The Salted Days – Day Nine
Ankleshwar to Mangrol | 11 January 2026
It was a very disturbed sleep last night for many but the early risers were still up at 4.15. I rose at 5.20, much earlier than my planned 5.45, quickly got ready. Soon others got up and the chatter started. The school authorities had organised a short puja and breakfast of Poha and sandwiches which we happily dived into. This delayed our start by 45 mins. The sun was up when we crossed the gate of the school at 7.45 am. Soon we turned on to the highway and picked up speed. But not for long. A member of the press stopped us for a short briefing of our walk which one of our fellow walkers handled quite well.
A km further, we came across a T-junction on top of the flyover. Never seen one like that ever before. Turned right to leave Ankleshwar towards Hansot. The city was just waking up at a relaxed pace on a Sunday at 9 am. We crossed Swarnim lake view park with a lake and close to a disputed site where Gandhiji had supposedly conducted a Sabha and talk. Shops were open with colourful strings (I knew it as 'Maanja' in my childhood days) and kites were already in display. It took me back to my school and college days in Delhi. Sorry I am digressing.
Not much to describe today. Silences have become longer. While a few continue to walk in pairs many of us are walking alone with our own thoughts. So meditative. No thoughts stay for too long in the head. Literally no mind at times.
The road to Mangrol is a very straight one and we stayed on the right of the road facing the traffic but with thorny bushes on the side of the road we had to keep saving ourselves from thorns and traffic alternately.
We stopped under the expressway near Nava Pungam. And on the opposite side lay village Juna pungam. (So simple Juna and Nava - Old and new) Had Methi Gota, a kind of pakoda from a roadside stall. After this short halt, we reached Sajod where Gandhiji had stopped and shared his thoughts. Further up, outside a small village Kanva, we came across a large house which seemed so out of place in a small village.
It is probably nature which I was watching closely today. Walking along the highway, I noticed how all the old trees without exception seemed to have shaped themselves to the traffic beneath them. Their trunks stood tall and bare, their canopies lifted just high enough to let buses and trucks pass without hindrance. At first glance, it looked like kindness, as if nature had thoughtfully made room for us. It looked so symmetrical. But a closer look revealed something else. The tree had not decided to allow passage; it had simply grown where growth was still possible. Everything that couldn’t survive the friction of movement, noise, heat, and repeated disturbance had slowly disappeared.
That is often how relationships in life looks from the outside - smooth, purposeful, even adjusting as we like to call it. But underneath, it is not intention but how we endure that really shapes us. We do not always become what we planned; we become what remains after what could not survive falls away. Perhaps it is best not to force ourselves through life or bend deliberately, but like the tree, learn to grow fully and quietly within the space that is truly available.
And as my family always like to call T-I-L (Today I Learnt), I did have a T-I-L moment. We passed by a fenced off plantation sponsored by a renowned bank. I thought it was joint venture with another company called Miyawaki. That is when one of the walkers enlightened me about it and for those not as enlightened like me now, let me explain.
The Miyawaki method of afforestation, developed by Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist and ecologist, begins with a deceptively simple but radical question: What would a forest look like here if humans had never intervened? Instead of planting a few saplings in neat rows, this approach studies the native ecology of a place — its original tree species, soil conditions, and natural succession patterns and then recreates that forest in miniature. Multiple native species are planted very densely, mimicking the way forests actually emerge in the wild. The competition for light and nutrients triggers rapid growth, resulting in a young forest that matures in a fraction of the usual time, rich in biodiversity and resilient by design. After the first few years of care, humans step back almost completely. The forest is not trimmed or shaped, it is allowed to organise itself. The forest becomes self-sustaining in 2–3 years and there is no irrigation or maintenance required after that initial period. Biodiversity (birds, insects, fungi) returns rapidly into that area. What a lovely concept - Creating the right conditions and then stepping aside.
Two life lessons I learnt through this concept. Walking, like forest-making, is a minimal intervention — you put your body to just walk and allow distance, weather, fatigue, and companionship to do their quiet work. Nothing is rushed, nothing is imposed, and yet transformation happens. I see everyday what is happening to me and my fellow walkers.
There is also a shared trust here. A long walk trusts the body to adapt, the mind to settle, and clarity to arrive quietly and to let life take over. We as walkers, taking steps together are growing together, each in his own way.
At the 20 km point of the walk we turned off the highway to Village Digash and on to Mangrol. The sun punished us for starting late and beat down on us. At the gate of the Yatri Niwas, children of this small village of Mangrol with a population of just 400, received us with roses and tilak.
This is a small Yatri Niwas but the arrangements were top class. 4 rooms with 11 cots, fresh bedsheets and pillows. Since two of the rooms did not have an attached bathroom, buckets with water were provided. Quickly washed clothes so that they would dry by day end and had a cold water bath. An amazing but simple spread of Methi Groundnut sabzi, Kabuli chana, cauliflower salad, dal, roti and rice with papad was served. This trip, time and again, is proving that if one is hungry and eats mindfully, one would relish every morsel. I enjoyed an afternoon snooze - a first for me in this march. A tasty cup of tea, stretching done, it is time for dinner and to get into my sleeping bag.
23 kms done today and 275 kms overall. Wow! That seems like a lot in 9 days. Just perspective!!! Waiting to take off tomorrow towards Umrachi 27 kms away.
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