We are glad that you have taken the time to follow our trip to India through this blog. We hope you find it interesting and informative and encourage you to share it with others who may be interested.
It is clear that we can only give impressions about small slices of this huge, diverse country. Given the short time we are here and the brief glimpses we have of the country and its people, we admit much of what we report may be incomplete and perhaps inaccurate.
It is not as easy as I had hoped to find the time to blog and it is also difficult to find convenient places with internet access.
We are finding the rich spices are a bit much on the system and also that the extreme heat is slowing us down and limiting our ability to do and see everything we wanted.
Pondicherry is as good an example as any. This is a small but beautiful state in southern India where one should spend at least weeks to explore fully. We found in the few hours of our visit, we could see and experience just a few things in this blistering heat.
The first thing that struck me was the multitude of motorcycles. Almost every adult of any age was on a two wheeler of some sort. There is no limit to the number of passengers, or what they would carry on a motorbike.
One of the most interesting places in Pondy, as it is called, is the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. This is a huge complex, occupying several city blocks. Whereas one might expect an ashram, a place of meditation, to be in a remote countryside location or mountain top, this is in the heart of a bustling city. This gives it an air of activity and energy and accessibility.
To enter as a visitor, you first remove your shoes in a stand across the street from the entrance and then cross the street on a carpet into the building. In the building, you are immediately warned to be silent and take no pictures. So my description has to be purely in words.
The first area consists of a large, marble table called the samadhi of Aurobindo ( the resting place of the Mother) covered in beautifully decorated flowers, and around which people are bent over, head pressed against the edge of the table, in silent meditation.
Around the building are photos and quotes from the community's spiritual leaders, the founder himself, Sri Aurobindo, and his collaborator and an equally prominent teacher and spiritual guide called The Mother.
The ashram consists of other areas with a variety of activities including crafts, information room, perfumes, dispensary and many others in several buildings.
Time did not allow us to see most of the ashram so we moved on to see other things in the city. Pondy used to be occupied by the French, so there is a distinct French influence in the state. We could see it in the buildings and the street signs and decor, but we did not stay long enough to see how it influences the lifestyles of the residents.
The city lies on the southern coast and is in a spectacular location. The shore is lined with rocks and there is no beach. At the heart of the street along the shore is a larger than life statue of Mahatma Gandhi. He is shown standing on a an architecturally exquisite riser. Sadly, the scene is spoiled by young men rollerblading on the curved slopes of the structure. The beautiful coast is also covered in garbage.
The other highlight of this state for us was a visit to Auroville. Again I encourage you to read up about this and other places we visit to get fuller and more accurate details. However, Auroville is a commune of sorts, where people from dozens of countries make up this community and endeavor to live together in total self-sufficiently.
They seem to be guided by the teachings and principles of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Visitors are not allowed to see these residents at work or observe how they live. What we are exposed to are some general information sites and a video presentation.
Auroville sits on literally hundreds of acres of land not far from the capital city. Much of this land is intended for communal agriculture and other uses. However, the most interesting feature of Auroville is that about 400 acres are set aside for a multimillion (billion?) dollar project called the Matrimandir.
I could take pages and pages and many blogs to describe this, so I won't. It is the centerpiece of Auroville and is basically a huge "golden" dome. Its engineering and esthetic qualities far exceed any dome I have seen such as the geodesic dome at Expo in Montreal or Ontario Place. Visitors could see it from quite some distance away but not allowed to enter it at this time.
This image will stick in my mind for a long time when I witness the poverty and squalor in other parts of this country.
All in all we have enjoyed Pondy and are looking forward to seeing more of Tamil Nadu in the coming days. Please come to visit this site.
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