From Delhi, we flew to Gujarat for a few weeks of travelling around . Although we don't have any direct family still living in Gujarat, we luckily have close family friends scattered around. We started in Ahmedabad, a busy, frenetic, and lively city. We picked a place to stay out of the travel guide and ended up at the Gandhi Ashram (also called the Sabarmati Ashram) where Mahatma Gandhi spent a large part of his life!
We met with family friends Bharti maasi and Dharmendra maasa - at their home, we were treated to the full-on Gujarati vegetarian home cooking thali- farsan (savory snacks), rotli (chapatis), dal (lentils), bhat (rice), and shak (vegetables), and sweet dishes (shrikand), heaven after eating out all the time. Dev heroically tried to come to terms with Gujarati eating habits like eating sweet dishes like shrikand with the meal and eating rice afterwards instead of with the meal! 
We had heard that Ahmedabad and the surrounding areas has some fascinating sights. Lucky for us, we had friends help us arrange a car, so getting around the crazy traffic was relatively painless. Within Ahmedabad itself, we took a heritage walking tour within the old part of the city (Heritage Walking Tours). Starting in the walled part of the city, we walked through some of the pols (neighborhoods) and saw how each one essentially had its own temples, markets and colorful bird feeders called chabootars! 
We also learned about its varied history and how the influences of the British, Muslims, Marathas, and Gujaratis had shaped the architecture and culture of the area. The tour ended at the Jama Masjid with its lovely columns and hall. 
Another must-see if you are in Ahmedabad is the Calico Museum of Textiles. It's actually housed in a very old intricately decorated wooden haveli. Some of the displays include many rare textiles, some of which date back to the 17th century. Unfortunately, photographs weren't allowed, otherwise, we could have happily snapped pictures of all the exquisite works we saw. Quite by accident, we stumbled onto a tour being led around the museum- it was a tour on how textiles played an imprtant role in the daily practice of Hindusim by depicting stories from the Mahabaharat or stories about Krishna's life. Because many of the faithful could not read, the stories and lessons were woven into cloth, into pictures that everyone could understand. The grounds of the museum are beautiful as well, there are shady gardens, pools and patios with some peacocks wandering around. A great relief from the dry heat of Ahmedabad!
Finally, we went to visit an NGO called the Blind People's Association. We received a very warm welcome from various staff who took us around the campus to show all the rehabiiltation training that the students were learning. It's quite amazing to hear some of the individual stories of students and see how far they have come in re-integrating into society with the new skills they have learned. Some of the students were using the Internet through a program called Jaws for Windows that translated everything into voice cues. Other students were building furniture, operating printing presses, designing greeting cards, stitching clothes and much much more. Quite an inspiration!
-Smruti
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