Of child labour and 'sanskari' (cultured?) education at temples near Ahmedabad

By Rajiv Shah

It was a pleasure trip. We enjoyed it thoroughly. We visited three temples about more than 100 km from Ahmedabad -- towards the famous Harappan site of Lothal. However, Lothan didn't appear to attract the group members of the society where we live.

First it was a Boot Bhawani temple at a village called Arnej, then we went to Ganpatipura temple of Lord Ganesh, where I had been about two decades ago, and finally to Sarangpur Hanuman temple and the Swaminarayan temple aligned with it. I asked what was meant by "Boot", but nobody seemed to know.

At Sarangpur Hanuman temple, it was interesting that they offered free meal, where we had our lunch, though what disturbed we was three poor kids, including two girls, taking from us used plates and handing them over to the woman who collected them. I also noticed a small child sweeping the premises of the temple, and I managed to take his photograph.

At the Swaminarayan temple, I was struck by a photograph which talked of "sanskari" (cultured) education at the Swaminarayan Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya -- but the photograph was only of boys. No girl could be seen, even in snapshots put up on the temple priests and their devotees. It seemed to be a male dominated premise all the way!

On our return journey there was a stopover at an agriculture farm where wheat plants were to be seen. Group members took photographs (and I was also part of it). Here, I talked over with the elderly woman who appeared to look after the farm. She told me that irrigation was done with groundwater, about 150 ft deep, though a Narmada pipeline was there underground. She couldn't explain why.

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