Midlife Euphoria – Day 12

A friend of mine and I decided to take a short holiday from our spouses, children and household responsibilities.  Location was not a concern but the objective, “Chill and let go” was of great consequence.

We decided to go around Christmas for a week and return rejuvenated after the New Year. North India is usually reeling under a cold wave around this time, so to go to a warmer place was logical. After a couple of proposals we narrowed down to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.  It is a community set up by a French lady and there is a lot of French influence still prevailing. Needless to say what clinched the issue was that both of us knew a smattering of French.

We booked our tickets well in time and awaited our approaching trip with great anticipation.

Anticlimax!!! The Tsunami occurred on 26^th December 2004, a day before we were to depart. Amongst the places involved were the coastal areas of Pondicherry.  Our families  were a bit vary of the trip from the start, on  pathetic grounds  like: safety of two lone women traveling  in unknown terrains, being away during vacation time etc,  now had legitimate reasons to oppose the whole idea.

Although the devastation of the Tsunami did worry us, yet we were two determined women who could not be dissuaded easily. Conflicting propositions started to pour in to help us make our decision. Some said if the Tsunami has occurred in one region it is unlikely to occur there again in such a short time, others terrified us by saying that the seismic currents can continue to play havoc much after the initial devastation. Finally it was decided that we would go to the airport and if the flight takes off, we would go. 

Here I would like to reiterate that our age proved to be the knight in shining armour. If we were in our twenties or thirties it would have been much easier to frighten and discourage us and we would have put off the trip. But the confidence and willfulness that one acquires in midlife saw us through this escapade. In retrospect I am glad we embarked on this venture.

Needless to say, the flight was not cancelled although the plane had very few passengers and though a bit nervous, we alighted the plane keeping up a brave front.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram is located in Pondicherry, a small coastal town 160 km south of Chennai, in south India. We arrived there by air and thereafter covered the remaining distance to Pondicherry by road, along the coast, a journey which took about 3 hours.  A dicey proposition, no doubt, just a day after the wreckage caused by the Tsunami. With trepidation we continued with our plans and on arriving in our modest room at the Ashram, the sound of the sea waves did not raise our already plummeted spirits, rather it had the opposite effect.

However the experience of living as residents of the Ashram was beyond description. Dinner was a simple meal consisting of a basic dal and plain rice was served in the community dining hall. We woke up early by default as the lights were switched off at 10 pm.  We took a walk in the morning and came to the dining area for a minimal breakfast of a savoury porridge and a cup of tea.

The founder of the Ashram, the Mother was born as Mirra Alfassa in Paris in 1914. The Mother voyaged first to Pondicherry to meet Sri Aurobindo, whom she at once recognized as the one who for many years had inwardly guided her spiritual development. The next time she came was to establish the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in November 1926, and Sri Aurobindo entrusted its full material and spiritual charge to the Mother. Under her guidance, which continued for nearly fifty years, the Ashram grew into a large, many-faceted spiritual community.
The excellent example of town planning in Pondicherry comprises of Palais Du Gouvernment, the old tribunals and well laid three line roads and other magnificent buildings. Raj Nivas, a magnificent palace built in 1742 is a harmonious blend of Indian and French architectural styles. Even today the sign posts are in French and the language is taught and spoken by the inhabitants. We had a whale of a time trying out our disjointed French with the residents.

We would go to the Samadhi for pranam and collective meditation daily. There was no compulsion but the spirituality and discipline drove us to attend the ashram activities. The dwellers in this Ashram have formed a spiritual community that gives them an aura of sublime peace and calmness. The ashram consists of 2000 residents including 400 students of the centre of education. The Ashram is like a mini township. It is an awesome estate of 120 buildings. These buildings serve as educational institutes and as industries. It takes care of the needs of the inmates of the ashram and various departments look after the basic requirements of food, clothing and shelter as well as medical care.

One can find farms, gardens, a printing press, some small-scale industries, libraries and facilities for recreation as well as cultural activities. An important part of the ashram is the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. The system practiced here is entirely different. The belief is that every child is unique in its thinking and the centre of education tries to help them grow and nurture them in their individual way and leave the choice to the children.

The individuality of the place was really intriguing and made quite an impact on us. There was tranquility, peace and contentment every where we went. Using mobile phones was improper, our rooms did not have a television or phone, and newspapers were in Tamil. In short, we were cut off from the rest of the world. It can throw some people off balance but we loved it. We were at peace. We woke up when we wanted, dressed leisurely and believe me, there was no reason to dress up à la mode, one could just wear anything and gel with the environment. The simple food served at the Ashram cleansed our system and we felt energetic.

Since there was not much distraction we talked to each other a lot about family, friends, relationships, philosophy, psychology, art, the past, the present and the future, thus getting rid of some of the cobwebs in our mind about various issues. During the meditation sessions we learnt to “hear silence” in a crowd of at least 200 people. These were amazing experiences and till date I hold them very close to my heart.

I remember the New Years Eve of year 2004. After the frugal dinner at the ashram we were in bed at 8.30 pm. We read our respective books till 10 pm and said good night to each other. We woke up at the crack of dawn without the alarm and wished each other a Happy New Year with enhanced energy to welcome the New Year.

There was no music, no dance, no late night, no elaborate buffet dinner or the noise of fire crackers. This morning was minus a hang over, headache, chill, stomach upset, lethargy, irritation or grogginess.  

One of the nicest new-year mornings after years!