Gandhi Legacy Tour 2019
January 3 2019: Arrive Mumbai India
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the primary international airport in Mumbai India. The Airport’s IATA code – “BOM”, is derived from Bombay, Mumbai’s former name. The airport is South Asia’s second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic and the busiest airport in India in terms of international passenger traffic and the second busiest in terms of overall passenger traffic. Upon arrival at Chhatrapati Shivajit, you will proceed to immigration, customs clearance and luggage collection. Continue to the exit where you will be met and transferred to The Waterstone Hotel, check-in after 2:00 pm. Before dinner you have the...
Read MoreJanuary 4: Mumbai / Pune / Kolhapur
Buffet breakfast at the Waterstone Hotel and then the group will check-out and board the bus for the Mani Bhavan. Visit Mani Bhavan: Bapu’s transit home in Mumbai. Mani Bhavan a simple old-style, two storied building on Laburnum Road, Mumbai. Whenever Gandhi was in Mumbai, between 1917 to 1934, he stayed at this home which is now converted into the museum and an adjacent research center. In 1955 Mani Bhavan was dedicated as a memorial to Gandhi and to the very important activities of great significance he initiated from that place. Mani Bhavan is recognized as a Research Institute preparing students for Ph.D. degree in Gandhian Thought and Rural Development by...
Read MoreJanuary 5: Kolhapur AVANI
Upon arrival at the Kolhapur Citrus Hotel, check in and enjoy a breakfast buffet. Today, you will visit various migrant workers’ camps; see brickyard sites and learn of the issues relating to child labor. After discontinuing child labor practices at the brickyard sites, AVANI has established teaching locations for the children where students convene in makeshift tent schools. After lunch, visit the site for the AVANI Residential School Gandhi Center for Learning. AVANI is a small and extremely devoted team directed by Anuradha Bhosale, determined to wipe out child labor in the brickyard work sites near Kolhapur, India. Nomadic families migrate to these brickyards for...
Read MoreJanuary 06: Kolhapur / Lonavala
We will enjoy a buffet breakfast at the hotel and after breakfast, the group will drive to Lonavala. We will not stop at the Aga Khan Palace along the way this year (2018) as it is closed on Monday. We will engage in considerations and debrief about the history, the tour, our visits while on the bus further bonding as a group. We will visit the Aga Khan Palace in Pune which is a national monument of India’s freedom movement. Following the launch of Quit India movement in 1942, Gandhi, his wife Kasturba, and his secretary Mahadev Desai were imprisoned at the Palace from August 9, 1942 to May 6, 1944. Mahadev and Kasturba passed away while in captivity at...
Read MoreJanuary 07: Lonavala / Mumbai
We start our day with a buffet breakfast at the hotel. After early breakfast, the group will drive to Mumbai, arrive and proceed to the MarketPlace|Share. Travel Lonavala to Mumbai via Volvo Bus approx 2-3 hours. MarketPlace|SHARE Handwork of India is an innovative fair trade, not-for-profit organization which combines the experience of running a business with a variety of support programs designed to effect real, meaningful, and lasting change in the lives of low-income women in India. Handwork of India works with 480 artisans who are organized into 14 independent co-operatives which produce high-quality women’s apparel and home decor. Being in charge of their...
Read MoreJanuary 08: Arrival Bhuj
Arrival Bhuj at 9:25 AM – Early check-in will be subject to availability of the day. Upon arrival at the Bhuj Railway Station, the group will be transferred to the Kutch Safari Resort. Kutch is an arid region, two deserts form most of its landscape, The Little and Great Rann of Kutch and on the west the Arabian Sea. It was devastated by a massive earth quake in 2000. The people of Kutch are hardy and hard working. Rearing herds of cows, water buffaloes, camels and goats is a traditional occupation of the community called the Maaldharis, herders. There are many communities of artisans and crafts persons. Many organizations work to sustain the traditional...
Read MoreJanuary 09: Bhuj / Ahmedabad
Travel by Deluxe Bus (Approx 8 hrs drive) Buffet breakfast at the resort. After breakfast, visit the Khamir. A documentary film by Kasturi Gandhi It narrates the lives and work of leather artisans that belong to the Meghwal community of Kachchh. Khamir works to strengthen and promote the rich artisan traditions of the Kachchh district. The name stands for Kachchh Heritage, Art, Music, Information and Resources. Khamir means ‘intrinsic pride’ in Kachchhi, the local language. In Hindi it means ‘to ferment,’ an equally apt name given the constant fermentation of ideas and activity on going both within the organization, and in Kachchh at large. Born in 2005 as a...
Read MoreJanuary 10: Gujarat Vidyapith / Sabarmati Ashram
We start the day with a buffet breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we visit the Gujarat Vidyapith, tour the campus and then engage in student interaction. Gujarat Vidyapith was founded by MK Gandhi October 18, 1920. The Institute provides a higher education with a blend of courses teaching nursery to doctorate classes. The main objective is to develop workers of character, skill, culture and dedication for the conduct of all movements connected with the regeneration of country in accordance with the ideals taught and lived by MK Gandhi. The guiding principles are: Adherence to truth and non-violence Participation in productive work with a sense of dignity of...
