Happy Birthday Auroville

Today is Auroville’s 43rd birthday. At 5:30am, we went to Auroville’s birthday celebration bonfire at the outdoor amphitheatre next to the Mantrimandir. At the center of the amphitheatre is an urn that contains handfuls of soil from every state of India and almost every country in the world. The soil samples were placed in the urn at Auroville’s inauguration ceremony on February 28, 1968. Every year, hundreds of people attend the birthday celebration bonfire to honor the Mother’s dream and to contemplate the symbolic urn.

I’ve never attended a birthday “party” quite like this one. Silence is expected as everyone is invited to sit quietly around the bonfire to contemplate the moment. The energy of hundreds of other people present can definitely be felt. Personally, I also felt very connected to Auroville’s past as well as the future of this very special place. As the sun rose, one could start to make out the faces of all the other people present. Although no words were spoken, it was clear that everyone in attendance today was very unified in spirit. I think all of us were reminded of the purpose of Auroville’s existence – to help achieve human unity across all cultures, religions and social status.

Auroville’s history was quite tumultuous. The original vision for Auroville was the Mother’s dream. When she was still alive, she wrote the original charter, collaborated with architects and city planners and even chose the specific location that was to become the center of Auroville. After she died in 1973, political infighting and power struggles divided the devotees working on this monumental project. However, the Mother’s original charter stood the test of Indian courts and Auroville became an independent entity no longer controlled by the Pondicherry ashram where the Mother once resided.

The stories of the original pioneers who built Auroville from literally nothing are recorded in a wonderful book called Turning Points. Their candid personal stories are crazier than fiction, extremely moving and told with great wit. The stories expand upon Aurovilee’s many accomplishments since its inauguration 43 years ago: Over 2 million trees and shrubs planted, major infrastructure constructed (roads, water, telephone, waste collection, etc.), education and empowering programs for local villages initiated, ongoing alternative energy experiments conducted, award-winning buildings designed and built, and much much more. Today, we’re all benefactors of the energy, dedication and perseverance of these crazy pioneers who believed a better world was possible and then actually did something about it. And it was all done without any commercial motives or corporate sponsorship.

It feels to me that Auroville’s momentum which has been building for decades now is just about ready to explode. Who knows what these people will accomplish in the next 10 years. I guess I’ll just have to come back to see for myself.

P.S. It just so happens that today is my birthday, too. Coincidence or serendipity?

(See more pictures of Auroville)

The Mantrimandir

So far, our stay in Auroville has been amazing. There are many highlights, but perhaps the most important one is entering the inner chamber of the Mantrimandir for the first time. The Mantrimandir (literally “mother’s house”) is a giant 118-foot-wide glistening golden sphere-like object that’s also the soul of Auroville. Conceived in 1971 and designed by architect Roger Anger, the Mantrimandir was not finished until 2008. Today, it is a huge tourist attraction that almost belies its true purpose – to serve as a point of concentration to help people focus inwards. Getting to the inside the Mantrimandir is a 3-day process, but once you’ve made it inside, you’re welcome to come back for repeat visits as often as you like (by reservation, of course).

Architecturally, the Mantrimandir is an awe-inspiring object. The golden discs are made up of over 2 million gold-plated mosaic leaves that were positioned by hand (that’s real gold, mind you). As one walks up to the structure, one can’t help but feel its immense power. You enter the Mantrimandir by walking up one of the four staircases. As I entered the Mantrimandir, I couldn’t help fantasizing that I was entering a spaceship ready for take-off. Once inside, the architect’s vision takes over and you are compressed into a small space before walking up spiral staircases that suddenly opens up to an enormous spacious chamber. A much longer spiral walkway takes you up to the entrance of the inner meditation chamber (Aurovilians prefer to say "concentration" instead of "meditation"). The walk up the ramp was surreal and extremely emotional for me as the simple beauty of the design – the perfect arcs and spirals, the mathematical proportions, the purity of the geometry, all worked together to enhance an already intense experience. Once again, images from science fiction films like Metropolis and 2001 were evoked.

Once you enter the inner chamber, visitors are invited to sit around a circle facing a giant crystal ball lit by a single beam of sunlight coming from the top of the sphere. There are 12 columns surround the crystal, almost cradling it. This is the purest sacred space I’ve ever seen. No church, ashram, temple or mosque has ever evoked such strong feelings in me. So either there’s something profound going on here or this is the finest testament to the power of architectural design.

