November 26, 2009
Pondicherry (or Puducherry as it is now called) is on the east coast of southern India, about three hours from Chennai. Not far from it is the coastline where the tsunami struck India. Puducherry is best known for Sri Aurobindo's Ashram. Sri Aurobindo was another of India's great spiritual philosophers. It’s amazing how much spirituality is present wherever I go in India. Every city or town has some spiritual significance. In Goa it was the centuries-old Church of St. Frances Xavier who lived about 500 years ago, and his embalmed body is still taken out for frequent viewing. In Allahabad it was the Sangam in the holy river Ganga. In Pondicherry it’s Auroville, the city that was created on the basis of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy.
On the last day of the conference, exhausted after hours of presentations and power-points, I spent an afternoon just walking through parts of Pondicherry. Pondicherry, by the way, has the same jewel-toned houses that I saw in Goa – the same bright blues and pinks and purples and greens and yellows. Could be a coastal thing… Along with a couple of colleagues I visited the Aurobindo Ashram. It was serene and peaceful. In the Ashram bookstore I bought some books on Aurobindo’s philosophy of integral education. Then we walked through the French Quarter which uncannily resembled its namesake in New Orleans with intricately carved wrought-iron balconies, staircases and gates on the outside of most of the houses that stood along tree-lined cobbled streets. We visited the hand-made paper factory and saw the most beautiful paper being made, textured and colored. I bought some exquisite paper products, bookmarks and calendars. We then walked along the beach under the hot noonday sun, stopped by Gandhi’s statue on the promenade right off the waters of the Bay of Bengal, drank refreshing coconut water beside the old lighthouse, and ended up at a charming bistro for lunch where the three of us had cold beer, some fabulous shrimp and lobster, and a wonderful conversation. We sat there for three hours, and intoxicated by the beer, the seafood, the hot afternoon and the relaxed atmosphere of Pondicherry we pledged we would all meet again for lobster in Maine when we were back in the US. Exhausted we returned to the hotel to get ready for the special Thanksgiving dinner that night...