Our trip, continued

The pictures don't appear to be working just now so I'll do them in a separate post.

On Saturday we visited Chennai's Theosophical Society. There seems to be a concentration of people interested in meditation, spirituality, alternative living and so on around Chennai and Pondicherry, and the Theosophical Society was certainly part of that "scene". It was set in lovely, leafy grounds which were a very welcome relief from the incessant noise, traffic and heat of the city. Theosophy, from what I gathered, is to do with looking at all the religions and finding the essential truth behind them. There was also some connection with the Occult and Annie Besant but I'm not sure where that fits in. To be honest good ol' Wikipedia will probably do a better job of explaining - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy

We travelled down to Pondicherry - which, we've since discovered, has now reverted to its original Indian name, Puducherry - on Sunday morning, and got a room in an Ashram guesthouse near the seafront. Unsurprisingly there was a very "chilled-out" air and we were invited to take part in a meditation session, which we unfortunately missed. The other plus was that a twin room was only 80 Rupees a night - that's under a quid. So the benefits were material as well as spiritual...

Most of Pondicherry resembles all the Indian cities I've so far seen - rather busy, cramped, noisy and dusty. The "French Quarter", however, was - as the name suggests - incredibly European in design. Pondicherry was a French colony and a lot of the Gallic influence remains - there are several French restaurants and cafes, the street signs are in both Tamil and French, and the policemen still wear the kooky red caps. On Sunday we had pizza - worth the guilt. We then walked down to the seafront, which is still covered in large, angular boulders put there after the Tsunami destroyed the sandy beach. I hadn't realised the extent of the damage caused to India's coast, but apparently even parts of Andhra's seafront were affected.

It was a strange reverse-culture shock to see so many Westerners, Pondicherry being so much more touristy than anywhere we'd been before. Even the Indian residents appeared more "Westernised", with many wearing jeans and t-shirts - a very rare sight in still relatively traditional Vijayawada. I hadn't realised quite how "Indian" Andhra Pradesh still is, compared to much of the country, and it was odd not to be stared at as we walked down the street!

On Monday we visited Auroville, a town in woodland around 15km from Pondicherry. Auroville is more of a concept than a physical place. Established in 1968 by an Indian named Sri Aurobindo and a Frenchwoman known as "The Mother", it was intended to be "a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities." Although very obviously born at the height of the Hippie movement, and therefore with a certain '60s kitsch about it, it was a really interesting place. The town itself is still in the process of being built, although the centrepiece - a huge golden globe containing a giant crystal known as the "Matrimandir" - is already in place. Unfortunately, in order to view the Matrimandir, it's necessary to turn up at the visitor's centre at a certain time on a certain day and then return at another specified time to pick up tickets - needless to say, they want to know that you're keen before they show you their masterpiece.

As well as the more mystical side, Auroville is engaged in a lot of practical work, such as the development of appropriate and alternative technologies and building methods. They also have an organic farm and run courses on various aspects of their work and philosophy. I have to admit I wish we'd had longer there; I think to fully appreciate the place it'd be necessary to stay for a number of days. Their website is www.auroville.org if anyone's interested to find out more.

Sadly, on Monday evening we had to leave lovely Pondicherry to catch the bus back to Chennai. A combination of naivity and bad luck, however, meant that we missed our overnight bus back to Vijayawada. Some stress later, we found ourselves on a bus to Nellore, a place neither of us had ever heard of, having been assured that we'd be able to get from there to Vijayawada. Thankfully we managed to intercept a bus with two free seats and got back on Tuesday morning safe and well, if a little tired and unkempt.

After recuperation on Tuesday it was back to work on Wednesday. We now have a regular slot teaching young girls at a nearby streetchildren's home called SKCV (website at www.skcvtrust.com). This is hard work, but the girls are incredibly enthusiastic and very bright, and it can be a nice contrast to the sometimes austere atmosphere in the College. We're also going to be teaching the staff once a week and perhaps also taking part in some research work, such as helping to compile case studies of the girls. This evening we've been invited to a "programme" (any event is referred to as a "programme") at the boy's home, being held in honour of some visiting Rotarians from Tamworth which has some connection to the organisation. We've been told this will involve dancing, music and food, which sounds like an excellent combination.

We were treated to some of their dancing last week when the children performed at an exhibition of local NGOs being held at the College. The girls' dance was a traditional North Indian one, while the boys, decked out in shiny bomber jackets and white tracksuits, did a routine with more of a Michael Jackson flavour. Both were stunningly good, especially considering some of the dancers were as young as 5 or 6.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of the children strutting their stuff tonight, and will post them here when I can.