A to B - Chola temples to Pondichéri:
4 or 5 buses from Gongaikalapuram to Pondichéry - and yes we did go for an hour in the wrong direction, eventually passing the point we started from, in the right direction this time, some three hours later. The last leg of the journey finally lived up to the "Express" name given to the service - Indian style - fast and bloody dangerous.

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After 4 crowded bus rides (one in the wrong direction!), we reached the French expat haven of Pondicherry, much to A's delight. Breakfasts, croissants and expresso, lingering lunches of crisp salads (a first so far) and late dinners caressed with succulent creme sauce. One night, we even indulged in bottle of Bordeaux - just the smell gave us 10 good minutes of extatic rediscovery...

Pondy shows its French connection in its architecture, its distinct "quartiers" and even policemen wearing kepi and blue enamel street signs. At times, the expats and the "ville blanche/ville noire" separation gave the place an uncomfortable colonialist air. India however intrudes in the streets -the smells and chaos, the spirit and life - as impossible to hold back as the tide.

The ultimate experience was the ashram of Auroville, this utopic city 10 kms from Pondy, founded by an illuminated French lady called "The Mother".

Cycling around the large campus, we saw white clad westerners wearing heavenly smiles, floating slowly towards the "temple" after a long day of community work. It would be interesting to stay a few weeks in one of the guest houses there to experience the life of Auroville.

The inner Room of the Matri Mandir (see below) gave us one of the the strongest spiritual feelings we had in India... The Matri Mandir is a huge concrete sphere housing an auditorium and, climbed to within, a suspended meditation sanctum , a globe within a globe. The strict rules of the ashram allowed us one hour of "meditation" in this sanctum. This white marble sphere was translucently lit, using refracted light from the world's largest crystal. Massive yet aparently weighless columns defined a large circle around witch the small silhouettes sat. The perfect resonnance caused every slight sound to envelop all present. The geometry, the ephemeral light, the sublime simplicity and the effect of isolation yet community gave another wordly feel (as R commented, "it's like a 70's sci-fi movie").

Auroville, 14km from Pondicherry, just over the border in Tamil Nadu, was opened as an experimental international community, coming from the vision of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Auroville is around 50 square km. It was founded in 1968 as a place where all people could live together in peace, regardless of caste, creed or country.

The Ashram, which originally comprised a small group of two-dozen disciples, has now grown into a large community with over 1,200 members, around 400 students belonging to the Center of Education and hundreds of devotees who live nearby.

At the center of Auroville is the Matri Mandir described as 'the soul of Auroville'. The main building is a flattened sphere, 36 meters in diameter, within which is located the 'Inner Room' visualized by the Mother. It is a place "for concentration and … for trying to find one's consciousness." In the hall with the crystal globe-the largest single crystal in the world-everything is in white. There are no flowers, no incense and no music because the Mother did not wish it to be a typically religious place: "there must be absolutely no dogmas, nor rules, nor rituals". Here amidst total silence, people are free to sit anywhere for quiet meditation. It is open to visitors (who have to obtain a pass) between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. every day.