Auroville

About ten miles outside of Pondicherry is a place called Auroville. It is a project in human unity and love that was started by a woman known as ‘The Mother.’ People come from all over the world live there; two-thirds of the residents are foreigners. No religions are allowed, and material possessions are given up. A large portion of the land is used for sustainable agriculture, which feeds the community’s 1800 residents.

This was one of the trippiest places I have ever seen. Being a partial closet hippy, I usually like these kinds of things, but these are some really freaking crazy hippies! It actually felt more like a cult. Whatever the case, it was both cool and strange at the same time.

The community is laid out in the spiraling shape of a galaxy. The center of this galaxy is called the Matramandir and is the ‘soul’ of Auroville. The Matramandir is a huge golden sphere. Inside this sphere is a chamber lined with white marble, and a crystal that is two feet in diameter. A tracking mirror in the roof beams sun rays into the crystal to illuminate the room. Residents of Auroville go in this chamber to meditate. Are you freaked out yet? Corinne and I concluded that the Matramandir was in fact a space ship that would ultimately deliver Aurovillains to a much better place.

On the ship we do this thing when people complain about something. Like in the picture, we make a circle with our arms that is supposed to look like the planet Earth. This means "Hey, we are going around the world." So when somebody starts to whine about having to wait in line for dinner, or that the internet is slow, we just make the motion with our arms. Its just to keep the whole thing in context, "Ya thats a real bummer your laundry isn't done, but on the other hand we are sunbathing off the coast of Yemen right now." Its a big joke on the ship, and thats what the picture is all about.

On the way out of Auroville, we came across this huge Banyan tree. These trees grow roots out of their branches that drop into the ground to support themselves. I thought this was really the coolest thing ever. Corinne gave me a bunch of crap for being so excited about this tree, because apparently they have been in every other port we have visited. Whatever, just look at it. That is a damn smart tree. Isn’t that cool?