This ... place is not India! ... someone said with a little 'regret and trial. .. have created a bubble in the west! ... it may be true, the air you breathe is different, order, cleanliness, beauty, attention to detail, livability. ... Well, I honestly do not feel like judging.
We've been here three days. Slowly the puzzle is revealed. Every day we find new pieces ... and we can make sense of our being here, and get an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat this place.
Initially we were guests of Ambre, a French woman who has lived here for many years and we met this year at the meeting of the GEM. We while we were contacted to Amritapuri to get some advice about our visit to Auroville, and she brought her guest-house, at least for the first week, as the initial starting point, and then organizing our stay once in place, "inside" and so we did.
Nilatangam The first impact (as they call this place) was a bit 'complicated, because we arrived after dark, and it was the light of flashlights we found our quaint home, which he then revealed his undeniable charm in the light of the morning sun.
We are living in a house surrounded by dense vegetation of the forest (and countless animals), it is a kind of hut, built in murataura, wood, bamboo canes and palm leaves woven, there is a nice round table with benches and stools, a bench, a corner Mattresses and cooking on a small loft, which looks out through a network of pipes, which means that it seems to be lying among the trees. At night the house is filled with fireflies, so that we, protected by mosquito nets, he seems almost to sleep under the stars. The bathroom is very nice, old mosaics of broken colored tiles, along with ingenious spiral walls, replacing doors, make a small work of art, the walls, once white, are now been painted by nature with its thousand shades of green and brown, the roof of stars and treetops, is a beautiful adventure of our showers.
Ambre is kind, his manners are a bit 'hard and dry, but surely every day gives us a little hint, he shows us a grocery store, gas station attendant is most convenient, the provider of filtered water and drinking water etc..
So, a little 'thanks to its information, a bit' to the memories of things heard and from what we read and a bit 'for our spirit of adventure and curiosity, slowly begin to discover Auroville.
First, the city extends into a large space and the different structures that compose it are linked by a maze of dirt roads that wind for miles in the forest and then almost everyone here uses a bike to move, and so we adapt ourselves to the local customs, and we rent our small mount, 100cc Yamaha Crux, which, according to the Indian style, manages brilliantly to carry around all four at once! The draft states that Auroville does not circulate money, and it is realized at the time through a sort of pre-paid card (in which a 4-digit number and signature replace electronic mechanisms) by which you pay all the services.
Here the education of children is held in high account, over the years has developed an advanced system of school libertarian, which sounds very interesting, but we discover that it is not possible for children to attend school, if you do not stop for at least three months. However, they can participate in sports in the afternoon, that all the little aurovilliani play a couple of hours every afternoon after school. We visit a school, contact the director, who is also the afternoon activities, and make an appointment for Tuesday (... who knows that you can not make an exception to the rule ...).
Lunch at the "mythical" solar kitchen, community kitchen that prepares daily four hundred meals through an ingenious system of solar cooking, through a parable of mirrors that concentrate the sun's rays.
And here we know other Italians Antonio, Auroville for a couple of years, which is opening a pizzeria and Stephen Constantine and, with their four beautiful children (plus one on the way), who have recently started their year New comers. To become fledged members of Auroville is in fact necessary to follow a defined: first visit the site and actively participate in any plans for at least three months, then become a New Comer (newcomer), and then a period of one year, in which it performs a service as a volunteer, and "evidence" and "is messi alla prova”.
Intanto sperimentiamo qualche rovescio “monsonesco”, e cominciamo a pensare che la nostra poetica sistemazione forse non è la più adatta in questa stagione: come sarà percorrere i venti minuti di strada sterrata che ci separano dal centro sotto una pioggia battente o con una spanna di fango? E il bagno all'esterno? ...Così cominciamo a cercare una sistemazione alternativa.
Ci rivolgiamo all'ufficio apposito, dove due ragazzi gentili ci aiutano a valutare le diverse possibilità, tenendo conto del nostro desiderio di entrare in contatto con progetti interessanti, e delle esigenze dei bambini, che se davvero non potranno frequentare la school could meet their peers would be nice to play with.
So we discover the existence of New Creation.
Andrè, in Auroville since 1973, has created a sort of bridge between the eco-village and the local villages, started a school for local children, to meet the needs of industry, has opened a facility to house night, and a small center for children, as an alternative to passing their days in the mud and the garbage of the streets. And last born, a Montessori kindergarten. There are libraries for children, playgrounds, ball fields and swimming pool ... and even a small house at our disposal: it is decided, Monday we moved.
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