Auroville 2010

Chennai Central

Auroville, a small township on the coast of Tamil Nadu next to Pondicherry, has ambitions of itself as becoming "universal city". Founded in the late 60s by "The Mother," a French woman who served as Sri Aurobindo's spiritual executive in his later years, Auroville's mission was to combine ecological sustainability with international harmony.

Hundreds of people came in from around the world to settle what was then a mostly barren plateau, planting and nurturing trees day after day. Decades later, the tree problem has clearly been spectacularly solved.

While not perfect in regards to both ecological sustainability and international harmony, Auroville still has many worthy accomplishments to the credit of its citizens, which will hopefully not be stymied by politics.

Anyway, during my week there, I got to stay in a very comfortable (but sufficiently rustic) guesthouse, eat yummy food, use a bicycle as my primary transportation (haven't ridden one for over a dozen years), wear a lungi, perform yoga, work on an organic farm, enter a UFO-like temple to concentrate in absolute silence, and generally experience a lush, fresh environment. And perhaps best of all, meet interesting people I would not typically run into.