Eat, walk, learn: Two foreign women tread in Gandhi’s steps

AHMEDABAD: Two women, in their mid 30s, from two different countries are in Gujarat to retrace the path taken by Mahatma Gandhi back in 1930 in the epic march against the Salt Tax.
Australian author and blogger Torre DeRoche, 34, and American travel blogger Masha Vapnitchnaia, 33, met in Italy earlier this year and decided to take a walking tour of India, together.They are on a soul-searching trip, where by going through some tough, diverse and alien landscape, they would be able to understand themselves better.
The women started their 25-day “internal” journey from the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on November 27, accompanied by NID graduate Ajit Bhadoriya, and are likely to reach Dandi by December 23. The duo is taking the same day and night halts as taken by Gandhiji in order to explore the relevance of Gandhian Philosophy in contemporary times.
“This is my first trip to India and I think it is best to travel by foot to understand India. Masha and I met when I was travelling alone in Europe. We set off into the Italian countryside on a hike during which I decided that we are going to follow in the footsteps of Gandhi on his Salt March,” said DeRoche, who identifies with Gandhi’s principles and finds his teaching interesting.