"Gandhiji insisted on following Sabarmati's routine... everyone had to spin the charkha too"

Lord Irwin to repeal the oppressive law. His appeals were offered a deaf ear though, and thus it transpired on the 12th of March 1930 that 78 male satyagrahis accompanied Bapu from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, Gujarat, in an exodus aimed at walking roughshod over the aspirations of a ravenous regime, albeit peacefully. "It's the classic good vs evil battle, we all love to watch!" beamed Bhavik as we set off on the historic trail.

This was no mean trek (in fact, the route declared now a national heritage), for the road ahead from Sabarmati meant undertaking a trip spanning all of 26 days and necessitating 250 miles to be traversed in order to tread upon the soil of Dandi, a little town where the waters of the Arabian Sea lapped at its heels. The Mahatma made best use of sporadic breaks by making his personal secretary Mahadev Desai rush to the telegraph office with myriad messages to be dispatched. A smile crinkles the corners of my face as I imagined Bapu revelling in the internet age and composing messages to be sent via e-mail or posted on message boards. The mere mental image of this larger-than life Lilliputian surfing the tidal wave of the internet brightened my day for some unfathomable reason.

None, barring perhaps the great man himself, could have predicted the ebullient response to the civil disobedience movement. "From Calcutta to Mumbai and Madras to Peshawar, no one had dreamt of this unprecedented response" was the tidbit thrown my way. Buoyed by a vociferous support, Gandhiji and his entourage made their way to the villages of Aslali and Bareja, all the while never failing to emphasize the ubiquity of salt and in the same breath critiquing governmental policies. It was then that I realised that his objective was two-fold; he was not just freeing a race, but freeing its mind as well.

Day upon day, this band of merry men on a mission charted a course across the unspectacular countryside terrain, with only one feature catching the eye; that of orderly crowds straining to catch a glimpse of these (then) modern-day heroes. Gandhiji propagated his message at every given opportunity, and the impact he made was profound not just because of his innate simplicity, but the austerity with which his satyagrahis chose to go about their sojourn. "Gandhiji insisted on following Sabarmati's routine; prayers were offered twice a day and everyone had to spin the charkha too", claimed my garrulous Gujarati pal. A horse was procured for Gandhiji keeping in mind his advanced years and the distance covered daily, but he scoff ed at the idea, instead opting to rough it out with his comrades, so much so that the satyagrahis even shunned monetary contributions. Acts such as these helped Bapu marshal public sentiment.

And so the days rolled by like tumbleweed through an arid desert, and just as villages such as Vasana, Nadiad, Anand and Borsad came to be known as more than just coloured spots on a large map, so was the yatra to Dandi recognised as more than a mere political play in the strategic game-plan kept in mind. The protesters were quietly confident that if they stuck to their (peaceful!) guns, not only would the salt tax be eradicated, but that this agitation would also lead to various other hardships being a thing of the past. And so they went on, rewriting history in their unobtrusive way.

Nothing perseveres as much as the human spirit and the single-minded determination of these peaceniks made them ensure they met local leaders all along the way, putting the finishing touches to the arrangements to be undertaken once the law was broken at Dandi. "Even the arrest of Sardar Patel at Ras taluka on the 19th of March failed to dampen their spirits," was the statement that crashed into my thoughts. And thus the movement rolled along, an unstoppable juggernaut that cropped up in ways unimaginable... government workers resigned, the masses enrolled themselves in droves and those Indians not aligned with this movement were ostracized. Gandhiji's exhortations touched the hearts and minds of the milieu simply because it was tailored to each village's way of life, with regards issues such as khadi, untouchability, et al.

By the time this walk was drawing to a close, it was dominating headlines not just in India, but the world over. The eyes of the world rested upon this motley crew of traveling pilgrims on a mission, and consequently the fervour of patriotism swept across the nation. As nationalism rose to an all-time high, so did the number of arrests made by the paranoid police force. But in keeping with Satyagraha's norms, there was no vitriol spewed against law enforcers. "The British made an announcement to defer the issue to the Tariff Board, but the satyagrahis refused to be swayed," said Bhavik with a steely glint in his eye. As the end was nigh, the fronds of palm trees became commonplace and the sea gulls swirled overhead, almost as a welcoming committee. And thus on 6th April 1930, when Gandhiji stepped out to greet this momentous occasion, he was deafened by the raucous roar of four thousand-odd people who waited all night for a glimpse of the little great man. As I soaked in the sun, I cast my inward eye upon the image of a wee man stooping to scoop the crystalline substance and holding it aloft, a shining example of India's resistance to the Raj. Involuntarily, I found myself repeating the act, allowing the fine granules to pas through my fingers as the sound of the waves embracing the shores filled my ears...

For contravening the law, Gandhiji was sent behind bars, but no jail-cell can hold back an idea whose time has come and Dandi was merely the catalyst in the relentless march towards freedom. Ours is a thankless generation though, often forgetting the heavy price paid to roam free, but some liberties should never be taken for granted…

Defend a good holiday

(column by Indira Parthasarathy)

If the west has its castles, we have our forts. The Indian soil has had this blessed quality of giving rise to fearless warriors – both the armed and unarmed kinds – at regular intervals in history. While the latter category would not have required it, the former could've very well done with the kind of forts that, today, leave visitors from far and wide absolutely awestruck. One of many such stalwart sites is located in the midst of our 'veteran lieutenants' – the Aravallis – in the state that was the retreat of the Rajputs, Rajasthan. Constructed strategically atop a 3500 ft high hill, the 36 kms Kumbhalgarh Fortress wall is the longest running construction, second only to the Great Wall of China! Built by Rana Kumbha of Mewar Dynasty, this invincible mountain fortress encloses some historical temples and palaces including the Badal Mahal. Only 60 kms from the enchanting Lake City – Udaipur – and overlooking the Kumbhalgarh Sanctuary as well, this place calls for a leisurely long vacation... as long as you get someone to hold the fort at the other end!

Mildly wild

In the 'abode of the sun', which is what 'Arunachal' translates to, the land is eternally resplendent with soulful delights of nature. Particularly, within the 1985.23 sq.kms of the Namdapha National Park in the Changlang district. One of India's lesser known reserves but a 'botanist's dream' all the same, Namdapha is one of its only kind in the world where roam the tiger, leopard, snow leopard and the clouded leopard, besides the very rarely spotted Hoolock Gibbon. Laved by the Noa-Dihing tributary of the Brahmaputra, the rich topography of the place elevates and ebbs in an altitude range of over 4,000 m! Trek to the soothing flutter of exotic birds overhead & retire to the riverside rest house in Deban inside the protected area. You may not want to come back...

In search of beauty

You'll know a Coorgi when you meet one. The clear complexion, sharp features, shapely build and proud bearing have a rare beauty, made famous by a flagship called Aishwarya Rai. But it's not just the people. Coorg or Kodagu, nestling in the wildlife rich Western Ghats on the Kerala-Karnataka border, is one of those places you stop by, whenever you need to reassure yourself of the presence of Divine Beauty. Rolling green, clear blue and misty white as far as the eyes can go, Coorg possesses you long after you've left. With all those coffee plantations, you can tell them you are off for a coffee break...!

(End of Indira Parthasarathy column)