. . . if people are staring at you wave

Camel drivers taught me that this morning. As we were waiting outside the textile museum being told that we missed the tour, a camel passed by dragging burdens. The three riders just stared at me, so I smiled and waved exhuberantly—and they waved back and laughed. A good start to the day.

The plan for the day became a visit to Sabarmati Ashram, the religious community founded by Mahatma Gandhi. Leaving the incredible noise and chaos of the street behind and walking into this place of peace created an amazing sense of tranquility. We spent several hours wandering through the museum gallery and around the grounds, reading bits of the story and studying photographs and quotations. Reading about his life and ideas and achievements here where he changed everything, seems like a rich opportunity. You can look out through the trees and over the river, as he must have done. You can walk through his house and see where he worked and ate and slept. He offered such an example and had such dreams–current events in the world would certainly grieve him. I kept wondering about the agony of realizing that an easy life wasn’t to be his after all, that he had opportunity and responsibility to change the world.

“My life is my message.”
“The law of love could be best understood and learned through little children.”
“The only real dignified human doctrine is the greatest good of all, and this can only be achieved by uttermost self-sacrifice.”