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November 01, 2005
Our big India adventure
Auroville, here we come…
Guruji and family went on a African safari this past week so the shala was closed. Jason and I kicked around a few ideas of places to go during this time off; Sri Lanka (too expensive), Goa (didn’t pan out), Kerala (again didn’t work), and Auroville. We sort of decided on Auroville at the last minute even though we had kicked around the idea for a couple of months. It had a certain appeal. It wasn’t too far from us and there would be yoga. SO, Auroville it was. The journey begins…
Getting there
To get there we took the Shatabhi Express train from Mysore to Chennai. It took about 7 hours. We were in the first class cars (don’t get your hopes up – it is kind of like a run-down Greyhound bus), but boy did they feed us. They probably fed us every hour. I have never eaten so much on a bus/train/plane. Rowan did fine and slept part of the way. Jason walked around with her a bunch too. It wasn’t too bad over all.
From the Chennai train station we rented a car that drove us 2 ½ - 3 hours the rest of the way to Auroville. There is a nice paved highway from Chennai to Auroville and the ride was not bad. We didn’t get in until about 1 in the morning and we were exhausted. We basically crashed after that.
Auroville
Auroville is a kind of hippie social experiement in my opinion. It started as some sort of idealistic community revolving around the teachings of Aurobindo and the Mother. I don’t know too much about them at this time, but will report more later. Anyways, the Aurovillian community was supposed to sort of mesh with the surrounding local villages and create this awe-inspiring trans-cultural/political/spiritual community. I don’t think it has turned out that way though. It seems like there is still a deep divide between the local villagers and the Aurovillians (who are mostly Europeans: French, Italians, and Germans it seems). Anyways, here are some impressions so far:
- One good thing about those Europeans is they know how to eat. There are amazing bakeries here with CROISSANTS! Yep, and sticky buns, and fresh bagets, apple crumb cake, etc. At the local general stores you can get fresh Aurovillian made cheeses (all kinds – mozzarella, gouda, bleu, etc.), pastas, even olives! My point is, I haven’t had any Indian food since I have been here and it is great. I was seriously starting to have issues with Indian food. The downside is nothing is ever open. Jason and I have thought it possible to starve to death here because we always seem to miss the open hours for restaurants and cafés. They are very specific times they are open, for example on the 3rd, and 5th Monday from 11:49- 1:17. Okay not that specific, but we still haven’t figured it out.
- On the Auroville website it mentions a number of times that they don’t cater to tourists and to not come if that is your intention. Well, I don’t know if that is entirely accurate because the villagers seem to have made it a good business to sell loads of tourist crap. Need any hippie clothes, purses, statues, wall hangings, jewelry, etc? You can find it here. Even at the Auroville visitor center there are 2 kind of pricey boutiques. I am not complaining though. I found some really cool stuff at the boutiques �\
- Ever see those pictures in National Geographic of African children standing around covered with flies? That is here. I have no idea why there are so many flies here, but they are everywhere. Everywhere. There are also a lot of ants, cows, and stray dogs. I am currently on a personal mission to eradicate all ants in my presence. Also, surprisingly there are a lot of cats. Really beautiful cats not like the ones in Mysore that are scrawny and basically look like they are just around to feed the booming dog population. The cats here in Auroville look well fed and they are relaxed, not skittish. We have sort of adopted one little brindle colored one that has been hanging around our room. We let it sleep inside and feed it when we can. I know, I know, but I miss my cat at home. Rowan is very into the cat as well. She keeps trying to sit on it and pick it up by getting a choke hold around its neck. The cat is humoring her because it doesn’t want to give up the rest of the privileges of hanging with us.
- Rain, rain go away. It is monsoon season here. Who knew? The first two days we were here it was hot. Hotter than hot. Sweltering. I didn’t know if I could make it a week in this heat. If only I had known we wouldn’t have to I would have welcomed the heat. Because then it started raining. Basically as I write we are on day 4 of rain. It has rained non-stop for over 24 hours and everything is wet. It will not dry either. Our room smells funny and we are all getting a little stir crazy. Oh, and MUD! Lots of rain plus dirt roads and dirt paths make MUD – lots of MUD. Jason says that this is the closest thing to camping without actually sleeping outdoors. There have been more than a few times during this trip when I have prayed for a nice hotel room, with clean sheets, and room service. Actually, I have made it clear that on our way home we are stopping in Bangalore and getting a nice hotel room before we go back to Mysore � A girl has to have some pampering some times!
