An Evening in Pondicherry

Last night we all piled on to a bus to visit pondicherry, the kind of bus that drives very fast and very close to oncoming traffic... I have started to think of them as more of "deathmobiles". haha just kidding mom... It has become a good practice to just have faith that the driver will get us where we are going safely. It is about a twenty minute ride from Auroville to Pondi, and most of it is along the Beach Highway. As we got closer to the city, there were more and more buildings and people lining the road. You can hardly blink an eye without seeing somebody pass by. We went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where we sat near where Aurobindo and the Mother's bodies rest for awhile. All around the Ashram are beautiful flowers, and there were also lots of people there doing the same as us. We also visited a Ganesh Temple, which is the Hindu "remover of obstacles" God. Outside of the Temple was an elephant who would bless people for grass which cost 1 rupee. (about 47 rupees to the Dollar) It was very cool, and something i never even imagined i'd experience. After visiting a gallery of pictures of local flowers, we walked along a road that was right on the ocean. Many people were there hanging out, walking, and enjoying the ocean air. It was very nice. We had a nice dinner and then headed back to Auroville. It was a great first trip to Pondi, and everyone felt quite comfortable i think despite the warnings we had of all of the poverty and begging. Not to say this wasn't present. There were many people begging on the streets and also very pushy vendors who were trying to sell drums and little trinkets. It was difficult to see all the poverty, especially all of the children, but something I expect to get more and more used to, and will be able to deal better with it each time i encounter it.

I could write for hours, but am about to be late for a seminar on the philosophy of Integral Yoga, which is very much the basis of the spiritual values of Auroville. SO i must go.

Namaste,
Caleb