Post-war heavyweights dominate38 NY auctions SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

In this photograph, caretaker, Bhim Bahdur (left) spreads a carpet in the Prayer Hall at Kochrab Ashram, Mahatma Gandhi’s most famous ashram and site of the “Live Gandhi for a While” programme in Ahmedabad. — AFP photos Tourists invited to live like Gandhi in his ashram

ourists searching for peace and simplicity can for the first time check in to Mahatma Gandhi’s most famous Tashram in India. But don’t expect modern comforts. And chastity is required. For 1,000 rupees ($16) a night, tourists can sample the lifestyle of India’s famously ascetic independence leader by staying at the first ashram he established, set up in 1915 in the western state of Gujarat. Guests at the ashram, which opened to holidaymakers ear- lier this month, can try their hand at spinning, visit local communities, pray and meditate, all while wearing khadi- hand-woven cloth-during their stay. But they must adhere to Gandhi’s 11 vows that he pro- moted including non-violence, no possessions, use of local goods, working for daily food, self restraint, including chastity, and control of diet. And they are also encouraged to follow Gandhi’s austere daily routine, such as waking at 5 am and undertaking domestic chores. “The objective of this programme is to allow people to experience a sustainable lifestyle, to enjoy the simplicity of Gandhi, experience the virtue of Mahatma,” said Nischalavalamb Barot, a travel agent who helped develop the programme called “Live Gandhi for a While”. “This might change perceptions of tourists towards life, society and our natural resources. This might also help tourists find peace and satisfaction within,” Barot told AFP. Gandhi went to stay at the bungalow, now called Kochrab Ashram and then owned by a lawyer friend, after he returned to India from South Africa in 1915. From this base, in a village on the outskirts of the city of Ahmedabad, he rejected material wealth and developed some of the In this photograph, ashram co-ordinator Rameshbhai Trivedi walks near the kitchen and dining hall at Kochrab ideas for which he became famous. Ashram. In one incident, he upset neighbours by inviting a low- caste man, a so-called “untouchable”, to come and live at months later in 1948. Despite the many commemorations industrially-produced cotton often imported from mills in the ashram as part of his campaign against India’s rigid and for Gandhi, Barot, who developed the programme with the Britain. The idea is a far cry from modern-day India, which deeply ingrained caste system. The ashram is managed by university, said he hoped the ashram offered something dismantled government control over its economy in the a nearby university called Gujarat Vidyapith, which Gandhi different. 1990s, and opened up India, a member of the G20, to for- himself founded in 1920 to “liberate the Indian youths from “This is the first time that we are attempting to under- eign investment. Sudarshan Iyengar, vice-chancellor of the the shackles of British colonial rule”. stand the value and principles of a sustainable life, which Gujarat Vidyapith university that manages the ashram, said The “Live with Gandhi” programme was launched on Gandhi believed in and practised,” said Barot, who operates he was confident that opening it to tourists would help October 2 to coincide with the 144th anniversary of the a sustainable tourism agency. However he stressed a stay promote Gandhi’s ideals. “This is a unique programme, birth of Gandhi. Tourists have not yet made bookings, but at the ashram would not be an easy one. “They will have to which will actually bring change in society gradually at an Barot stressed there were lots of inquiries. India has plenty follow the vows that Gandhi himself followed in the individual level and hopefully we will witness a sustainable of museums and monuments to honour the country’s ashram.... They will also wear the khadi throughout the future.” — AFP independence icon, whose personal philosophy and ideas programme.” are considered outdated by many in rapidly modernising Gandhi spun his own cloth and encouraged others to India. follow suit. He considered this an important part of his Known as Mahatma or Great Soul, Gandhi spearheaded In this photograph, ashram co-ordinator Rameshbhai anti-colonial philosophy of self-reliance, known as a non-violent campaign against the British Raj that finally “swadeshi”. Khadi also became a symbol of how then India Trivedi gestures inside the guest living quarters at saw India gain its freedom from colonial rule in 1947. He should base its economy-on village-based craft instead of Kochrab Ashram. was shot dead by a Hindu hardliner in New Delhi just

In this photograph, an Indian man reads a newspaper outside the library at In this photograph, ashram co-ordinator Rameshbhai Trivedi walks into the In this photograph, ashram co-ordinator Rameshbhai Trivedi walks Kochrab Ashram. guest living quarters at Kochrab Ashram. through the kitchen and dining area at Kochrab Ashram.