My visit to Pondicherry Ramesh R Friday 25 May, 2007 23:54
Some days ago I had written about Summer vacation 07 and had mentioned about a trip to some place. Well this is it....I am not a very religious man if any I tend towards becoming an atheist more than a believer. So my wife telling me that if we were to go to Pondicherry and visit the Aurobindo Ashram, I should be willing to do it with an open mind without any preconceived notions made perfect sense...
Day 1. We reached Pondicherry at 6 AM and a short auto ride later we were at the gates of the Cottage Guest House. “An Open Mind” I reminded myself as I passed through the main gates. Two rooms were quickly made available to us and contrary to what I read in some of the blogs, the rooms were very neat, the bathrooms were clean and the beds were made and requisite towels were kept ready too. Water was kept in one corner in an earthen pot – natural refrigerators of the yesteryears. If first impression as they say is the last impression then I must admit for someone who has traveled fairly extensively, I was impressed by the simplicity, the cleanliness and the price tag above all that was attached to it. After a quick wash, I got my tokens for the meals. Three meals for a person cost Rs20/- (yet another chance for all of us to say wow and that’s what we did when we were served our first meal). Without wasting much time I headed to the Ashram-run dispensary and as I walked to the dispensary, I noticed the old tiled roads and old French style architecture on both sides. After the shot was given to my son, when I asked how much I was told “We don’t charge …however, if you want to you may put in money into the offering box” I quickly put a 50 rupee note into box and left.
After the lunch we headed for Auroville and I was impressed with the manner in which barren land has been converted into such a green place. Barring that and seeing the Mathrimandir from a distance and shopping at the shop there, there was really not much to report. The Mathrimandir itself is a huge spherical shaped structure plated with Golden coloured plates. I am told inside is a huge crystal onto which suns rays are focussed throughout the day to light up the centrally airconditioned sphere. Visitors were not permitted into this sphere which is primarily used for meditation unless you have a special pass issued from earlier visits or you were a VIP.The summer heat made our thirst unquenchable. By evening we were ready for an early dinner at the Dining Hall as the place is called standing in a queue to collect our plates and be served. Each meal there though simple was very nutritious and yummy. One is expected to dump all the uneaten stuff into a trash bin before handing it over to be washed by the volunteers there... rramesh.rediffiland.com 2 Comment(s)
After the lunch we headed for Auroville and I was impressed with the manner in which barren land has been converted into such a green place. Barring that and seeing the Mathrimandir from a distance and shopping at the shop there, there was really not much to report. The Mathrimandir itself is a huge spherical shaped structure plated with Golden coloured plates. I am told inside is a huge crystal onto which suns rays are focussed throughout the day to light up the centrally airconditioned sphere. Visitors were not permitted into this sphere which is primarily used for meditation unless you have a special pass issued from earlier visits or you were a VIP.The summer heat made our thirst unquenchable. By evening we were ready for an early dinner at the Dining Hall as the place is called standing in a queue to collect our plates and be served. Each meal there though simple was very nutritious and yummy. One is expected to dump all the uneaten stuff into a trash bin before handing it over to be washed by the volunteers there... rramesh.rediffiland.com 2 Comment(s)
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