CHERRYPONDI CHILLING

Its been a quiet few days. Very nice. In fact not much has happened. I'm only really writing this because as of tomorrow I will be in a place called Tiruvannamalai on the Holy Mountain of Arunachala staying in an ashram for about a week (well, for three days before moving to a hotel for the rest of the time). The Ashram is that of Ramana Maharshi, a highly regarded spiritual guru who even Jung had heard of. It will be interesting. I have never been on an Ashram and many say this is one of the most special in India. I have read some of the Maharshi's sayings and they are very beautiful. As far as I know there is no Internet in the Ashram (!!Shock horror!!) so you won't be hearing from me for a few days. I just wanted to let you know that if I am silent it is not because something untoward has happened.

Yesterday I spent resting in my hotel and strolling around Pondicherry. It being Sunday it was very quiet and very nice. I walked past a couple of Hindu Temples, the Sunday Market on Ghandi Street and popped in to the Sacred Heart Church near the station. Once again, the Indian Church was a marvel of colour and a strange mixture of innocence and kitsch. I loved it. Its naivety made me smile but also had real charm. I like the way they do Christianity out here!

I slipped off to a Cafe recommended in the Rough Guide called La Terrasse and had a chocolate and banana crepe and a wonderful couple of pots of Darjeeling tea. After that, I strolled up the seafront where a Police Brass Band was playing 'Que Sera, Sera' (!!!) before stopping off at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram to see for myself what the place where the man himself operated was like.

This was a wonderful experience. In contrast to Auroville, everyone was Indian and the genuine feeling of the place was palpable. There was no narcissism here, now New Agey stuff, just people coming to pay their respects to someone who meant a lot to them.

The Ashram is quite small but very beautiful. Visitors are ushered to the courtyard where Auribindo Ghose's remains are entombed in a flower-laden grave. The silence was... well how can I describe it? It was like a negative silence. That is in the sense that it was a silence which went far beyond silence, as if below silence. Although people were moving around and paying their respects, the sense of mental calm and stillness was palpable. Around the Tomb Indians were sitting cross-legged and meditating. The mental energy in the air was amazing. It was a pleasure and a privilege to sit and just be quiet with them all.

I sat like that, thinking and just drinking in the nourishing atmosphere for about an hour. It was a very beautiful, calming experience and I felt very blessed that I had taken the time to pop in. In the nearby bookshop I looked through some of the writings of Ghose and the Mother and was deeply impressed. For all the ambiguity of my reaction to Auroville, this was a very moving experience.

So tomorrow I go to the Ashram. Today I will continue to take it easy, may stroll through the botanical gardens and have my second meeting with the Energy Healer. If Harriet and Sylvia turn up tonight I may see them for dinner before an early night.

I am just over a month away from Istanbul. In between now and then are the Ashram, Puttapharty, Hyderabad, Agra and Delhi and a week with the kids back in the School. Plenty more to go! Wish me Godspeed!

All love to all!