Pondicherry

Feb. 3
This morning we left Tiruvenamali at 7 am We took a taxi to Pondicherry. It took about two hours. What we have seen of Pondicherry is an interesting mix of French and Indian cultures. For many years it was a French port. So, there are many French style bakeries and all the streets are called rues.

We're staying at a fairly nice guest house. It costs 800 rupees and is decently clean and has spacious rooms. It is right on the ocean.

I think I'm finally beginning to to find some sort of balance in my mind regarding my wealth when compared to the majority of Indians (and the world). Today I ate in a fancy bakery. Food and coffee cost about 250 rupees or five dollars. By American standards this is ridiculously cheap. However, In India many people make less than 80 rupees a day. In the beginning of the trip I would have felt so guilty. Today I didn't. This isn't to say that I wasn't aware of the disparity. I was. I just wasn't guilty about it.

It might seem obvious that you should enjoy what you've (or in this case what your mom) worked for etc. It's hard to understand if you haven't ever seen true poverty. The kind of poverty where people aren't necessarily able to eat. I'm no expert. I haven't been into true slums. But simply being in India exposes me on a daily basis to levels of poverty I've never seen.

So, I think I'm beginning to strike a balance. But I don't want to ever forget how lucky I am. And it's luck. I could have been born into a poor Indian family. But I wasn't. So I'm the one sitting in the nice bakery eating a croissant.

Feb. 6
So, we're still in Pondicherry. The whole reason we're here is to meet with a colleague of my dads. Her name is Sunita Sangupta and she is a professor at the University of Delhi. She is hosting us as her guests for an annual convention on spirituality in the workplace. The plan was to meet her on Feb. 4. We thought that we're staying in Auroville, which is about 6 km from Pondicherry. We decided to come to Pondicherry first, spend a night and then go to Auroville. So that is what we did. When we got to Auroville and told the driver the name of the place where we were supposed to stay, he told us it was back in Pondicherry.

So, as you can see we had to turn around. But it wasn't quite that simple. Unbeknown to us, until the day of, there was a general strike in the state of Tamil Nadu on Feb. 4. The strike was going to last from 6 am To 6 pm The strike was called because of the situation in Sri Lanka. The government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers are fighting (and have been fighting for 30 years). Although by all accounts the Tamil Tigers are nearly defeated they are still putting up a lot of resistance. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, many, many civilians are being killed. Including ethnic Tamils. Angry about the deaths of Tamils, many Indians are calling for the Indian government to intercede. In support of the endangered civilians and in defiance of the government a strike was called.

So. My mom and I stumble into this political mess. All we want is a ride to Auroville. First we asked various rickshaw drivers how much it would cost to go to Auroville. They all said rs 300. Normally this same ride would cost maybe rs 100. No cabs were in operation because of the strike. Resisting having to pay that much we called some friends who were in Auroville. They had a private car (and driver, if you own a car you have a driver, you don't drive) that we hoped could pick us up. Again we were rejected. Apparently the driver believed it was too dangerous to drive because of mobs and other 'rowdies'.

So, we were stuck. Thinking we had to go to Auroville immediately (to meet Sunita) we bit the bullet and hired a rickshaw. The ride was short and uneventful. Upon arriving in Aurovill (and realizing our mistake) we decided to wait until 6 pm. to return to Pondi.

Auroville is a large township that was founded by the Mother. The Mother was a spiritual teacher. She had a vision of an international city where men and women of all types come together and live in harmony. Auroville is the expression of her vision. It's a huge city with its own infrastructure and everything. While it isn't 100 percent independent of the rest of the world it's close.

It sure was odd walking around Auroville. It's huge and completely different than what I've become used to in India. We weren't the minority anymore. I'm glad that I got to see parts of it but I'm glad I don't live there.

So, 6 pm finally roles around. We get a rickshaw back into Pondi (we pay rs 100) and find our new hotel. We didn't (and don't) have to pay for our rooms. The conference itself is interesting. It features many different speakers (mostly Indian, although some Westerners). While some of the talks are a little hard to understand, generally the English is very good.

The hotel at which the conference is being held is on the outskirts of town and is amazingly plush. You walk into the hotel and the center is hollow, like a big water bottle. Two elevators shaped like golden bullets ascend and descend. There are murals depicting a European city. They even have mannequins standing on fake balconies smiling. It's quite bizarre and a little creepy. Everything is painted gold and everything gleams. There is a rooftop pool, complete with a fake rock landscape. But like I said the conference is interesting. One part of me thinks “What the hell am I doing in a conference in India? I should be exploring India.” and then another part thinks “Wow! I'm in a conference in India. Exploring India”.