At first I was peeved that there was no photography allowed inside the Mantrimandir. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense. No photograph can do justice to the intense feeling of walking through that sacred space. Besides, the act of taking photographs will undoubtedly take you out of being in the moment which defeats the purpose of entering the Montrimandir in the first place.

The design of the Mantrimandir and the concept of Auroville will undoubtedly evoke comparisons to Disney’s original vision for Epcot Center. The comparisons are fair as both were conceived in the idealistic 1960s although the Aurovilians claim that their Mantrimandir design was first. If critics want to call Auroville a theme park for new age spiritualism, then it’s only fair to label Epcot Center as an ashram for American capitalism and global corporate branding.

Another interesting association for me is the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. When I first saw the film as a teenager, I did not understand it at all. It was only upon repeat viewings that Stanley Kubrick’s message became clear. In my opinion, the next step in human evolution as depicted in 2001 is not that far off from The Mother’s vision of awakening human consciousness and transformation. Not surprisingly, 2001 was released in 1968, the same year Auroville was inaugurated. Coincidence or serendipity?

(See more pictures of Auroville)

Arriving at Auroville

Afsanah Guest House

After landing in Chennai, we were picked up by a taxi for the 2.5 hour drive south to Auroville. Once again, we arrived after dark, so there was a surprise waiting for us when we woke up the next morning -- we opened our eyes and thought we were in Japan. As it turned out, our guesthouse was designed by a German architect in the sparse Japanese sukiya-style complete with lily ponds and a Zen garden. Are we still in India?

Our beautiful Afsanah Guesthouse was not the only surprise waiting for us. We had very little time to research Auroville, so we arrived with just a superficial understanding of the town. But even if we had read about Auroville extensively, nothing could have prepared us for actually being here.

Auroville is an experimental utopian community that was inaugurated in 1968 by devotees to Sri Aurobindo and his soul mate “The Mother.” Through meticulous planning and dedicated manual labor, these visionary people took 3000 acres of arid desert and transformed it into a green utopia in just a few decades. Real infrastructure development started in the 1990s and the momentum has been building since. Today, there are over 2000 “Aurovillians” living and working here in this vibrant community. Although over 45 different nationalities are represented in Auroville, the residents are mostly Indian nationals, French and German.

Where most 1960s idealistic communal living experiments have failed, Auroville has not only survived but prospered. Their goals are lofty – universal human unity, transformation of consciousness and research into “sustainable living and the future cultural, environmental, social and spiritual needs of mankind.” Their methods are radical and revolutionary -- decision-making by consensus, no hierarchical government, no exchange of money, communal ownership of property, and much more. The results are amazing. Although not all of these goals have been met, there has been great progress and tons of support from governments as well as individuals.

We’re not unfamiliar with Hindu Vedic traditions, gurus and ashrams, so it came as no surprise that being here felt like being inside a very powerful spiritual vortex. For Aurobindo devotees, Auroville is a pilgrimage site as powerful as Kaaba is for people of Islamic faith. The fact that Auroville can exist in today’s world is nothing short of a miracle and the sincere idealism of Aurovillians stirred up strong emotions in me that brought tears to my eyes. I’m typically quite skeptical of anything that’s too good to be true, but being in Auroville makes me want to sell everything I own and join this amazing community. We have no plans to leave, so let’s see what the next few days will bring.

(See more pictures of Auroville)

7 Nights in Gangtok

Going to Sikkim is like going to another country. Technically we’re still in India, but to me this feels more like Tibet. Sikkim is the northern most state of India which borders Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. In fact Sikkim was its own kingdom until 1975 when it became a state of India. The local tongue is Nepali, not Hindi, but almost everyone speaks some English. Tourism is a major industry for Sikkim and the government is trying very hard to make tourists feel welcome. In Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, there are fines for spitting and littering, and for the first time in India we actually saw real trash bins in public spaces. When we arrived in Gangtok, there were virtually no tourists here because of the strike in Darjeeling shut down the only road to Gangtok. What few tourists we did see were all Indian nationals except for about 4 other foreigners (we can tell they were tourists because like us, they had cameras). This suited us well as all the hotels were empty and discounts for rooms were readily offered.

