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Be like Mahatma Gandhi

Tourists invited to live like him in his ashram

AFP, Ahmedabad
Tourists searching for peace and simplicity can for the first time check into Mahatma Gandhi's most famous ashram in India. But don't expect modern comforts. And chastity is required.
For 1,000 rupees 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 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 promoted including non-violence, no possessions, use of local goods, working for daily food, self restraint, including chastity, and control of diet.
They are also encouraged to follow Gandhi's austere daily routine, such as waking at 5am and undertaking domestic chores.
The “Live with Gandhi" programme was launched on October 2 to coincide with the 144th anniversary of the birth of Gandhi. Tourists have not yet made bookings, but Nischalavalamb Barot, a travel agent who helped develop the programme with the Gujarat Vidyapith University, stressed there were lots of inquiries.
Despite the many commemorations for Gandhi, Nischalavalamb said he hoped the ashram offered something different.
"This is the first time that we are
attempting to understand the value and principles of a sustainable life, which Gandhi believed in and practised," he said.
However he stressed a stay at the ashram and following the Mahatma's lifestyle would not be an easy one.
Gandhi spun his own cloth and encouraged others to follow suit. He considered this an important part of his anti-colonial philosophy of self-reliance, known as "swadeshi".
Sudarshan Iyengar, vice-chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith University that manages the ashram, said he was confident that opening it to tourists would help promote Gandhi's ideals.
"This is a unique programme,
which will actually bring change in society gradually at an individual level and hopefully we will witness a sustainable future. ”
Gandhi went to stay at the bungalow, now called Kochrab Ashram, 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 ideas for which he became famous.
In one incident, he upset neighbours by inviting a low-caste man, a so-called “untouchable”, to come and live at the ashram as part of his campaign against India's rigid and deeply ingrained caste system.