Early this week, I went to pondicherry for a picnic. I was strangely delighted that I was ...
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Early this week, I went to pondicherry for a picnic. I was strangely delighted that I was stepping out of the borders of Tamil nadu, after many years. Although for all practical purposes Pondi is tamil speaking area, let me remind you that officially it is not under the control of Tamil nadu state.
A much smaller township territory than Tamil nadu ,its streets are not as broad as in Chennai.
After a three hour travel from Chennai, we still reached a half an hour late at 9 O'Clock because the bus stopped for breakfast a little before. As soon as I got down, it was not too difficult for me to find my way to the Aurobindo Mutt, which was the centre of attraction in Pondicherry. Much to my dismay, I could not take snaps of the beautiful interiors of the ashram; the wondrous samadhi of Shri Aurobindo and The Mother, the exotic collection of strange flowers adorning the samadhi or the library( or the beautiful girls in meditative postures!!!).
So, dear readers, please excuse me if i could only post the image of the exterior portion of the samadhi.
An interesting sight was that in spite of appearing to be smaller than chennai, Pondi boasts of being more cosmopolitan. Moreover the sights that greeted me were at once strange and pleasant. I have never seen grown ups using cycles anywhere in Tamil nadu;Chennai, Krishangiri, Erode, Kumbakonam,Madhurai or any place so far. I have only seen people cycling in Japan(on tv,LOL).Here old people, even the very aged ones, use cycles so commonly and no ego hassles. It is the most common mode of transport owing to the fact that vehicular traffic is far less.It was amazing! Here is a picture of a happy couple cycling away together...
There is a clear difference between the Western crowd and the Indians. Indian women wear only saris,salwars, chudi and wear simple gold ornaments although the little Indian girls do wear skirts and kaftans. The Indians do not mingle freely with the westerners, who were in and around the Ashram, in the Meditation Hall, some probably working and serving in the ashram as inmates. Let me add that most of the ashram inmates are bengalis; while the visitors are from all over the world. Here is another image. These are just the kind of dress, scarves and heavy beads sold exclusively for the westerners. I kept thinking how neither the local women nor the western women seem to have gotten influenced by each other's dress codes.
The most popularly sold drawing room show pieces were the clay models.
I must not fail to mention that every thing in Pondi was prefixed"Auro"- Auroherbs, Auromedicines, and more.
A half an hour drive and a jaunty ride will take u to Auroville; the ambitious meditative Hall planned and scheduled to be completed after two years. The amphi theater is all built and work is still going on. There are four entrances and each entrance has a name- The Maheshwari entrance, The kali, the laxmi and the Saraswathi entrance. You can easily enter "peaceful mental state" if you meditate there, in this meditation hall. But u need to book your seat in advance of two days.
I
t is actually made of metal with gold plating. Right now for people who are in a hurry burry, there are meditative slabs a few furlongs away,on which you can stand and view this amphitheatre or you can sit here for your meditation. A very pleasant ambience-
In the evening, we went to the beach. Another place with a difference. The Tsunami fears had propelled the administrative officers to haul black rocks that we call "paaraan kallu"(tamil) and distance the space between the people and the beach. You need to walk down those sloppy rocks to stand by and enjoy the waves. People don't swim here as they do in Chennai Marina Beach( although we had Tsunami at Marina too)
I didn't have the mind or inclination to come away from this lovely beach. It was so quiet; no sales, no catamarans, no lovey dovey pairs, just the waves lashing in lonesome beauty.But "I have promises to keep" and therefore, I trudged back unwillingly to the bustand and caught a chennai borne Airbus. When I reached back at 10.30 pm, I was beaten hollow by the sweltering heat.
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hi sudha,
thanksss and keep coming
scribbly
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Dear Scribblingpad,
Looks like I missed this blog earlier, my apologies :-)
I have been to Pondi last December, we drove down and yes as you say the Aurobindo Ashram is absolutely divine and peaceful.
Nice write up,
Sudha
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everyone is not same, yaar.when the soul has its thirst, none can stop its journey. it may take an off beat track. the success makes the difference. Ramana, ramakrishna and others also existed.he is one of their kind. Asoka was a firebrand warrior but became a pacifist. Alexander would have become, had he been exposed to this culture, but they say he realized the fultility of it all in his death bed.people awaken at different times. Nehru and Patel are men of the world. The are entirely different. lets not try to paint the entire world with teh same brush, ne?
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By that analogy Rajaji, Mahatma Gndhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel were all unawakened souls lost in labrynths mundane business of life. Krishna preached Gita on the field of battle and not in some Himalaya's remote ashram.
Strictly my views. Not attempting to influence yours.
Cheers.
Sceptic
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Hey sceptic,
i just stumbled into the ashram by chance and got interested.That's all... i am not yet his devotee.... looks like i might become.
ur comment gives food for thought.. Now that u remind me, o yeah...i do have a rough knowledge of his life and u could be right.But i strongly feel that unless the inner light shines through u cannot reach so much progress at aall. All these things are immaterial for such people. One who is still in the deluded state, cannot make head or tail of spirituality, come what may.
Shri Aurobindo found his life's meaning here.He was already a realized soul.
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One may not be able to change the entire country or the world, but change starts within each person, and creating one small place of sanctuary where others might witness a better approach to living is a formidable and worthwhile goal in itself. Gandhi tried hard to influence India and the world, but even the great Mahatma had only limited success. By saying which I do not mean to minimize Gandhi's great contributions. Aurobindo deserves admiration for his philosphical writings, as well as his Ashram established in Pondicherry.
-- GF
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Are you familiar with his biograhical details.? He was not only into poliitcs, he was a revolutionary of the hot headed variety. Evidently you are a devotee of his. Sorry, if I hurt your sentiments.
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hi sceptic,
This is has got to do with spirituality and man's attempt to reach the state of mental peace in this birth itself. It is purely the individual soul's quest for the realization of the truth of its inner being. It is not related to politics or people or men and matters from which the soul fleeeeees to seek the silence of the divine.
BTW, When u are there to save the nation why should Shri Aurobindo bother about it??? Carry on with the great service that u are already rendering to the nation. U have His Blessings!!!
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Hullo SP
Great travel writers make it a point to feture themselves in afew important snapshot. This omission needs to be noted. You could have thrown in a few more statistical details about the Ashram and the town.
I think Aurbindo's retirement here to build a small heaven of his own amounted to acceptance of failure to do anything for the nation at large. That is equally true of all those who build Maths and asharms.
Sceptic
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hi idlemind,
do come back here for a second visit.
cheers
scribbly
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