A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to New Year's Dinner:

I spent the holidays in Chennai, a city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. There, I stayed with family friends who also live part time in Connecticut down the street from us. Originally, I thought I might be in Chennai for long enough to do some volunteer work. My friend Aparna's family runs an organization that does disaster relief and various related projects. Though I didn't end up being in Chennai for long, they invited me to New Year's dinner. Address in hand, I arrived in the trusty auto where my host was on the porch inviting me in. I was welcomed by his son and daughter, both of whom were married to foreigners (one from Chicago, one from Denmark). Before long, I was brought a plate of delicious food. I asked Aparna's aunt, Usha, about her work but she said she didn't much feel like talking about it. So, we discussed other topics. When we started talking about Aparna, it became clear that something was not right. They have a niece in the states named Aparna but she lives in Texas and is a doctor. My Aparna lives in Montana and is an lawyer. Hmmm. Then, it turns about that my hostess' name was Uma, not Usha. I was at the wrong place-- Usha lived a couple doors down! So, with good blessings, they sent me on my way to Usha's along with my box of sweets I brought. I arrived at Usha's just in time for their New Year's dinner. First we served the wise elders. Then, we sat at ate delicious festival foods, made all the more enjoyable by eating with our hands. After dinner, we had coffee, sweets, and continued to laugh about the blunder I made. What an amazing place where people invite strangers into their home and feed them. Only in India would this have ever happened.

Kanniyakumari- the tip of the mother land!
January, 2007

From paradise (i.e. Eternity Beach), I traveled south to the very tip of India, at the meeting of the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. This place carries great spiritual significance and so is a pilgrimmage site for many many Indians. Sunrise and sunset are particularly significant times of the day. I took these picture early one morning on one of the quieter stretches of this blustery coast.
From the Vivekananda Kendra Ashram, I walked through a few coconut groves and arrived at a small fishing village, where fisherman were preparing to go out on boats and a few devotees were knee deep in the water and fully emersed in puja (prayer).

I finally visited the great Taj Mahal. Sike! I didn't care to get caught in this tourist trap celebrating a ruler who had this monument built for one of his wives and then had all the laborers killed. But I thought I'd throw a pic up on here for good measure, care of Karly.

Eternity Beach
Auroville
January, 2007
Wooo hooo!!! Happy new year, indeed. I've arrived! I know I say every place is amazing, and this is one is no different. In this community for human unity started in 1968, I am staying with a wonderful couple- Anna from Norway and Uval from Israel- who have lived here for the last 20 years during which time they created Etermity Beach. They raised a family of five children and now have four grandchildren. There are a few guest houses on their property, including one which has a kitchen on the first floor and a bedroom loft on the second floor with a grass thatched roof. This is where I sleep, drifting off to the sounds of animals all around and the waves of the Bay of Bengal lapping on the shore.

This area is basically a desert from which Aurovillians have created cool forests, farms (vegetable, spirulina, orchards, etc), schools (very free spirited, kind of a mix of home and community schooling), healing centers (where I had a great chanting session), and much more. This makes it easy to buy all kinds of locally produced goods like soap, candles, clothes, and even kambucha! It's like a permanent Burning Man. The community has about 1800 people with the capacity to grow into 15,000. It's paradise here this time of year and probably even more so during mango season (April/May). But then comes the hot, hot, humid summer. The community is made up of Indians (from the north and south) but there are lots of white people too-- many from Europe (especially France, who colonized the nearby city of Pondicherry). Local Tamil villages also overlap with much of the area, to create an interesting mix of cultural flavors. It's the first place in India where tank tops are acceptable. Phew!

Auroville is pretty spread out and even with a bicycle, it takes a while to get around. So, I've been riding around on a moped. What great fun and oh, the adventures to be had! The first time I took it out, it made it about 10 KM away and then broke down every 20 yards. I dropped it off to have it repaired (which ended up costing a whooping 75 rupees) and took a loaner, which had no gas. So, I stop on the side of the road to ask, "Where is the closest petrol station?" And this man responds, "How much do you need?" In a few minutes, he returns with an old Brandy bottle full of petrol and oil (which they mix with the petrol here). Excellent!