Typically we like to stay at budget hotels because, well, we’re on a budget. But the weather was very cold and we both came down with colds. Our $40-per-night room at the Bamboo Grove Retreat was great, but even with a space heater and extra blankets, we couldn’t get warm. So we did something we almost never do – we moved to a 4-star hotel. This is India, so 4-star hotels like the Nor-Khill can be had for $110 per night after some negotiating. The Nor-Khill was a beautiful and opulent British colonial-style luxury hotel that looks like it has been frozen in time since it was built in 1932. The staff wore uniforms right out of old b&w movies and they were very eager to please. In fact, the hotel facilities used to be the guest house of the former king of Sikkim when royalty still ruled the land. But the most important thing was that our room was warm and we could take hot baths.

Gangtok is a very walkable town despite the fact that the entire city was built on the side of a mountain. There were several Tibetan monasteries and Hindu shrines in the area, so we visited them all. The markets were fun, the food was cheap and the entertainment rather cheesy (“live music” in Gangtok really means a guy singing with a karaoke machine). But the best meal we’ve had for a while was a tasty Sikkimese dinner at our hotel, complete with a fermented barley drink called chang. We would have stayed in Sikkim longer, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Many of the better tours from Gangtok involved a 4 or 5 hour drive north to the base of the Himalayan mountains, but the weather forecast up north was either cloudy or snowing. And the strike never let up, so we gave up on the idea of going to Darjeeling as well.

The next stop on our itinerary is Singapore, so when it came time to leave we had some decisions to make. We could just retrace our steps back to Bangkok to catch a cheap flight to Singapore, but we wanted to avoid the dirt and grime in Siliguri and Kolkata if at all possible. The nearest airport from Gangtok was in Bagdogra and fortunately SpiceJet had cheap flights from there to Chennai which would also allow us to make connections to Singapore. Since we had the time, we decided to make an unscheduled stop to see what’s around Chennai. Our guidebook recommended Auroville, so that’s where we’re headed next.

(See more pictures of Gangtok)

2 Nights in Siliguri

The last stop on the Darjeeling Mail is about 3km from Siliguri, a mini-Kolkata with a population of 1.5 million. Siliguri is known as the crossroads town of northeast India with trains, buses and taxis coming in from all directions. Typically, we would just hire a taxi or take the Toy Train directly to Darjeeling, but the recent political unrest and subsequent police killing of two protestors has prompted a general strike in “the Hills” and all transport going north have been cancelled. All, that is, except government-owned buses going north past Darjeeling to the state of Sikkim. So we booked the Hotel Manila for its central location in Siliguri and started looking around. What we saw was more dirt, grime, poverty, smog, and the constant honking of horns – just like in Kolkata, but this time in close-up. A walk through the shanty town next to the train station was heart-breaking. But even among all the extreme poverty, we saw plenty of smiles and glimmers of happiness. It just so happens that I’m currently reading the novel Shantaram where the slums of Mumbai were vividly described. But even so, I was not totally prepared for this experience.

If Siliguri was a nice place, we would have just hung out and waited out the strike. But we just got out of Kolkata to escape this urban madness, so Siliguri was the last place we wanted to be. We quickly changed our plans and decided to head to Gangtok in the state of Sikkim instead. We went to the Sikkim bus station to get our permits and to buy bus tickets. Permits were not a problem (and they’re free). But bus tickets would be a different story. There were hundreds of other people at the bus station (almost all locals except for us and a few odd tourists) also trying to get on the 15 or so daily buses going north. We asked around and those lucky few to score tickets have been in line since 5am. Not very good news, indeed.

Then I got lucky. While asking about buses going to other cities besides Gangtok, I accidently ran into the bus station’s general manager. He told me to come see him at 9am the next morning and pointed to his office upstairs. He then took my name and made sure I already had a permit. When I showed up the next day, he had already reserved two seats for us on “bus number two,” a bus that apparently only he can sell tickets to. While I was in his office, there was a constant stream of other people who somehow also knew about this alternative ticketing system. We felt really sorry for all the other people downstairs who had to stand in line for hours, but we were also ecstatic that we somehow managed to score tickets on the “VIP” bus.

