Hampi, Madurai, Pondicherry, and NGOs

Namaste! I am currently in the city of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), which is in the union territory of Pondicherry, which is ruled directly by national governance instead of the states of india, which are substantially autonomous. It was a French colony until 1954 I believe, even though India had been independent from the British since 1947. There are many sections of the city that are clearly remnants of colonial France, exemplified in residential buildings, churches, and city infrastructure like sanitation and road planning. Other than that, it still feels a lot like India with the markets everywhere, and a side street with a Hindu temple that has an elephant who blesses people just outside.

There is a terrific beach called Auroville beach, that has white sand and warm water! It is 8 km away from the international commune called Auroville, which claims it is an experiment for the unity of humanity. There are many nations represented there who basically are non-political peace lovers who seek to achieve unity within diversity. Many work on projects of sustainable living, and most (if not all) practise yoga as a means of peace and unity. The Matrimandir is a large golden dome within the commune which people can meditate and perform yoga in when they choose. "The Mother" is a woman who started the whole thing, and today is actually the celebration of her ideals, one of which was the non-existance of constitutionalized marriage.

Last night, there was live music in the middle of Nehru Street in Puducherry, consisting of a stage full of electric drums, tablas, male and female singers, and a keyboard. Then, down the road, there was a brightly lit statue of a deity on a float rolling through the same road, powered by a generator behind it. There were many shopkeepers and townspeople coming to offer gifts, and 3 brahmins dressed in white lungis (man skirts, of which I own and happily wear 3) accepted the offerings. The gifts consisted of strings of flowers, shawls from clothing venders, and fruits. Most of which would be put in a metal pan and burned, giving off an aromatic smoke.

Madurai was a pretty awesome town, with the normal hustle and bustle of a normal Indian town, but with an incredible temple called the Minakshi Temple. Minakshi (or Parvati) is the consort to Sundeswerar (or Shiva), so the temple also had dedications to Shiva. There were a number of gopurams (towers) and many halls, each including ancient decorative pillars. It is the custom to have markets, or bazaars infront of temples for people to sell their wares, so there is a large one in Madurai. One night, my friend John and I met a guy about our age who took us on a city bus to the other end of town to another temple out on the water. He wanted to take us on a boat, but it was dark, there were no other boats around, and he had an engraving on his arm from a knife carving. The scar constisted of four letters which he was unable to truthfully explain (he told us a few different answers). So we figured he was part of a gang or at least super sketchy due to the situation, so we took a rickshaw back to town. Altogether a good time. We also visited the Gandhi Museum in Madurai, which told an extended account of the liberation of India (from the Brits) and Gandhi's life and works aside from that. The facility was created by Nehru, suitingly, as they were good friends and colleagues throughout the birth of the nation. The day after visiting the temple and the museum, we visited 3 NGOs around Madurai. The first was a Mercy Home, which took abandoned girl babies and abandoned elderly and gave them a place to live (for the babies, they also helped arrange foster parents). The second was a movement to empower women by education (of both women and men) and rights awareness. The third was called DHAN (development of human action) which basically facilitated micro-credit loans all over the country for small self-governing groups of people. All have had tremendous success and serve a vital part of Indian social society.

The weekend before Madurai, we went to Hampi, which is an area in nothern Karnataka which has many really old archealogical sites. There were so many temples that I couldn't really count them. Many were Hindu, some were Moslem, and some of the ruins simply consisted of religious baths, and simple city infrastructure like roads, waterways, and tunnels. One morning we climbed a small mountain (more of a large hill- it took about an hour) to watch the sunrise- absolutely breathtaking from up there! It was neat because we had just seen all the sights the day before, but now we got a bird's eye view.

In between all these places, we have been taking night trains, which has become quite an enjoyable experience. I have gotten good sleeps and met some really cool people. And of course, the most memorable phrases are repeated mercilessly by sellers (namely, "Chai" and "Coffee"). A little Indian girl named Sita kept coming to speak English to us (numbers 1 to 10 and nursery rhymes like "twinkle twinkle little star"), which was priceless. I think she had a crush on me. Well, off to supper. Something French.... maybe baguettes and pasta?