My typical day in Auroville

As many of you can tell from my emails and previous blogs, I'm loving it in India.  I have managed to find places and people that really suit my nature especially here in Auroville where I am surrounded my lush, tropical greenery, easygoing people from all over the world who are united in their quest for greater peace and serenity through selfless service, ie, work!

Each day starts quietly - well not really so quiet because the temple nearby blasts chants from 5.30 or 6.00 am but some days I cannot hear them from my room depending on the wind.  Then I am up and making a pot of tea (a wide variety of organic blends, all from here in Auroville, provided by the guest house) and time for a little sit outside looking at the greenery all around me and sipping a wonderful tasty blend with honey.  Then I'm usually going to the Matrimandir, the spiritual centre of Auroville, for meditation or biking or walking through the forest to the yoga centre for a class.  I have a good variety of classes and teachers in this lovely serene building surrounding by tropical trees and plants, then back to the guest house for a fresh fruit breakfast.

The rest of the days are spent biking around to see small settlements in the forest, stopping at roadside cafes and shops, visiting with people that I have met since I have been here or new ones, some massage or other bodywork, classes in the philosophy of this community (established by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in 1968) to learn more about the Aurovilians and sometimes just relaxing and reading and having time to try to think about very little.

I have always been interested in intentional communities as many of you know so this is a real experience for me, I am in awe of the work that has gone into Auroville by so many thousands of people from all over the world.  Auroville is owned by no one and no one here owns anything ... they are paid a "maintenance salary" for their work and most of their daily needs are met.  The entrepreneurial spirit is strong here and there is a very strong European influence -mainly French, Italians, Germans and some British.  There are 10 Canadians living here but I have not met any.  Much research into so many aspects of sustainable living is conducted here.

I'm happy but must leave this Saturday and will post again soon.

Kind seasonal wishes to all who are reading this ... enjoy!

Auroville Life

I arrived here in this idyllic international, spiritual community (since 1968) just over a week ago.  It has been wonderful, peaceful and like a little oasis in the middle of the noise, smells, garbage and sometimes (well, most of the time!) the chaos of India.  I am staying in a little guest house called Creativity with 5 bedrooms.  We are an international house with residents from France, USA, Italy, Denmark and myself and my friend Theresa from Canada.  The house is overseen quite capably by a Belgium woman who is a real den mother and looks after us in a most compassionate manner.  It is quiet and well maintained as we have a cleaner who keeps things lovely for us (right down to flower arrangements) 6 days a week, including our clothes washing.  My room is lovely with a bright orange painted wall, double bed, desk and little outdoor sitting area.  Dogs and cats and cows/bulls roam wherever, whenever so I never know when I will be visited.

Quite an incident last week when I was walking through the forest on the way to the yoga centre, a bull and a cow were standing by the path, I walked by carefully and as I was passing by the bull, I was head butted in the arm, a nice bruise in green/purple greets me these days.  The great thing is that I was en route to the yoga centre/healing centre and they took wonderful care of me.  However, no one expects such a thing and I was in a little shock for a few minutes after.

I have been biking all over the huge complex for the last week now - many people ride motorcycles or mopeds but I am quite happy with my bright pink bike - and getting to explore all the little nooks and crannies of this fascinating place.  Most of the roads are hard packed, a few are paved but the pavement stops quite randomly so I usually only bike during the day.  It is incredibly dark at nite here so evening times are usually spent preparing a meal and relaxing.

We are served a lovely fruit, homemade yogurt, tea and bread/jam (homemade right here in Auroville) breakfast outside near the garden of the complex (the weather has been lovely and warm and sunny every day) and then usually I attend a yoga class or another event.  Last Saturday was a half day workshop on Consciousness as Medicine given by an Indian doctor, it was wonderful and I learned a great deal and got to practice techniques which I am still practicing. 

It is easy to be relaxed and joyful here as most people seem to enjoy their life and many Aurovillians have been here for many years, some since the inception of the community in 1968!  It is so fascinating to see an international complex like this utilizing compassion, spirituality and kind communication to operate a community of more than 2,000. 

The yoga classes (Iyengar so they are quite precise and a good challenge for me) have been excellent, usually 1.5 hours long and so reasonably priced.  And I have had a facial massage/treatment and plan a craniosacral session later this week.  There are many many therapists from all over the world here offering all sorts of treatments.

The most famous place in Auroville is the Matrimandir complex, too much to explain, suffice to say it is a huge structure that is absolutely magical to enter and meditate in.  Check it out online for more info.  I did my preliminary visit there last week so now may go any morning after 10 am.  But there is so much to do here I have not been back yet.


I am really enjoying this leg of my journey but am also planning my return to Canada late December, briefly, between Dec 28 and Jan 3/4 before moving on to Sivananda retreat in Nassau, Bahamas for 3 months.

My dear son Christopher has also had some changes in his life during my absence and will be leaving Kingston to move to Calgary to accept a job next weekend.  Please keep him in your hearts and minds over the next few weeks as he settles into his new life in Calgary!  Burrito Amigo will remain open and day to day operations will be passed to the cook, Ben, who has been working with Christopher since he opened in May.

Thanks to all of you who stay in touch through email or FB; it's great to know what people are up to.

Namaste from India ... more from the Gypsy at 60 - plus!

Since Rasa Ayurvedic ...

I have been super-negligent about posting to this blog since I left the Ayurvedic healing centre but have been having a wonderful time travelling around.  First I went to a beach called Kovalam Beach where I had a lovely quite little room way up a hill from the beautiful beach - right next to a yoga centre - and on the other side a lovely small hotel owned by an Italian couple who served nutritious and delicious breakfasts.  I had a quite time reading, walking on the beach, chatting with locals and planning the next phase of my journey.

After Kovalam Beach (which was a little more touristy than I was wanting) I teamed up with a new friend from Rasa and we travelled by train to Fort Cochin which was a bright star in the journey ... quiet, cleaner than much of India, relaxed and full of other surprises!  Including a homestay (like a B&B) where we each had beautiful rooms, mine was bright yellow with a huge balcony overlooking the parade ground.  The shops were very posh indeed and we had a real shopping spree.  So much of India is colourful and great prices it was hard to resist.  But I'm conscious I'm trying to travel light with one small bag on wheels and a light knapsack. 

After Fort Cochin we travelled together to the hills where the tea and coffee is grown and we had a very very very special 4 days with two top of the line hotels ... first the Windemere Estates for two nites - overlooking the tea plantations - quiet and very elegant with the best bathroom yet!  Then we had another nite in a different hotel because Windemere was booked and we stayed in our own little chalet at a place called Tall Trees.  You can google these and get a real taste for the elegance.  We were both unwell unfortunately with little bugs but made the most of the rooftop restaurant and lovely food and furnishings in our little chalet overlooking yes, the tall trees.

I am thoroughly enjoying all the variety of exciting travel experiences since I left Canada on Oct 15th as both India and the UK have offered a wide variety of sites and sounds.  But India is the best for both!  The people in the south have been warm, friendly, gentle and slow moving.  And very very willing to do whatever they can do to make the ferenghi (foreigner) happy.  Even the frequent power cuts have not bothered me too much.

Now I'm in the southeast of India near Chennai and will post very soon!

Stay tuned for more adventures ... life is warm, humid and always fun on the road!  Check out my facebook page for some photos as/when I remember to upload them.