With tickets in hand, we went to the Internet Café and booked a room in Gangtok and then boarded the standing-room-only bus for a 4-hour climb up to 4,000 ft above sea-level on twisted mountain roads. All the north-bounded buses left together and traveled caravan-style, complete with police escort. About halfway there, we crossed into the state of Sikkim, and made a pit stop in the border town of Rangpo where we snacked on momos and fresh orange juice. It was dark by the time we arrived in Gangtok, so we have no idea what this town really looks like. I guess we’ll find out in the morning.

(See more pictures of India)

2 Nights in Kolkata

We thought Thailand was a land of contrasts – until we arrived in Kolkata. This city of 14 million people has got to be the poorest city we’ve ever landed in. Crowded and dirty, there were heart-breaking scenes of homeless women sleeping on the streets and children begging everywhere. The guidebook says that the British moved the capital of India to Delhi in 1911 “leaving Calcutta to rot” and it shows. The buildings are crumbling, the busses and trams look like they’re about to keel over and it feels like the city is being held together with duct tape. Even the airport feels like it has seen better days. Yet among all this poverty and deterioration, there are 5-star hotels and brand new shopping malls with valet parking.

For us, Kolkata is just a stop-over on our way to Darjeeling, so we booked the Hotel Trimoorti which is one of the few budget hotels available in the city. This is a relatively un-touristed city, so services are harder to find. We found a cybercafé, but WIFI doesn’t seem to exist anywhere. We couldn’t find a city map so we had to rely on our guidebook, which didn’t help much since there are virtually no street signs. There is plenty of street food available, but we weren’t brave enough to try any. Restaurants are harder to find, but the mall did have a nice food court. One thing Kolkata does have is plenty of taxis. My guess is that for every person who can afford a cab, there must be at least 20 cabbies fighting for their business. Every time we flagged a taxi, at least 5 other drivers would try to steal us away. And the metered fare? Usually about $1 or $2 within the city center (it was $5 from the airport to our hotel). And for that measly fare, the cabbie has to negotiate the most insane traffic we’ve ever seen. Plus everyone here honks – a lot – so there is this symphony of car horns blaring all day long, a constant sound texture that may take a while to get used to.

We hired a professional tour guide named Shanti Bhattacharya (98-3022-4803 or santi_bhatta@yahoo.co.in) for a day and it was the best $30 we spent since we left home. Shanti is a 75-year-old retired history teacher who was born and raised in Kolkata. His immense knowledge and sense of humor gave us great insight into Indian culture as we saw the city through his eyes. Although we only touched upon the highlights of Kolkata, the gems we did see were unbelievable. Since we arrived on the eve of Shri Saraswati Puja, one of West Bengal’s special holidays, the next day Shanti took us to see a centuries-old ritual -- the dumping of the Saraswati Puja into the Ganges River. We were told that over 40,000 statues would be dumped into the river by the end of the day. Another highlight was a visit to the dusty private home of Raja Rajendra Mullick Bahadur’s family, also known as the “marble palace.” Like the rest of the city, this “palace” was badly in need of some care, but it was fun to walk through haunted rooms and halls jam packed with art and antiques collected from all over the world.

The most interesting tidbit that Shanti offered was an explanation of why Kolkata’s economy has collapsed. Since the communist party has been in power, tenants have stopped paying rent. Landlords can’t kick out the tenants because of the corrupt court system. And without income, landlords can’t do any repairs or pay taxes. With no tax income, the government has no money for services and repairs, which explains the decrepit scenes we’re seeing city-wide.

Overall, Kolkata was a little overwhelming for us, so we re-booked our trains tickets and cut our stay short. Next, we’re headed north towards Darjeeling. Unfortunately, today’s front page newspaper headline told of new political unrest in “the hills” so we’re not sure we’ll even be able to get to Darjeeling.

Footnote: Kolkata time is GMT plus 5.5 hours. And I thought all time zones jumped by one hour, so that extra 30 minutes threw me for a loop. So why is this very critical piece of information kept a secret? This is India, I guess.

(See more pictures of India)

Thailand Epilogue

It’s been over a month since we’ve arrived in Thailand, so it’s time to move on. But before we take off for India, I thought I’d note a few random thoughts about this amazing country.

