Women's India Trust

In the spirit of Gandhi's work, the Gandhi Institute has been supporting the Women's Trust Organization for 18 years.  When we arrived, the students and teachers were so eager and proud to share their work with our group of 22 visitors.  They train teachers in 10 months to educate young ladies.  During this training, future educators learn how to help the ladies learn life skills and create crafts such as drawings, puppets, interactive journals, and storyboards.  We were able to buy handmade blankets, pot holders, kitchen towels, bags, jam, and decorations to help support the organization.  We also visited the upstairs and saw where these items are created and where hours of labor goes into making each one.  The organization also made us a delicious lunch and then we visited a classroom of students who are in the nursing program.  These students attend school from 9am-4pm each day.  All of the ladies were so very friendly and lots of smiles were shared by all.

In one of the photos, you will notice a camera man.  He is on our tour documenting the whole Gandhi Legacy by interviewing a number of people that are part of the tour and people we come in contact with on the tour.  He works on producing commercials in Florida but decided to branch out and join the tour when his wife joined.  His plan is to have us all sign a waiver form if we would like to be in his movie.

Mani Bhavan: The Gandhi Residence in Bombay for 17 Years

We had a powerful visit to where Mahatma Gandhi lived when he would pass through Mumbai. Gandhi did not own this home but rather a friend of his did.  It's 3 stories tall and to own a home in Mumbai at that time that was 3 stories tall, the friend must have had money.  His room has been left exactly the way it was when he stayed there.  There is a peace and quiet that fills his room when you see it with your own eyes.  He would talk to the people of Mumbai that would gather at the house from the screened in porch on the front of the house.  Gandhi was arrested one of the last times at this location.  Dr. Martin Luther King visited the house (which had been turned into a museum by then) in the 1940s when he visited Mumbai.  Mumbai was so honored to have Dr. King come to Mumbai that they arranged for him to stay at a top notch hotel.  Dr. King, however, refused to stay in the top notch hotel after visiting the house.  He meditated there next to the chair that Gandhi spent time meditating in and felt Mahatma Gandhi's presence.  He refused to leave the house even after the owner of the museum told him that they were closed and the museum wasn't set up for guests to stay.  Dr. King told them that he didn't need much to sleep, just a sheet and pillow.  For 3 days he ended up staying there and meditating, but before he left, he came to realize what his mission would be in the United States.  Tushar Gandhi, Dr. Arun Gandhi's son, is working hard to have the museum put a plaque on the wall to honor Dr. King's visit since not many people know of this story.  President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and President Obama have all visited the museum.  On the floor of the room featured in the pictures below, you see Gandhi's slippers and a loom that he used to make clothes.  You also see pictures of the 50,000 books Mahatma Gandhi read during his time there as well as people preserving the pages of the books.  I asked Tushar why the statues at the museum have garlands around his neck because you rarely see him with a garland in Gandhi's pictures.  He said the reason for that is because whenever Gandhi visited new cities or villages, people would make him a garland as a gift, but he refused to wear the garland unless it was handmade.  There are four pictures featured below one of the statues that represent Gandhi's philosophy of wanting to create an independent India (from the British) and employment for the people.  The four pictures show the spinning wheel, spices being pounded, the milkman, and pottery making.  These were the ways Gandhi wanted his people to become self-sufficient.  In one of the photos below, you will notice 4 different pictures of Mahatma Gandhi.  They represent the progression of his style of dress throughout the 4 stages of his life. Throughout the various photos, you can see how we were able to view original documents, artifacts and photos that the museum preserves and protects.  I would like to give a big thank you to Dr. Arun Gandhi and Tushar Gandhi who gave us all an autographed copy of the Autobiography that the museum sells with pictures and stories of Mahatma Gandhi's life.  What an honor it was to tour this museum with Mahatma Gandhi's grandson and great-grandson.  A memory I will always cherish and never forget!         

Choose the right meal!

Some people in our group have been very carefully picking and choosing their meals while others have been diving right in without hesitation.  So far we have eaten curry chicken, rice, potatoes fried and baked, a creamy pasta dish cooked peas, and naan.  Every meal includes curry chicken and rice so I have been taking a break here and there and eating an energy bar from my stash of snacks that I brought with me.  We were warned over and over NOT to eat raw vegetables, salads or fresh fruits, and anyone who knows me knows this is very difficult.  All of these items look delicious and so fresh and tasty, but it's not worth risking your health!  Yogurt is a big part of the Indian diet and meals, but sometimes it has raw fruits and vegetables mixed in and can carry bacteria so it was suggested we avoid it.  On the first night, I ran the water on my toothbrush after brushing my teeth which is easy to do even if you keep reminding yourself.  I had to throw it out and ask the hotel for new.  They were very accommodating and even brought me travel size toothpaste as well.

Stay tuned as we get deeper into our tour, introduced to new foods and get more brave:)

Driving in Mumbai

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After driving around Mumbai for the day, we realized that there is knack to it and a survival of the fittest mentality!  Basically anything on the road goes, and you have to constantly be aware of pedestrians, motorcycles, bikes, carts of fruit, stray dogs and other animals, cars weaving in and out aggressively. Everyone, and I mean everyone lays on their horn!  Drivers dart in and out of traffic without staying in the lines and honk when passing in close proximity.  Drivers also honk to move around other motor vehicles, to pass cars, when they are not happy with another driver or to warn the pedestrian to walk faster or do not cross the street.  Pedestrians do not seem to have the right-of-way. There doesn't seem to be much road rage even though drivers are CONSTANTLY cutting each other off.  It's almost expected and people seem calm and collected.  
Our group had to stop watching the road and had to pay attention to the scenery instead or our feet kept hitting the floor as if we all had our own individual brake!  Most of the time motor vehicles are within inches of hitting each other!  They drive on the other side of the street, and we still haven't adjusted.  Every time we attempted to get in the van yesterday, we would automatically try to get in on the US passenger side.  Our driver was so patient with us and actually laughed every time we air braked and entered the driver side.  Parking is an issue.  Sounds like the wealthy are willing to take a parking ticket and pay a fine so that they can park wherever they please. Today we were on and off a bus all day.  We took the bus up a pretty steep mountain, and it was definitely a bit scary at times as we were on the edge of the street and weaving in and out of traffic.

All Together

Pictures tell the story!  These pictures definitely capture how you feel when driving around the streets of Mumbai.  With every turn there are buildings that are rich with history and sites that will take your breath away in a good and not so good way.  At the same time that we would be admiring the beauty of the scenery, we also noticed that the smog here can start impacting your allergies and sometimes we found ourselves coughing.  Street after street it's typical to see the wealthy housing developments mixed in with the slums and very poor areas.  It definitely makes you think about how segregated the areas and neighborhoods are of the Rochester area.  In fact some of these pictures are taken right outside of our 5 star hotel with one of the fanciest pools I have ever seen.  And a few of the pictures were in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire.