The skyline has changed so much : The high-rise buildings

alongside the shanty slums, the software companies and the vendors of

fast foods just outside makes us long for the days of the glorious

past. Days when we did not have to stand in a queue even to get into a

bus. Today there are crowds just above everywhere.Yet despite the

contrasting change, India still holds hope for the visitor. Nowhere is

this more apparent than in Pondicherry, once a French colony (about a

130kms from Chennai) in Tamilnadu.( 1 ) We discovered this for

ourselves when we were there recently with our family.

We saw the difference even as we got there-it was so quiet that

we wondered if people talked or did anything at all. The main hub of

life is focused on the 'market'. One could get lost here as it

consists of a series of roads crossing each other like in a grid.You

will not know when and where to turn next to reach anywhere. Men and

women of every nationality buy anything they fancy from shops

adjoining these roads . Hundreds of shops sell handcrafts, sculptures,

textiles, electronic items and of course you will find the money

changers. Anyone can exchange any currency here.There are hotels

lodging some of the richest people in the world. There are lodges even

for the average visitor.Every nook in the grid has one. We stayed in

one of them - The Hotel Sooriya International.( 2 )

Just at the end of the grid is one of world's most known

spiritual retreats - the Aurobindo Ashram, founded by the great Indian

revolutionary and mystic Sri Aurobindo.( 3 ) It was developed and

natured after his death by his disciple, a French woman named Mirra

Alfasa, also known as the mother.( 4 ) We saw something unusual as

soon as we entered the gates of the Ashram . There were people

squatting everywhere : on the sidewalks , the rooms, the libraries and

alongside the graves of the sage and the mother . They are buried

there side by side and covered by a single stone of marble. On it were

petals of flowers of every kind hand picked the gardens there. We even

saw the 'sofa set' on which the saint and the mother sat. may be it

was from 1920. A 1938 shiny black Rolls- Royce with lush brown

upholstery still looking new was parked in an open garage, a reminder

of the past. Also there is a steady stream of people walking to and

from the grave.And they kept their mouths shut. People quietly browsed

hundreds of tittles on spiritual thought by the saint. Today the

ashram is managed and run entirely by its volunteers.

Also in Pondicherry about 10 kms away is the famous 'Auroville

international Township.( 5 ) Auroville was founded in 1968 as a result

of an idea suggested by Saint Aurobindo and brought into being by the

mother . The city of the future was foreseen to be a place where unity

of all human minds could be realized , where people from all corners

of the world could together to make this ideal a reality . Once a

barren and eroded plateau , its volunteers have turned Auroville into

a lush, sub-tropical environment and it is rich in a wide range of

trees and flowers. We noticed that even the topsoil on the roads was

made of red mud. You will find a French woman or an Austrian widower,

their faces shining with sweat, cycling merrily along without knowing

where they were going. Today Auroville is more than 34 years old, with

people from over 30 nations making up its current resident profile of

1700 inhabitants. This confluence of people from diverse world

cultures, settling and becoming a part of the larger socio-cultural

fabric of the region is a new experiment. There are tens of structures

built in colonial style and red bricks housing all the offices of the

township. In the center is the mosaic dome, a giant sphere around

which everyone sat in silence for hours together. There is also a café

where we had doughnuts and ice-cream soda. Only white-skinned

foreigners sat on the adjoining tables. And they did not even talk to

each other. We took pictures without their knowing. A large proportion

of the residents of the township is local Tamils who have integrated

into Auroville over time. Adding to this are more than 4000 local

people who work every day in Autryville, in various activities

activities ranging from agriculture, domestic help, commercial and

handicraft units.We also bought a few items for my sister in san

Francisco). Many of them worked in the health and municipal services

there.

There is evidence of the colonial French there everywhere. Rich

white marbled statues and sculptures of 'Duplex' ( 6 ) and others

stare stonily down at you, offices of the Lt. Governor, the Central

and Customs Excise, line the long beahes in Pondicherry.Also hundreds

of pictures of various Hindu Gods with their dancing feet high in the

air, the long black towers of the mosques depict a multireligious

mixture all through this colonial territory.Tens of roadside

restaurants called as 'dabhas' provide the latest chinese food until

the wee hours of the morning.

We could go on and on. A visitor coming into Pondicherry for

the first time is in for a surprise. The rich colonial story is still

alive here. Anyone wanting a quick holiday can escape to this place so

easily-Pondicherry is acessible to everyone,the nearest airport being

Chennai, India. ( 7 )

References

1. <http://www.tourismpondicherry.com/tourism/gethere.shtml>

2.<http://www.tourisminpondicherry.com/tourism/hotel-c.shtml>

3. <http://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/index.php>

4. <http://www.kheper.net/topics/Aurobindo/Mirra.htm>

5.<http://www.auroville.org/organisation/avimain.htm>

6.<http://www.pondy.com/pondy/history.htm>

7.http://www.iloveindia.com/travel/pondicherry/

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