Ouch!

Hi there. It's the middle of the first week of the summer holidays. We got a beautiful photo from K's Kindergarten on the last day (last Fri) of his class and teachers.

 

It made me realise how far we've come and how much better K is doing since we moved. He still has his moments but together we are all learning and seem much happier as a family.

 

On last Friday me and C were officially given our status here, him as a returning Aurovilian (which lasts 6 months before getting full Aurovilian status) and me as a Newcomer (which lasts a year). It's nice to have that part of things done, nearly 8 months later we are still waiting for our residential permits and visa extensions. Once they are in our possession, C can apply of OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) status and me and K will be eligible for PIO (Person of Indian Origin) status as his wife and son. That will enable us to live here and travel to and from India without visas which will be a huge help.

 

Getting to the reason behind todays post title, on Monday morning I had my first bike accident. I was going a little too fast around a corner and my front wheel slipped on the gravel as I was oversteering and down we went. K was totally unharmed (phew!) and I grazed my right arm and leg as well as taking off a layer of skin on my big toe. It was a small accident, but enough to shake me up. I am driving much more consciously now! My arm and leg are fine, a little sore but healing well. My toe, however, is going to take a little more time. Here in the tropics, things just don't heal so quickly and out here with all the dust things can easily become infected, especially on the feet where the exposure to dirt is higher (no shoes or socks for us!). I'm just not used to having to be so stringent about these things but luckily C, having grown up here, knows the drill. It's still swollen and sore, hopefully it'll heal soon.

 

To top it off, K came down with a bad stomach on Monday night, I'm not sure yet what the cause is but it's still happening now although he's much better. Yesterday was full of trips to the loo and me hobbling after him trying to keep my foot clean and dry whilst keeping him clean and dry as well as washing all the dirty bedding in between power cuts.

 

Me and K are coming down with colds too, which is silly considering how warm it is but with all the cold showers and sleeping with the fan on, it's apparently quite a common reaction.

 

So all in all a bit of a rubbish start to the holidays. Tomorrow is another holiday so it gives me another day to heal before work on Fri and Sat. I'm hoping that it's a case of getting all the injuries and illnesses out the way for a while so we can enjoy the next 7 weeks.

 

That's all for now.

 

Laura

Here comes the summer!

Hi there, so today is election day here in India. It's a national holiday so nearly everywhere here in AV is closed for the day. Always nice to have an extra day off!

 

Tomorrow is K's last day at school before the summer holidays, they are off until the 1st July. I have mixed feelings about the holidays as me and C are still expected to work so it will take a bit of juggling things around to make it work, as well as most of his friends being away in Europe for the duration. There will be a summer school starting for 3 days a week soon so perhaps he'll go there for some of the time as well as C's mum hopefully helping out.

 

A photo on display at K's Kindergarten from the Pongal celebrations in Jan:

 

 

C is currently working 3 jobs (with the mind to pick the 2 he likes best) so my time is limited in what I can do and when. It is important that I work during my newcomer period and I have so many options that it is a bit overwhelming. I'm currently helping out 2 mornings a week at one job, have another on the sidelines, and I had another offer a few days ago to help out for 6 weeks over the summer whilst someone goes back to Europe. I'm not good at making decisions at the best of times so am struggling to decide where I would be happiest/most useful as well as not wanting to let anybody down.

 

Just another day at the office - view of the Matrimandir from town hall where I've been working:

 

 

 

Other than that, the sun continues to beat down on us. We've been hearing murmers of water shortages due to the last couple of poor monsoons and already some communities have water restrictions in place. We're doing our best to minimise our water usage and to reuse as much as possible. We now shower with a bucket positioned under the stream to collect surplus water (baring in mind we all have 2-3 showers each a day in this heat). We save a couple of buckets a day like this and it really helps with things like washing the floors and watering the garden. I now rinse all the washing up in a bucket rather than have the tap running too which seems to help. It's nice to be conscious of these things.

