I am so excited that you guys are spending quality time at the Gandhi ashram. To say that sitting in the Sabarmati Ashram is "quite a feeling" doesn't really convey the magic of the place.

I cannot reacll another patch of earth where the sense of history -- and of philosophy -- is so directly and powerfully transmitted from place to consciousness. The Sabarmati Ashram is to politics what Yosemite or the Grand Canyond are to geology. When I would find myself walking unaccompanied through the grounds, or sitting alone on the veranda of Gandhiji's small house, I would often find my eyes welling-up. These were very complex tears. One could say they were tears of joy that non-violence found such a charismatic and effective advocate in Gandhiji; or that they were tears of deep sadness that we have regressed, not progressed on the start he made. But they were neither. They were the product of being emotionally overwhelmed by the simplicity and enormity of the ideals that the memorial (for it is no longer a working ashram) represents.

There is a lovely, and quite Gandhian, irony about the place too. It is set in Ahmedabad, which may or may not be the armpit of India -- but I'd sure be interested to hear (but not necessarily travel to) people's nominations for less charming Indian cities. One's eyes sting constantly from the particularly caustic combination of dust and high-sulfer exhaust fumes that infuse the air. Ahmedabad is home to the sprawling Ramapir No Tekro, the largest slum in the state of Gujarat. And when it comes to communal harmony, let's just say that the local politicians practice an especially venomous form of Naziesque Hindutva and the Ahmedabad Police Department was directly culpable in the 2002 genocidal rampage that left more than a thousand Muslims dead. And yet the ashram is the purest expression of peacefulness and beauty. Its quiet riverside setting, mature shade trees, unhurried pace, elegantly meandering site-plan, and modestly scaled architecture create a stark contrast and welcome refuge from the oppressions of the surrounding city.

I have no qualms about saying that the Sabarmati Ashram is good for the soul -- and I don't even know what the soul is.