Bhavnagar

Bhavnagar means 'Palace town' and it's one of the largest cities in the Gujarat, north western India. The Community Link between Loughborough and this part of India has been going for about six years. Each winter a group of Loughborough people travel there for three weeks. The journey starts at Valod, a tribal village; we go on to Vanasthali, where the Link has been supporting students. We also visit a Moslem community in the city of Ahmedabad, helping the cause of street and 'railway children'. We've been welcoming one or more visitors a year, meeting 9/10ths of their costs, to match the relative purchasing power in India.

"In India I find a busy yet relaxed and creative pace of life which it might one day be possible to experience more fully in our own society here. It's a great challenge to bring this back, to re-prioritise what is important and to feel that you've developed so many new perspectives on familiar things. I could write a book after each visit! The Link has brought me a whole new range of friends, here as well as in the Gujarat. As an artist and arts co-ordinator, the stimulus of these relationships has resulted in some remarkable exchanges. For instance, the highlight on our last trip was interviewing an elderly woman who suddenly revealed that she had taught Kasturba, the wife of the Mahatma Gandhi, to read and write in prison during the struggle for Independence. The incredible power and energy of this woman’s memories were really inspiring. I can truly say that I will always carry a part of India within me"

Where is Bhavnagar?
And is the weather fine today?