3rd Oxford-Cambridge India Weekend in Ahmedabad – January 12-14, 2018

We are inviting you to join us in Ahmedabad, India’s first World Heritage City, for the 3rd Oxford-Cambridge India weekend from January 12-14, 2018, which coincides with the famous Kite Festival.

Itinerary:

Your visit to Ahmedabad will include private tours of the Calico Museum of Textile (www.calicomuseum.org) and the new Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum of Arts, both in Shahibag. In addition, we plan to take you to the stepwell at Adalaj and Sarkhej Roza, renovated mosque and tomb complex where the founders of Ahmedabad lie buried, and you can also have a guided visit of the Louis Kahn designed IIM(A) campus (which a few of us call home) and see some of Corbusier’s architecture dotting the cityscape. There will an early morning heritage walk of the old city with its beautiful pols, many of them restored and we’ll see if we can organize kite flying for enthusiasts from the roof-tops of one of the old havelis belonging to friends. We will also visit the famed Sidi Saiyyed n Jali, the tree of life, seen on the logo of IIM(A).  Dinner on the first night will be at Agashe, a roof-top vegetarian restaurant at the house of MG, a boutique heritage hotel (with a pre-dinner talk by an eminent local personality). On Saturday evening we can visit Vishala, known for its outdoor, traditional style of thalis served sitting on mud floors (chairs can be provided), and accompanied by live folk entertainment (www.vishala.com). The complex also houses a very interesting museum of utensils (www.vechaar.com).

Costs for both the dinners and local transport will be within Rs 5,000, and we would suggest that you plan to reach Ahmedabad by Friday 12/1 (morning preferably) so that we can start our site visits post-lunch. Weather in January will be pleasant during the day, and evenings can be chilly. You can plan your departure for Sunday 14/1 late afternoon/evening.

Please do confirm your interest by November 15th as that is a very busy weekend and we cannot hold bookings for too long. There are several hotels in Ahmedabad including the Cama, the Taj, Marriott, Fortune Landmark, Hyatt and so on.  The price range should be from Rs.5,000 to Rs.8,000 per night per person plus GST at 28%.   You can find all the rates you want on the internet!

For logistical reasons it is best to do a block booking at one of the hotels.  This can be done once we have your commitment by November 15th, 2017.  Please note that as this is a very special kite festival, busy week-end cancellation charges will be applied which are likely to be as follows:

 

Hotel Cancellation Policy

No cancellation charges if cancellation is made prior to 60 days of arrival date.

  • 20% cancellation charges on all cancellation made less than 60 days before arrival date.
  • 100% cancellation charges on all cancellations made less than 7 days of arrival date.
  • Note: The same bracket of cancellation charges will be applicable for entire booking.

Mode of payment will be intimated later when finalized. Please send your replies to: 

Tanil Kilachand : Email:  tanilkilachand@gmail.com; vbk@kilachand.com

(President, The Cambridge Society, Bombay (CSB)

Dr. Sara Ahmed : Email:  sara.ahmed1981@gmail.com

(Member, The Cambridge Society, Bombay (CSB)

Dr. Shalini Grover : Email:  drshalinigrover@yahoo.co.uk

(Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad)

 

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