 

We've also been making food from our own garden including sweet chilli sauce and pesto. We have such little access to processed foods that we've gone back to basics (processed food is actually more expensive here which seems to me to be the right way to do it). It's certainly more satisfying than getting stuff from the supermarket. Our local shop is a co-operative which sources most of it's product from local farms and the next town. It just takes a while to master each new recipe. Next on my list is lemon curd, kombucha and I'm having a go at making my own sprouts from green lentils. I also need to find a way of making a good veggie alternative to meat - no more Quorn products for us here. I do miss the convenience of having a freezer full of chips, fish, and veggie products but I'm certain we're healthier because of it too.

 

We got our first couple of cucumbers from our plant which were delicious. The plant is interesting in that it produces both male and female flowers, the female flowers having a swelling below it that will become a cucumber provided it's fertilised. As our plant is on the balcony, we're doing this by hand. It seems to produce more of one flower than the other at alternating times. We only have male flowers at the moment!

 

Harvest.

 

The papaya tree has several good sized green papayas on it. Will be very happy when we get to try one. Mango season has also started here. I got a couple the other day, small, yellow and fragrant. Nothing like the large green ones I've seen before in UK supermarkets. C says there's around 3 varieties grown locally. I can't wait to try them all and already have plans for mango based treats including this I found on Pinterest:

 

Healthy homemade mango fruit roll ups

 

I'm also gathering things to start crafting again. I left all my crafty bits in the UK so have to start from scratch and now I am trying to focus on recycling waste to create things. Yet again, Pinterest is super for getting ideas. I have a nice idea for creating lotus flowers from pistachio shells and want to reuse drinks cans and bottles somehow, probably to create garden decorations, will be sure to show you as and when I get some things done.

 

Anyway, I think that's it for now. More soon,

 

Yours sweatily,

 

Laura

☼

 

 

 

 

A little update...

Hi there, well after just over 7 months, the Entry Service have been kind enough to go ahead with our applications. Our papers still haven't arrived from Chennai but they have been guaranteed that our residential permits have been approved and that it's not fair on us to delay the process any longer.

 

I will become a 'Newcomer' for a year before becoming an Aurovilian and C will be a 'Returning Aurovilian' for six months before regaining his status. K will become a 'Child of Auroville' until his 18th birthday, when he can then choose to be added to the master list and become an Aurovilian in his own right.

 

I had my interview with them last Thurs and have since spent this week filling out forms and getting documents in support of my application. Hopefully in about 10 days time I will be announced in the weekly News and Notes and my year as a Newcomer will begin.

 

It's an exciting time as it marks our commitment to AV and opens up a few more opportunities that just aren't available to a volunteering guest.

 

 

Other than that, things are much the same. It is getting very hot. It's said that April is a difficult month as you really notice the change from warm to hot, after this month you kind of get used to being perpetually sweaty. It's fine as long as you have regular access to pools, showers, fans etc. But then, the middle of April is the latest in the year I've been here so we'll see how it is in a month or so!

 

Anyway, just wanted to share our good news.

 

More soon.

 

Laura

ॐ

 

 

 

 

 

Another month gone by!

Hi there, finding a spare moment here and there is indeed are rare thing. And so, I blink, and another month passes by. I guess I'll fill you in on the past month to start...

 

So at the end of Feb we took a trip to Banyan beach, which is 5-10 mins down the main road towards Pondicherry. It's not as badly eroded as the Repos beach which is opposite the Auroville turn off and as the weather hots up, it's nice to remember that we are living very close to the sea.

 

 

I'm also undergoing a transition between jobs. My time at Nandini has been a great way to meet people within the community but I don't feel I can provide them with the full time hours that they need and the hectic, hustle and bustle of the place is exhausing for my somewhat introverted soul. It's more than I can take on with a small child to look after and a house to manage as well as persuing my own interests and integrating into life here.

