Friday, August 5, 2011

Back in Auroville

Our arrival this year has been a bit more difficult. The guest house that we thought we had booked is not the one we had in fact booked. I like cats - don't get me wrong - but over 20 of them is too much. I woke up one morning to faeces outside the bedroom door. And there was ongoing construction which was way overdue its completion (not unique to India as anyone who has done renovations will know).  It was too much so we moved.

Our current guest house includes breakfast on the terrace with white linen - the lap of luxury. It is a bot expensive but with India's national day o August 15, it was hard to get a consistent booking anywhere that carried us through most of our visit here.



I am quite excited to meet old friends as well as new (such as this guy above). In particular, I am honoured to be doing some work with the Auroville Child Protection Team. One aspect that I am most looking forward to is being able to visit the Tulir Centre for the Healing and Prevention of Child Abuse. They have a blog that includes the story of a man who committed suicide after being unable to resolve the effects of sexual abuse in his childhood. It is one of the most moving and powerful personal accounts that I have read. It can be found at http://www.childsexualabuseinindia.blogspot.com/


So I will let people know how the work goes - obviously in a general sense.

India has been treating us to warm, humid days but very lovely. I also got to have thali today - an Indian lunch that consists of rice with a variety of small dishes to blend into the rice. It is one of my favourite meals here. There is a northern and southern India version so April and I had one each.

India remains a complex sensory experience with many contradictions such as a growing middle class that is quite evident while the poverty remains around it.


No comments:

Post a Comment