Exploring Ahmedabad

On our day off, the interns decided to explore the city of Ahmedabad a little bit more. There are so many malls in Ahmedabad! And while it can be interesting to spend time in a foreign mall, we were a bit tired of them. We wanted to see the real Ahmedabad. A new addition to the ITSA library, 101 Ways to Experience Ahmedabad, gave us some good ideas on where to go and what to do.

First, we started off at Hansiba, the SEWA Co-op Shop. The shop was named after the oldest SEWA artisan. Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is an organization based in Ahmedabad, which has helped women from surrounding districts get their wares sold. The store was filled with so many beautiful things! The pillow cases, the figurines, scarves, and clothes. It was hard to choose only a few things to buy for gifts! Sixty five percent of the profits of the store go to supporting the artists who made the artwork. We were all glad that we could positively contribute back to the artists.

Next stop was Gramshree, which we found all on our own! It was within walking distance, so we decided go for it. For those who don’t know, Ahmedabad is not a pedestrian city. Most of our transportation takes place in auto-rickshaws. Also, addresses are pretty difficult to find when you don’t know where you are going. There is no numbered system like in the States, and most addresses consist of nearby landmarks, like “near ISCON mall” and that’s it. Once you get to the landmark, you have to find the destination on your own. The address that we were trying to find was 4^th floor, Shopper’s Plaza, opposite Municipial Market, Vastrapur. But we found it, with the help of some people along the way.

Once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised again! It was a lovely store, with some really beautiful clothing. All of the profits went to Gramshee, which is a non-profit organization aiming to empower rural and slum dwelling women. , After the store, we went to a Havmur, right across the street. Most of us got to taste yet another Havmur flavor, Litchee Strawberry! We are on our way to tasting all of the flavors!  

 All in all, it was a great shopping day, with all of our money going towards good causes. 

Field Trip, part 2

As I said in the earlier blog post, the people in the first “Hollywood” slum seemed to be optimistic, and united against the common enemy. However, in the other places that we visited, the same cannot be said.

After a traditional Gujarati lunch, we took a 30 minute rickshaw ride to the very edge of Ahmedabad. Because I was so full from the lunch, I closed my eyes for a short time in the rickshaw. One moment we were in the city, where everything smells like spice, with a small amount of exhaust. When I opened my eyes, I smelled chemicals. It felt like we had completely left the city. There were warehouses, and smokestacks that rose into the sky.

The rickshaws took a turn off the main road, and there was row after row of warehouses, with not a person in sight. Then, huge gray concrete angular buildings appeared out of nowhere. Honestly, I felt that it was a bit futuristic, in a bad way. The buildings looked modern and functional, but the society was not as advanced as the buildings seemed to be. The buildings were very imposing, and seemed to be the complete opposite of the community we had visited a mere 2 hours ago.

When we got there, people began to crowd around us, much like the earlier community. Small trundle-like beds were brought out for us to sit on, while on lookers crowded around us to listen to the conversation Beena Mam was starting. The whole conversation was in Gujarati, so the interns only understood what was being translated for us. We heard them talking about how they got uprooted from their homes on the riverfront, and the community that they belonged to. Many of them did domestic work in homes nearby. But because of their relocation and where they are now, the cost of going back into the city for work is more than what they would actually be making. This forces them to work in the factories, which are very dangerous, and they do not know how to navigate. Their water is extremely dangerous, and makes them sick. It was a lot to take in as an outsider, and as someone who is not in the powerful position to help them.

As a team, we all felt that there was some miscommunication to the people on what our role there was. While we were just visiting, the people may have misinterpreted “foreigners” with “help”. While they were telling us about all their hardships, we felt as though there was nothing that we could actually do. Debriefing with the team this morning, I think we all felt better discussing the point of the field trip, which was not to feel pitiful about how we can’t immediately help them, but savor the fact that ultimately, the more people that know about their hardships and spread the word is better than none.