 

I am in a surprising situation, well, surprising compared to the UK, in the sense that I am potentially valuable as an employee here. Being a native English speaker with admin/computer skills is something much sought after and without even looking I have been offered 2 jobs. I've settled on a job working as an administrator in the Town Hall. I feel it will suit my need for quiet and organisation. The hours are the same as K's kindergarten hours and can be flexible during school holidays. Plus I have a nice view of the Matrimandir!

 

I've also started up yoga classes again. A twice weekly class has started in the community next to ours. It's free to volunteers which is a big help since our papers are still in the ether and it's only a minute's walk from my front door. It's been great to have a couple of hours to myself, for me each week.

 

The garden is looking good although how things will cope with the coming summer is anyone's guess. We already recycle some water for them to minimise water usage as well as timing the watering at dusk when it's coolest.

 

The papaya tree started flowering a few weeks back...

 

 

 

...and now has a few baby papayas sprouting!

 





 

 

 

We're having a go at growing cucumbers vertically, useful for the balcony. The plant seems really happy and has been growing so quickly. We're trying to concentrate on growing things that always get used in our house. It's easy to get carried away with the amount of different things you can grow!

 

 

 

A neighbour recently moved out and passed on some plants and baby trees, this is a kumquat tree which we'll leave to grow in a pot on the balcony. We were also given some passionfruit plants which we have planted along the hedge behind our back doors, an avocado tree - planted in the front garden and a lemon tree - planted out back.

 

 

 

We're also growing beans, similar to kidney beans which seem to be doing well although the bottom leaves have all fallen off. Might be a little while until we have enough for a stew though!

 

 

 

Here is one of the few troughs just for decorative purposes, it doesn't get any sun so these plants seem very happy here. I love ferns especially so want a few potted ferns up here eventually too.

 

 

 

On the other balcony we're growing three different varieties of chilli.

 

 

We're really loving how the garden is coming along and it is immensely satifying to eat food grown at home. It is a gradual process though, I tend to get impatient and want it all to look exactly how I imagine it at once!

 

We've also been meeting some local residents, this is a common house spider here. They're totally harmless but a bit massive so I do try to get them out as I am not great with bugs. They're fast though!

 

 

 

This is our local lizard, he's beautiful.

 

 

 

These are called 'Lovebugs', they mate at this time of year and can be seen crawling about in pairs.

 

 

 

This is some kind of mantis, I spent a good 20 mins watching this fella, he was amazing. He moved just like a leaf in the wind...

 

...and looked like one too.

 

 

We met this Very Hungry Caterpillar a few weeks back. He is a hawk moth caterpillar. He was huge and spent hours and hours eating. All the kids in the community enjoyed meeting him and having a stroke. he has big spots on the back of his head which when he's agitated will puff out to give the look of a snake.

 

 

 

Other than work, gardening and meeting creatures over the past few weeks we have been trying to spent more time in the water. We have a friend with a private pool and have finally made it to the public pool, La Piscine.

 

 

 

We also made it up the ECR (East Coast Road) to the furthest Auroville community, Eternity. We're friends with the kids that grew up there, now all adults. The land opens up onto the nicest beach I've seen on this side of India. It's well worth the half hour drive.

 

 

 

 On Mon (24th) K's class came to visit in the morning. The class visits a different child's house each Monday in an effort to get to know each other and gain an insight into how the children live.

 

Here they are settling down for a snack, I made some chocolate and banana cakes for the occasion. It went really well although I admit that me and C were a little nervous of having 13 children running about the place. It was a nice way for the children to get to know K who is still the new kid in many ways.

 

 

 

So, all in all it's been the usual mix of work and play. Tourist season is coming to a close and life here is settling down for a long hot summer.

 

Many residents leave for at least a few weeks if not months to their countries of origin at this time of year, leaving just a few behind. As we've not long been here and have minimal funds we'll be staying this summer.  

