Heritage Walk
Arnold and Antje
One of the many things that is so wonderful about having the group of Dutch artists here is that I they want to do all of the things that someone who lives here would never really do. Going out to eat expensive (but artfully done) Gujarati food; going on a waking tour of the Old City at night. Which, was so incredibly spooky and weird, and beautiful, and awkward, since we were walking through someone’s neighborhood at night, through tiny alleys and in front of open doors, walking by people washing dishes, street dogs nursing their pups in dark tunnels in the catacombs of the ancient city…
At the Mangaldas Haveli
The Old City really is special, though. It refers to what remains of the original structures built inside the walls of Ahmedabad, before the walls were torn down in the 1920′s (I think?) to make way for the rapidly expanding city. Many of the houses of the old city, hundreds of years old, are still existing, and occupied. A few (like the one pictured above) have been restored. Many have crumbled or been destroyed. But all of this is squeezed in so close, there’s really very little room to differentiate between what’s ‘history’ and what’s still alive, which I think is what is most fascinating about the Old City.
Perfect arcs of Beteljuice (spit from the window on the right, to the window on the left...)
spooky window
And at the very center of this, guided by flashlights, we came to the tomb of Ahmed Shah, the founded of the city. The tomb is beautiful, especially at night. The building has two entrances, and one can walk around inside the building all around the tomb itself, which is a separate room in the middle with honeycombed windows looking in. Women aren’t allowed to go inside; but instead, on those windows, women who want to ask for something can tie a red string to symbolize their wish.
Heavy strings
& weightless things