- Okay, enough of the complaining stuff. Despite my love/hate relationship with the weather at this point, it is still very beautiful here. Auroville is what I would consider in a very rural area of India. Pondicherry is not too far away, but where we are staying is out in the boonies. It is very green and lush, especially with all the rain. There are plants everywhere. The Aurovillians have also built some really beautiful and unique buildings and homes. There are these great colonial houses set out in the woods. You would never see them unless you are right up on them because they are so hidden by all the trees. Oh, and they have a freakin’ skate park here. Jason said it is about 20 minutes out in the middle of a forest and then you come upon this massive concrete spread with a half pipe. Jason took Monica’s sons skating one day to show them some tricks. Apparantly growing up here is a lot like being at summer camp.
- Then there is the yoga… We came to Auroville specifically because of Chad and Monica. They teach Ashtanga from their home Mysore style Monday – Friday. Despite the rain, it has been a wonderful week practicing yoga with them. There were about 8-10 of us that came up from Mysore this week to practice and let me tell you what fun it has been practicing with a dozen people compared to 50 or more! We practice on the roof of Monica’s house. She has a sheltered area set up to protect against the sun or rain but you still have these amazing views of lush forest. Check out the pictures. Chad has a very gentle touch and unassuming personality. He gives great adjustments and feedback on what he observes in your practice. Jason and I REALLY enjoyed the yoga with them and plan on coming back at some point – and this time we will know what to expect! On Sunday they let us all come and do self-practice with them and then afterwards we had a potluck brunch at their house. It was so nice and the perfect ending to this week.
Home again…
We left Auroville Sunday after the potluck and drove back to Chennai. We were so haggered by the end of this week that we decided to indulge and fly back to Bangalore. We found cheap tickets on and Indian airline called Air Deccan. For both of us plus Rowan our tickets ended up being about $75 total. Not bad.
We got to the Chennai airport and our flight was delayed about and hour and a half so we had to wait. A lot of airports like to appeal to the consumer in you by giving you shops to go in, places to eat, etc. Not in India. Basically there is nothing except a small bookstore and one snack stand. So you just sit and wait.
The flight was fine, very basic, but fine. Rowan and I slept most of the way. When we got to Bangalore we had a car from the hotel waiting on us. We stayed at the Park hotel. It is pretty swank and I can say that I have never spent as much on a hotel in the US, but we felt like we deserved it!
Here is what we did at the Park Hotel: sleep on nice clean sheets with fluffy pillows, eat yummy food, get massages, watch television, etc. It was great! It was a much needed break for me and I felt much better by the end of our stay. Ready to take on India again!
Rowan loved everywhere we went. In Auroville we had a nanny named Kalima who would watch her while we did yoga. She was a village woman and did not speak very much English. She was really good with Rowan and Rowan seemed to like her. There was also a girl Rowan’s age in the same place we stayed and they played a lot. The other girl couldn’t walk, just crawl, so when they played together Rowan would crawl around with her. It was very cute.
The staff at the Park loved her and whenever we were downstairs eating or hanging out she would be off with 2 or 3 staff. They all knew her by the time we left. One of them even bought her a Barbie doll as we were leaving. Yes, it is her first Barbie doll…
Home sweet home
So now we are back home and it feels good to be back in familiar surroundings again. We are self-practicing on Wednesday and then we start back at the shala on Thursday. Overall, it has been one VERY LONG trip, but worth every minute.
BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN REMINDER!!!!!!!
THERE ARE ONLY 23 MORE SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL TARA’S 30TH BIRTHDAY. MAKR IT ON YOUR CALENDAR �
Posted by Tara at November 1, 2005 11:18 PM