We've spent over a week here - housed and fed on the edges of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and finding out titbits of information about the institution and it's sister project Auroville. The difficulty in finding out more information than the guide book provides about either rather adds to the oddity of this place - feels rather secretive and exclusive, feeding you just what 'they' want you to know. That said, we were determined and managed a day cycling round Auroville to get a feel for the place yesterday and spotted the Matri Mandir, golden golf ball at its centre... and the obligatory visit to the scary Kali temple on the way! Two forms of worship to strong women - one a meditation centre, the first building of Auroville in the 70s, another the site of live sacrifices to the blood thirsty goddess..
The Ashram opens its refectory doors to feed all those staying in its guesthouses and we've been feasting on nutricious meals for the last week, a welcome break from spice and fat, as it's all very much rice and vegetable stew with brown bread, curd, porridge and fruit, or combinations thereof - we've seen many of the Indian guests sneaking pickle jars out of their bags to spice things up, while we make ourselves a treat by combining curd with sugar and lime juice for pudding and enjoy feel even more healthy than our curry diet has left us in the last few weeks! Amazing how nice it is to spend less time thinking about what, when and where our next meal will be - already used to not shoping and cooking our food, not having to choose where and what to have is the next step - maybe we'll just eat plain rice from now on!
Anyway - when we're not at the dining room, we've found a breezy hideout on the sea with nice views of the coast
We've been to the botanical gardens where, among the remains of the fun train and (no longer) musical dancing fountain, there are some amazing trees, and a selection of curious individuals, Cyril the Nostadamus scholar, some photo-happy children and a white-shoed singer from the Tamil Nadu religious TV Channel warbling among the trees (spot his red shirt behind the baby's left hand)!
This is our lovely Cannon Ball Tree - smells beautiful, has the most detailled flowers coming out of its trunk, and produces cannon balls too (look to the left of the trunk!)
Some corners were rather like home, until we looked up and spotted the enormous bats! Then there were the silk-cotton trees which were HUGE! Very nice to wander among the trees and get away from the traffic for a bit..
Evening walks are along the seafront - closed to traffic and full of people enjoying the breeze. There are lots of people taking purposeful evening strolls, looking like their doctor told them to and they're taking their 'medicine'. There are lots of families wandering up and down, more at the weekend. We've been approached by sellers of the usual seafront fare - candy floss, flowers, ice cream, watermelon, plastic guitars (with strings that work), drums, posters, tupperware adn stickers.... if only we had more room in our rucksacks!
On saturday night the police band were playing next to the Ghandi memorial which was covered in children using the well designed plinth as a slide (!) and Sylv managed a snap of the stars:
Off up the coast tomorrow morning (after a chocolate croissant!) - prepare for a return to the temple pictures...
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