Read MoreJanuary 11: SEWA
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we will spend a full day with the women of SEWA, (Self-Employed Women’s Association of India) located in Ahmedabad, India. SEWA is a trade union registered in 1972. It is an organization of poor, self-employed women workers. These are women who earn a living through their own labor or small businesses. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organized sector. They are the unprotected labor force of our country. Constituting 93% of the labor force, these are workers of the unorganized sector. Of the female labor force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganized...
Read MoreJan 12: Heritage Walk of Old City of Ahmedabad
Heritage Walk of Old City of Ahmedabad: Early morning, before breakfast, enjoy a heritage walking tour in the old city of Ahmedabad. See how the women compensate who are in the city where they might not have access to a river or lake to wash their clothes. Visit a Muslim Mosque in session, a Jain Temple in morning session, cows sitting relaxing outside the Jain Temples. Walk among the camels, elephants, bicycles and motorcycles as we walk from temple, to mosque to temple. Visit the Kavi Dalpatram Memorial – Kavi Dalpatram was born into a Brahmin family which was rich in Vedic knowledge and culture. He had powerful analytical and intellectual skills enabled...
Read MoreJanuary 13: Ajmer and Barefoot College India
Upon arrival at the Ajmer railway station, the group will be transferred to the Paradizzo Resort, Ajmer. Buffet breakfast at the hotel, and then a full day visit to the Barefoot College India. Dr. Bunker Roy at Barefoot College in Ajmer, India addressing the Gandhi Legacy Tour of India Delegation. Established in 1972, Barefoot College India is a non-government organization that has been providing basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities, with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable. These ‘Barefoot College India solutions’ can be broadly categorized into solar energy, water, education, health care, rural handicrafts, people’s...
Read MoreJanuary 14: Pushkar / Sariska
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, the group will drive to Sariska in North Rajasthan via Volvo bus. Travel Time: 5-6 hours Upon our arrival at Tarun Bharat Sangh’s Campus Ashram, The Gandhi Legacy Tour of India delegation are warmly greeted by The Waterman of India, Dr. Rajendra Singh, his family and the community members he serves. We are honored, introduced to each other, served some chai masala and learned more about the community, his background and projects, at the Tarun Bharat Sangh Campus he founded. A compelling story is told by Kasturi, one of the women in the Sariska community who now serves as a board member of Tarun Bharat Sangh’s...
Read MoreJanuary 15: The Waterman of India
Sariska to Delhi by Volvo Bus: Travel Time 3 to 4 hours Buffet breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, the group will visit the Tarun Bharat Sangh (“TBS”) Campus and their field sites. A tip of the hat goes to Tushar Gandhi for introducing us to this amazing innovator … Rajendra Singh is a man on a mission – he wants to stop a Third World War from breaking out because of water shortage. Singh, known as the “waterman of India”, is a celebrated water reclaimationist from the Alwar district of Rajasthan India. Singh won the Stockholm Water Prize, an award known as “the Nobel Prize for water”, in 2015. The prize honors individuals, organizations and...
Read MoreJanuary 16: New Delhi and Gandhi Smriti
Delhi, the Empress of Indian cities has a fascinating history and a stimulating present. She has often been sacked and desolate. But she could not be despoiled of the incomparable situation that marks her for the metropolis of a Great Empire. The capital of India, Delhi has been the seat of power of a number of dynasties – the Rajputs, the Afghans, the Turks and the Mughals who continued their imperial line until the British. Scattered over are surviving ruins, remnants of mighty edifices, tombs of warriors and saints, which in an impressive sense of magnificence are memorials not of a single city but of supplanted nations. After breakfast, visit the Raj Ghat with Arun...
Read MoreJanuary 17: New Delhi (Tour Ends)
Day free to explore on your own or shopping around. Lunch will be at the local restaurant near the hotel. From there, the participant will be transferred to the Delhi International Airport to board the flight back home. The check-in time at the international airport in India is at least 3 hours before. Buffet breakfast at the hotel and lunch at the local restaurant. Those traveling to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal should book their return flights for early morning January 18, 2019, i.e. 1:00 a.m. Share us...
Read MoreJanuary 17 : Optional Trip to Agra
Travel participants who are NOT taking the Agra Option | Jan 17th includes – Buffet breakfast, lunch no dinner. Day free to explore on your own. Tour Ends. Travel participants who are taking the Agra Trip option will prepare for a morning departure to Agra. We will travel by bus (approx 4 hrs drive, one way) Buffet breakfast at the hotel, lunch along the way to Agra and dinner at the hotel. Agra Hotel Four Points by Sheraton Taj Mahal, India – http://www.airpano.ru/files/Taj-Mahal-India/2-3 Weather: Agra January temperature varies from -2°C or 28.4 F to 31°C or 87.8 F. January is the average coolest month. The subzero temperature levels are common...
Read MoreJanuary 18: Agra and the Taj Mahal
In summary, after early breakfast at the hotel, the group will leave for and proceed to the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Lunch will be at the local restaurant. Later, the group will drive to Delhi International Airport to board the flight to back home. No dinner this evening. For those who are joining Agra Trip: International tickets should be booked from New Delhi for January 18, 2019, after 11:30 p.m. Visit the Taj Mahal. With its incredible lacy white grandeur, the Taj Mahal is perhaps the most perfect architectural monument in the world. To the poet Tagore, it was a `tear on the face of eternity’. In memory of his wife the great Mughal emperor, Shah Jehan...
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