 

I'm looking forward to the inevitable slowing down of the pace of life that only extreme weather can cause but I do get irritable in hot weather so am planning to spent a large portion of the coming months submerged in water.

 

 

That's all for now. Sending love from India.

 

Laura.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last week...

Hi there, we've just had a wonderfully sociable week which is a welcome change to the usual standard busy week.

On Monday we visited a friend who has a pool (we stayed with her in 2012 when we visited), it's a lovely place to relax. She also gave us a big bag of fresh coconuts harvested from her trees. They're so good, the coconut water sweet and the flesh still soft. Delicious.

 

 

On Wednesday afternoon we visited Transition School for their annual dress up parade. The school is the main school in AV for ages 7-16. The theme this year was 'A New World' which left it very open to different costumes.

 

Getting a better view.

 

Each grade had their own time to show off their outfits starting with the youngest...

 

...to the biggest. We have friends whose children go to this school so it was nice to cheer them on too. It was funny to think that we might well be here in a couple of years to cheer K on, all dressed up. C was also happy to see that some of the teachers that used to teach him were still there.

 

 

 

On Thursday evening we wert to a fundraising dinner for a small independant school known as TLC (The Learning Community). Here's a little info on the school:

 

'The Learning Community' (TLC) is an experiment in Integral Education that opened its doors in Auroville in July 2009. A core group of adult facilitators and other external teachers offering a variety of subjects to those interested and an increasing group of children aged 7-10 years form the basis of this steadily running project. 

The main aim of the school is to create a space where children and adults, by living and working together, can grow more conscious of their inner and outer being. The Aurovilian team endeavours to offer a space where children and adults have access to a great variety of different environments, each having a specific gift to share. They see the community of Auroville as a school in itself and by the exposure to these different environments (through the tool of a ‘moving classroom’), children will naturally engage in a process of learning, develop faculties, and will be able to create their own conditions for growth and happiness.

 

A friend of ours volunteers there as her eldest son goes there (the youngest going to Transition), it's great that such places are readily available here. If K doesn't find convential schooling works for him then I'd certainly consider letting him attend this school. Funny really as I'd always advocated convential schooling as it had worked well for me but the more I learn about my son and the environment we now live in, I see that we really have a great chance to support him with an educational style that suits him (homeschooling is just not for us). His kindergarten already follows a Montessori style of teaching which I find is much kinder and creative than his nursery in the UK.

 

Anyway, the dinner was lovely, lots of low tables on mats with candles out in the open with a meat, veg and vegan option The food cooked and donated by various parents, volunteers and restaurants. The childen from the school were the waiters, dressed in black and white with a red sash around their waists (a number of them had been into Nandini for white tops over the past week or two). There was a live group playing called Balkan Masala which created the perfect ambiance.

 

K met with some classmates and spent the evening running about and having great fun. After dinner the kids put on a play, a comedic whodunnit, written by one of the volunteers which was so lovely to see. There was also a circus display and a fire show. It was truly heartwarming to see so many like minded people and their beautiful smiling free spirited children coming together to help this tiny school of around 25 pupils build a new classroom. It's moments like this that I feel I am home. :)

 

On Sat it was the annual music festival at Solitude organic farm, was another chance to see the wider community come together to raise money and awareness at various stalls with some great music thrown in for good measure.

 

 

We got some new seeds, including cucumber and capsicum and flower seeds for the garden border.

 

Beautiful handpainted art, have my eye on a flower of life hanging but I know where they're based so it can wait for another time...

 

K and a classmate in their papa's chappals (flipflops)

 

Balkan Masala - just super music.

 

So needless to say, we had a nice quiet day yesterday. Today we awoke to the surprise sound of rain and it's still coming down hours later. It's so good for the plants as we had such a small amount during monsoon season.

 

Lastly I wanted to show you how K's papaya tree is getting on. Here it is in Oct last year:

 

 

And here it is now (well, a few weeks ago). It's just started flowering and we are pretty sure it's a female so should be blessed with fruit within a few months.

