Also known as the French Rivera of the east, Puducherry, sports pretty homes with long compounds and stately walls. Even the road that leads to it offers spectacular visions of ancient to modern India.

One dusty evening we boarded the Spicejet flight to Kamaraj Airport, Chennai. Puducherry is 160 odd km further east. There is a passenger train via Villupuram and innumerable buses on the old route via Tindivanam as well as the new East Coast Road. We were fortunate to procure a Tavera taxi from Puducherry that worked out to be half as expensive as quoted by taxi stands in Chennai! The taxi arrived at 6 in the morning and we promptly piled into it. Strapping the luggage to the carrier we cruised to Murugan Idly shop in Besantnagar, on the same road as the Velankanni Church, for breakfast. Delicious idly, dosa, vada and piping hot filter coffee.

By 8.30 am we had passed Tiruvanmiyur. After crossing VGP resort, Romulus Whitaker’s crocodile park and several picnic spots, we proceeded to Muttukkadu speeding past a coastline that dazzled with mesmerising fresh green of casuarina plantations and aquamarine blue of the ocean beyond. In some places the road appeared to be a causeway since the back waters would be on the right and the open sea on the left. Soon we exited the East Coast Road and reached Mamallapuram, a monolithic rock cut Pallava architecture dating to 8th Century AD. The tsunami has thrown up a few more temples from the sea. Hewn out of rock they show signs of erosion by the sea breeze. Then we visited the rock cut panel, where Arjuna’s penance was chiseled with perfection, after which we drove to the enclosure of five rathas, carriages inspired by the mighty Pandavas of the epic Mahabharata. The Draupadi ratha was shaped like a hut. The Nakul and Sahdeva ratha is apsidal in shape resembling the back of an elephant (gajaprastha). Flanking Draupadi ratha is the Arjuna and the Bheema rathas. Battling the sweltering heat, we picked up tender coconut water for Rs 10 each and sighted the old as well as the new light houses on the hillock.

Resuming our journey, we rejoined the East Coast Road, caught a glimpse of the Kalpakkam nuclear power station in the distance and the Mudaliarkuppam boat house on the back waters run by Tamil Nadu Tourism. On the way we ate ‘nungu’, refreshingly juicy fruit of the palm tree, dexterously gouged out of its kernel by a scythe. Further ahead where the road was flanked by mounds of sea salt, the monotony of the road and soporific effect of the afternoon sun led to a minor collision with an auto rickshaw which however ended amicably and we continued on our way.

Soon we turned into Auroville. Conceived by the Mother, spiritual heir to Sri Aurobindo, Auroville is a universal township spread over four square miles, which when completed will house 50,000 people from all countries living in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. On 28th February, 1968, in a unique ceremony, young people from 121 countries and 23 Indian states deposited soil from their homeland within a lotus shaped urn, in an amphitheatre ten kilometers from Puducherry. This was the inauguration of Auroville, ‘the city of dawn’.

We reached the parking at Matri Mandir, Temple of the Mother, which is the nodal point of Auroville, just after 12.30 pm. Since the entry pass would be available only after 2 pm, we decided to have lunch at the cafeteria and browse through the artifacts displayed at the shop. At the stipulated time we collected our passes and walked to Matri Mandir through the canopy of banyan. Senior citizens were offered the option of riding the non polluting battery operated electric van. The geodesic dome of Matri Mandir with shining golden panels in the midst of a green carpet overlooking the urn is truly a grand spectacle. Surrounded by twelve gardens and an ancient banyan, the temple captures sunlight in a way that concentrates it on the lotus shaped meditation chamber. After an exalted period of silence we drove off to the Aurobindo Ashram where we were to halt the weekend nights.

When, after a special spiritual experience on November, 1926, Sri Aurobindo retired into the exclusive practice of yoga, the guidance of the disciples who had gathered around him was entrusted to the Mother. The Ashram was thus created, not for renunciation of the world but as a centre and a field of practice for the evolution of a form of life which would lead to a higher spiritual consciousness leading to the supramental that embodies a greater life of the spirit. At present the Ashram community is made up of several thousand persons who live and work in more than 400 buildings spread over the town of Puducherry. There is no fixed routine either of spiritual practice or material duties. The work of the Ashram is organised into a number of different departments and services. Crafts such as weaving, embroidery, batik, marbling, pottery and incense making are practised. Books and magazines in many different languages are published and printed at the Ashram’s own press. Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education is an integral part of the Ashram. Students from kindergarten to higher levels learn arts and sciences according to the free progress system, which encourages initiative and spontaneity. The Ashram is a complex of four buildings on Marine Street, two of which were abodes of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. In the inner courtyard of the premises are the Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother where, in two chambers, one above the other, their bodies are laid. Every morning the marble top of the Samadhi is bedecked with flowers. Silence and the intoxicating fragrance of incense lend an ethereal feel to the setting. We knelt down, close to the chest with our foreheads resting on the soft bed of flowers. Oh, it was an unforgettable experience.

The Ashram has several guest houses where visitors who wish to experience more of its life can stay. We checked ourselves (booked through internet) into the Seaside Guest House on Goubert Street adjoining the sea. After settling down we booked a table for dinner at Hotel Rendevouz, known for authentic French cuisine. We went for a walk along the seafront, a vibrant and happy place with scores of people - the police band playing popular tunes next to the Gandhi statue, the le café, hawkers, ice cream sellers, mango/ pineapple slice vendors, fruit juice kiosks, handicrafts on the beach and more.

The next day was a lazy retreat with a visit to the Ashram offices in the morning. In the evening we went to the playground on Francois Martin Street for mass meditation. The meditation began with exercises instructed by few elderly inmates in shorts and a head scarfed lone woman like the Mother. After 15 minutes a blue velvet chair belonging to the Mother was brought out and a recorded speech of the Mother played. As the discourse came to an end, we meditated in silence. The profoundness of the event was indeed inspiring and we walked back in silence for an early dinner.

The next morning I woke up at 5 to witness a spectacular sunrise over the Bay of Bengal. We quickly consumed the egg, bread, vada, idly and sambar breakfast and checked out. Stopping by at the Samadhi for one last darshan we departed for Chennai airport to catch the evening flight to Delhi.