Auroville- A city for the future. It belongs to no one but to humanity as a whole. Set in the jungle of southern india there are almost 5000 residents from around the world. The city sprawls on green land to the ocean. It was once barren land which has been revived by the Aurovillians. Very interesting. A nice place to rest for a while. Write, bike, yoga, farm, meditate, eat, read, swim and get away from a lot of the hassles that India has to offer. Although they still exist even here.Well it has been quite a day. I finally tracked down a photographer that I have been trying to get a hold of for a couple of months now. He lives here in Auroville-'the city the earth needs'. I picked up his post card when I was in India last time. Immediatly I fell in love with his photos. He has a way of capturing the beauty in this crazy place. So we met and talked and he agreed to allow me to incorperate his photos into my play. Very exciting.I spent the afternoon visiting the heart of Auroville, the Martimindir. It is a giant golden globe, like a cross of science world and the epcor center. Inside 'the petals' is giant marble meditation room with white carpets and a glass ball. It is a process of three days before you are allowed to enter meditate inside. I have done two. Today I entered the building. There is scaffolding everywhere as it is still under construction. Entering the dome was as close to entering a space ship I think I will ever come. A group of us were led up the rickity wooden stairs to the inside the chamber. It was incredible. The dome of marble soars above, there is nothing but white. One ray of sunlight is fed from the ceiling onto the glass ball in the center. Awe inspiring. Tommorow I will meditate.Time to jump back on my bike and make my way back to my guest house. Dark is settling and I don't want to bike in the dark. My bike is from 1919....okay maybe 1942. I think it was left behind by the British. It has two seperate handle bar grips and is covered in rust. I can picture myself as I labour down the red dirt road peddling with all my might. Floppy white sunhat on my head, pink flip flops, thai pants and backpack. Hot. The bike was included in the room, so are my meals, laundry. Not bad for less than $10 canadian. Oh, and I have an extra bed so if anyone wants to come for a sleep over I will be here until Thursday. 4:21 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment Tuesday, December 05, 2006
I have been to Auroville twice in the past five years. I stayed with my wife at Afsaneh's guest house, which was wonderful clean with a most hygenic kitchen and excellent food.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I also made the ride home on the antique bicycles in the pitch dark. (Not to be recommended.) I miraculously avoided running into some cows which were crossing the road in the dark. I did not notice them until I had gone past them.
Your notes brought back some wonderful memories for me.
Of course I have meditated in the Matrimadar. Beautiful!!!! But I was a little surprised to read that there is still scaffolding inside.
It is two years ago since I was there and I would have thought they had finished by now.
Sri Aurobindo has been a great part of my life for the past 50 years and has given me much joy.
Cedric Levy
Jerusalem, Israel