Without a doubt, Thailand is very friendly to farangs. All the Thais we met were genuinely welcoming, helpful and honest. Many of those serving the tourists were obviously very poor, but they seemed happy and content with life despite working very long hours for very little profit. With the exception of a few lepers, there were surprisingly few beggars on the streets. Street vendors rarely harassed us. When bartering, once a price was agreed upon, it was firm. No one wanted to cheat us and when the change was returned from a sale, it was always accurate. In fact, at least twice I was called back because I had walked off without getting all my money back. We quickly built up a mutual trust with the Thais. For example, when dropping off laundry, no receipt was given and none was expected. Somehow, they always remember your face and hand back the correct laundry bag every time.

Just about everyone speaks a little English, but whenever I ask where they learned the language, the answer is always “from tourists.” And since English-speakers from around the world have a wide range of accents, I’m sure those English lessons did not happen in ideal circumstances (just imagine trying to learn English from a native German speaker). And since English is not the only foreign tongue spoken by tourists in Thailand, some Thais have picked up a few other languages as well. In one instance, a Thai waitress at an Italian restaurant took my order in English and without blinking, took the order at the next table in Italian.

There were, of course, a few surprises. For one, the Thais don’t eat with chopsticks. Unlike other neighboring Asian countries, they use forks and spoons just like the Europeans do. The exception is when they think you’re Japanese – then they bring out the chopsticks just for you. 

The other big surprise was the Thai’s acceptance of lady-boys in their society. In our culture, if a man wore a dress and make-up to work, there would be hell to pay. But in Thailand, we saw lady-boys working as receptionists and hostesses (if you owned a restaurant, why not put your prettiest lady-boy front and center to welcome customers?). In fact, while we were in Thailand, the big news was a new Thai airline announcing the hiring of the first three lady-boy flight attendants in Thailand’s history.   

All-in-all, Thailand was a fabulous destination. It was a very welcoming country and we’ll definitely consider going back.

Chiang Mai

Bangkok was a little too crazy. Koh Phangan was a little too quiet. For us, Chiang Mai was just right -- small enough to walk around in, yet large enough to have the cultural vibe that makes a destination interesting. We arrived in Chiang Mai late on a Thursday night and checked into the Eurana Boutique Hotel -- chosen for its central location and its heavily discounted rooms on Expedia. The next day was spent shopping for a more permanent home in the same neighborhood. We saw guesthouses with rooms from $6 to $60 per night and eventually settled on Yindee Guesthouse. At $30 a night, Yindee was a great value -- a nice balance between comfort and style (they even provided a communal refrigerator, a microwave and eating utensils for their guests). And it looks like we arrived in Chiang Mai at just the right time. During our stay, there were two festive events happening almost simultaneously – the Chinese New Year celebration and the annual Flower Festival. The weather has been perfect -- low humidity, high in the 80s during the day and low in the 60s at night, and mostly sunny just about every day.

Founded in 1296, Chiang Mai was originally a walled city (remains of the old wall are still visible in several spots around the perimeter of the old city). Our guesthouse is located in the farang ghetto, which is in the northeast part of the old walled city. Our neighborhood was a perfect starting point to explore Chiang Mai -- within a few blocks of our guesthouse was a local market surrounded by tons of street vendors. Around the corner was an Irish pub, a Japanese restaurant, and a vegetarian restaurant. Like all tourist corridors in Thailand, our neighborhood had plenty of services including an abundance of the three Ts -- tours, tattoos, and Thai massage.

Yes, Chiang Mai is a tourist destination, but it’s a tourist destination for Thais as well as foreigners. Although you see plenty of farangs walking around, foreigners are definitely in the minority here. When shopping at the famous Night Bazaar or the Sunday Walking Street, there were more Thai customers than foreigners. While we were here, we took a bicycle tour through the country-side south of the city and I indulged in a vegetarian Thai cooking course. But the highlight of our stay had to be a day trip to the Elephant Nature Park. Founded by Sangduen Chailert (a.k.a. "Lek"), this park rescues circus and working elephants who have suffered abuse and unbelievable hardships all of their lives. At the park, there are no elephant rides or performing elephants – just happy elephants living in adopted family groups and not being forced to do tricks or hard labor. In fact, the park is not fenced in – the elephants can leave any time they want to. But they don’t because for them, this is indeed elephant heaven.

Chiang Mai is not perfect. The traffic is pretty heavy and the petrol fumes can be rather irritating. And on certain streets, there is a distinct and persistent sewer odor. But all-in-all, this was the best destination on our trip so far.

(See more pictures of Chiang Mai)