12 Hours: The Power of Walking Conversation (20 Nov 2022)

 

(Route: Alkapuri-Kalaghoda-Fatehgunj-Karelibaugh-Warasiya-Waghodia Road-Pratapnagar-Manjalpur-Palace road-Akota-Alkapuri)

 

In India, people do Padayatra (foot walk) for three reasons: spiritual, social, and political. Firstly, I observed people in rural and urban places walking miles to worship God. Secondly, spiritual gurus/sadhus walk for spreading moral values and ethics of life. Lastly, politicians do padayatra to connect communities to understand their problems. Our walking purpose was to connect ignored/isolated communities and heritage sites. On 20 November 2022, we were five diverse members (artist, doctor, and yog a & Zumba dancer, social worker) who wanted a meaningful walking conversation for 12 hours (from 6 am – 6 pm) in the city of Vadodara. We had spontaneous conversations with random people and communities while walking and met one old couple who was selling Gujarati snacks on the roadside. We collected some snacks to support their business. Some people joined us for tea in our way. We met 200 girls who are underprivileged and supported by Udayan Care (Trust) in the city of Vadodara. I got an opportunity to have a conversation with them. I shared my life journey from the village to UW-Madison, USA with them. In this way, we walked 25 km (15.3 miles) in 12 hours from 6 am – 6 pm to transform our lives by meeting communities through meaningful conversation.