Vanakam (Greetings)!

I’ve had several chances to spend time outside of Auroville, and I wanted to write a little more about that part of India—the real India, some might say…

Auroville distinguishes itself in many ways from greater Indian society, but is not a gated community, and several villages abut Aurovillian communities without much of a border dividing the two. Noises from village gatherings, morning prayer and traffic often travels into my room, but it’s a completely different experience to be biking or riding in a taxi and suddenly enter a village. Even after dark, the streets are always crowded with bicycles, pedestrians and animals trying to share the narrow roads; shops, restaurants and even houses are all built close to the street, it always seems to me like everyone is living, walking and working right on top of each other. I have yet to see a traffic light and there are only sidewalks in the larger cities, so there’s also a constant degree of chaos and uncertainty involved with mobility. Everyone relies heavily on horns and bells to signal their presence, and it feels like the balance of movement could be upset at any moment…

I have also been surprised by the amount of English, both written and spoken, that I have encountered here. Almost everyone in Auroville speaks English (or enough English to accommodate English-speaking guests), but even people from the villages like taxi drivers, shop owners, waiters, ammas (literally ‘mother,’ this name is also given to the maids and housekeepers here) and workers know enough to communicate with us. Signs, price tags and restaurant menus are also often in English, which demonstrates just how much the greater area relies upon visitors.

Despite our best efforts to abide by cultural norms and dress and behave respectfully, we stick out wherever we go, and I think that the welcoming behavior we observe in the locals is a combination of their fascination with us and their hope that we’ll come and buy something. It’s taking some time to grow comfortable with the different components of our relations with villagers, especially with those who work in Auroville. The initial vision for the city didn’t necessarily involve manual labor and support from people who weren’t living here and dedicating their lives to its spiritual and social experiment, but from the beginning it became clear that the pioneers couldn’t built everything they aspired to establish on their own and the nearby villages were full of people wanting work. Today, it seems like most operations in Auroville (ranging from restaurants and large faming operations to individual households) rely on villagers as workers and housekeepers, and from what I have seen the relationships between employees and their employers are complex and perhaps more rigid than they often can be in the U.S. I’m still trying to decide what I think about all of this so stay tuned for more of that…

The dynamic between local villagers, Indians in general, non-Indian residents of the area and visitors is even more interesting in Pondicherry, which is the city closest to Auroville. A large part of the city’s existing built structure reflects the area’s history as a French colony, but today these historic sections contrast significantly with the newer commercial areas. The traffic is even more chaotic here than it is in the villages, and the sidewalks are always crowded with randomly parked cars, motorbikes, piles of garbage, racks of merchandise and people eating, sitting and sleeping on the sides of the roads.

Our group of white Americans attracts even more attention in Pondicherry than we do in the villages. In addition to beggars, lots of people follow us around trying to sell us hand-made goods like drums and purses. Many of these people speak enough English to strike up a conversation—they love to say “Obama!”—and it’s often difficult to extract oneself from these encounters. They typically don’t follow us into stores, but sometimes they wait outside while we’re shopping and think that if they persist long enough we’ll break down and buy something. We’ve been told not to give money to beggars, largely because it attracts a crowd and the people begging (especially children) often don’t keep the money they collect. If you’ve seen Slumdog Millionaire, it’s similar to the situation with the blind singer who had been forced into his livelihood by someone looking to make a profit. It’s definitely hard to watch at times, especially when young kids run up to us asking for money to buy food, but I’ve found that the whole situation seems more complex and potentially dangerous than a chance encounter with a hungry child and, as awful as it may sound, it often feels safer to just walk away. Removing myself from the situation doesn’t erase the problems that create it, though, and I’m sure I’ve only gotten a brief glimpse into the societal problems that plague the lives of many here. ..

This week we began our service learning projects, which are essentially internships carried out at various sites in Auroville. Along with a few other students from my group, I’m working at Solitude, an organic farm located right next to our Pavillion. I’ll need another entry to explain more about that, but for now I’ll just say that I’m enjoying every day there and that I have yet to get a sunburn….Stay tuned for more!