We have a noisy moped. In our free time we cruise along the shaded paths and stop by to drink chai or eat ice-cream.
In the middle of the Centre Guest House grows a huge banyon tree. Its a lazy tree because each branch sends new roots down to the earth and plants itslef a new trunk to support its massive weight. It reminds me of Dali's Dream. The banyon trees are loved in India as they provide lots of shade.
After raining heavily for a few days, big muddy puddles appeared on the all the paths and stayed for many days. The water was as thick as watered down wall-paint. Its no coincidence that many of the buildings in auroville are painted in the same orange/brown colour. When you ask people "what's your favourite colour?" they probably won't name this one - but, for the aurovillian buildings, the colour fits perfectly - the buildings blend naturally into the scenery. I like the tropical reflections in the puddles.
Europeans go to the beach to relax and splash about in the sea.The Indians also relax when they go to the beach, but only because they are doing a poo.
Thankfully, auroville cordoned off a section and kept it clean. Now that the beach is clean, the tamils can also bathe and splash about in the sea.
The road to Pondicherry is a hazard! The huge lorries charge straight through the roads and all the smaller vehicles dodge out the way. There is constant scooter beeps and lorry foghorns...
... so when you arrive into the French part of Pondicherry, it seems tranquil and airy. The roads are paved, with little traffic, and signs that say 'no honking'. The rest of pondicherry is loud and overcrowded.
Elephants hand out blessings in this temple. The elephants are huge but they have tiny blue eyes.
Indian sweets are horribly sweet. They are made of Ghee (clear butter), syrup, nuts and then drenched in syrup.
Saturday lunch at a large hospitable Israeli family's. Only about a third of the family members were present in this picture. Lots of kids and lots of shouting and screaming and laughing. People leaned over eachother to grab food.
The dresses were as colourful as tropical birds.
The ponds at New Creation
The swimming pool where Derek and I taught tamil kids water polo. A few days ago, it rained and the pool broke down.
The kids are fantastic. They are enthusiasitic and will try anything even if they don't understand what they are supposed to do.
Thamarai, where nora works, has gardening initiatives in 'children's land'. The kids plant fruits or vegetables and learn to name indiginous herbs and plants. Today, thye collected seeds and leaves and made a beautiful mandala.
Nora knows her name... will add it later.The kids are very energetic and out-going. They wave to us on the streets and run up to us and ask us what our names are. Usually they have long names.
The tamil workers slowly tred the peddles as they cycle to work.
After the sun has sunk behind the horizon, the sky becomes dark blue very soon.
Buildings at New Creation. This is where our guest house was. We stayed here for two weeks. The air is cool and from the fruit trees you can hear the calls of the brain-fever birds at sunrise and sunset.
Throughout the grounds, tamil workers nonchalantly sweep the leaves and squat down to pluck out the weeds from the gardens. Sometimes, when I walk past them on my way to the guesthouse, I feel somehow guilty about the difference between myself and them. But I don't think they feel any resentment - maybe not towards me, at least. They smile and nod their heads to the side as an acknowlegement of our presence.
