At 6:00 in the morning Ba Bapu and his band of marchers left for Bharuch. Hundreds of thousands had lined the path. Enroute the crowd pleaded with Bapu to give them a message and Bapu obliged, he addressed them for 25 min before continuing his march to where he was supposed to halt. He said ‘God is with us and we will succeed!’. Bapu and his team were camping in Dr. Chandulal Desai Seva ashram in Bharuch that day, Walking through the town of Bharuch they arrived at 8:30 in the morning. Seva Ashram was decorated by the leaves of asopalav tree and national flag had been hosted on its roof. Bapu's public meeting at Bharuch was scheduled at 3:00 pm, but people thronged the venue from 1:00 in the afternoon itself to get a vantage position from where they could see and hear Bapu.
At the meeting a Rehana Taiyabji sang ‘Vehlo aavje Musafir’ and Pandit Omkar Sang Bhajans from the Ashram book of prayers. Bapu refereed to 2 questions raised by a youth who had given up his studies for the non-cooperation movement of 1921. The first question was - ‘Do you think you can get independence for India single handed?’ His second question - ‘Can you get independence for India only with the help of Hindus?’ Bapu replied ‘I don't even dream that I can get independence for india single handed, I want everyone to participate in the fight for freedom, unless each one of us fights for freedom we will never be free. I want Muslims, Parsis, Christians, Jews everybody from every community and every caste to be independent, because unless each of us is independent we will never be an independent nation and we will not receive independence by a miracle of God either. Since 1921 i have been asking for the 2 qualities to become eminent in us Pakkizhgi and Qurbani. which means purity of self and the spirit of sacrifice, without these two satyagraha will never be successful. Rehana Taiyabji sang “Jo jaagat hai so pawat hai” (Those who stay awake will gain) that's why I am continuously alert and awake to get’ independence.
After the meeting Bapu and his party rested Bapu held meetings with individuals. At 6 in the evening as was his daily practice, Bapu got up and walked throuhj Bharuch towards the northern bank of the Narmada.
Kasturba, their daughter-in-law Sushila and a few Ashram women accompanied him, they had to cross the Narmada by boat. Special boat had been organized to take the party across. Sarojini Naidu also joined the party here but Bapu was walking so fast that Sarojini Naidu and other volunteers had to literally run to keep up with him. The entire population of Bharuch had gathered on the bank of Narmada to send off Bapu. The send-off was as emotional and charged as the welcome had been that morning. The jetty was packed with people, Bapu and his party got onto the the sail boat at exactly 6:30 PM. Mattress and pillows were provided for Bapu and Kasturba to cross the river in comfort. Everybody else gathered around them and journey across the mighty Narmada began. Bapu and Kasturba bowed down to seek the blessings of people as they left Bharuch for Ankleshwar. The citizens of Bharuch bid a tearful goodbye to the Mahatma.. The owner of the fleet of boats refused to accept any compensation for the crossing and happily transported 300 to 400 people across. A group of photographers had also hired to launch and shadowed Bapu.On the other bank the volunteers disembarked, since they had to walk for a few miles on the bank, they had organized a small launch for Ba and Bapu only the two sat in the launch, rest of them walked along the bank with villagers who had come from Ankleshwar to greet Bapu. Ba and Bapu were rowed for 2 km along the bank, against the backdrop of the setting sun, they spent the entire time talking, it was beautiful scene to behold. After conducting evening prayers on the other bank, Ba Bapu and the merry band marched to Ankleshwar.
They arrived at Ankleshwar at 9:00 that evening. The entire population of Ankleshwar had gathered to receive them, as usual Bapu conducted his public meeting on arrival. Bapu stayed at ‘Mali ni Dharmashala’ at Ankleshwar. Bapu implored the people of Ankleshwar to give up drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes and save money for the national cause. It was a tiring day and at 11 pm, after the public meeting, Bapu and the band slept.