was invited dscendre a floor to drink tea with the parents of Dinesh. After tea, I assist in the preparation of delicious cakes that I do not know the name. After the thali I had very hungry, but there was no question of refusing! Dinesh
studied electronics, and he speaks pretty good English, certainly enough to be to discuss. It's a very nice boy, like his brother Akshoy. Dinesh
offers to accompany me to discover Ahmedabad, and we're off in auto rickshaw (driver is one of their knowledge!) To Gandhi's ashram on the banks of the river Sabarmati. The place is very quiet and there is a nice museum traces the history of Gandhiji, his struggle for the equality of rights for the untouchables and the peasants, his non-violent struggle for the abolition of castes, his ethics of life ... Everything is beautiful and spotless, and a touch Gandhi and his image here in India would be perceived very badly ... Yet it is clear that Gandhi was not a super-man, just a man odinaire who tries to do his best to help his people have overcome the inequality ancestral caste system and the yoke of the Brahman and British ... Then Dinesh
takes me to visit the Hanuman temple, situated in a military zone. So the EMTREE is very controlled, we must leave everything at the entrance (bag, portbale phone, camera ...) and keep crossing the checkered military zone ...
Always great devotion on the part of Indians to their gods, not of disapproval vis a vis non-Hindus who must do things completely contrary to the ritual all the time! They are very tolerant, and it's really pleasant, suddenly I do not feel foreign at all, but rather part of this big family that Humanite called ... I think that's one of the lessons of India's membership in a same and unique humanity despite our differences of religion, culture, life ...
Homecoming Dinesh, for one last winery before returning to hotel prepare my business because I take the night train to Junagadh to 22h.
I'll be back to Ahmedabad on August 7, before moving to Jaipur. I promise to return, and Dinesh has already planned what he took me to visit ... He has 15 days holiday, AC is great!
That was surprising to this day a family in Ahmedabad Gujaratis (they are actually from Jodhpur in Rajasthan but living in Ahmedabad since 12 years ...) The following
and photos very soon!
Take care.
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