 

 

Here's a recent shot of our house, the garden is coming along nicely. More about that in my next post.

 

Speak soon, Laura ॐ

 

Little update...

Hi, today I wanted to write about how I've been getting on on a personal level. Our days here are filled with things to do and sometimes it's good to stop and think about the stuff going on below the surface.

The past few weeks have marked a big change in my attitude to my surroundings, I feel much less nervous about venturing out on my own. Last week I went on a shopping trip to Pondy for work and was left alone at one point waiting for a taxi to take me and some of our purchases to the next shop. When I first arrived, this would have been too much for me but finally I was totally at ease, as I would have been in the UK getting a taxi. I can now drive down the main Auroville road to Kuilyapalyam where the old Pour Tous, Bakery and original post office are and I even feel ready to tackle Pondy on my own (by bus, not driving!).

It's been quite a turning point and ties in with making new (old in some ways - I've known some people since my first time here) friends and making time to visit them. I even got invited to a girls evening with a pot luck dinner last week. After 5 months of missing my few treasured friends it was so nice to have a laugh, a little drink and lots of cake. I really felt like part of the gang and also pleased that I was finally in a position to leave C at home for the evening with K and go off by myself (well, I got a lift with someone as it's not so safe to travel alone at night for a female).

It may seem like something that shouldn't take 5 months to some people but it feels like the right time for me. There's no hurry. On some level we're still settling in. Our papers are still in the system so we're not yet officially recognised as members of the community. It's a big lesson in patience as there's nothing we can do to speed the process up. Been waiting 5 months now!

Tourist season is in full swing here now, interesting to view from the otherside. It does mean we get groups of them wielding cameras walking through our community, snapping everything in sight and sometimes even asking to look inside the house. The traffic is much busier and due to the poor monsoon the roads are very dusty. Not everyone living here appreciates tourist season but I want to try to keep in mind that their revenue, input in the form of volunteering and positive energy really helps the community at large and that nearly everyone was a tourist here at some point.

It's been a good start to the year and I hope that it just gets better as things unfold, opportunities arise and we become more settled in our lives here. It's not been easy and there's still some work to be done but so far, thanks in part to my link to home via the internet, I've felt good about our move and homesickness has been kept to a minimum. I've found that rediscovering albums from my past has been helpful too. Being removed from the place I lived those times has given me perspective and helped me to really appreciate my history and identity. It can be a comfort in a place where you have yet to carve a niche for yourself.

Anyway, love to all those suffering in the UK with all the flooding, espcially my nearest and dearest in Somerset. You're in my thoughts, stay safe. xx

More soon, Laura.

Shopping and cow racing...

Hi there!

Well, Jan has flown by. The lady I worked with decided to leave at the end of Dec meaning it's been just me and R who works part time since then. On the 14-16th Jan was the Tamil harvest festival of Pongal which is a big celebration and warrents one or three new outfits for each Tamil and their family.

To prepare for that, on the 8th, me, R and A who works in the tailor section of Nandini headed up to Chennai for a full day of shopping. Mostly we shop in Pondy as it's much closer but for certain items (sarees, punjabi material, mens t-shirts and shirts, jeans etc) it's much more cost effective to spend the day in Chennai. We tend to go there once every 3-4 months and this was my first time.

We set off at 6am in our taxi, stopping just once at around 8.30 for breakfast. Once we were in Chennai it took quite a while to head through the city to our first destination. The traffic was so busy! By 10am we were at the first shop, a huge place selling sarees, material, tops etc. We went in and with our price range in mind started to pick stuff out.

 

 

2 hours later we stumbled out of there into the bright hot midday sun leaden down with huge bags of Indian ladies clothing and several thousand rupees lighter.

 

Next we went to a textile area known as Old Washermenpet, this is where the sweatshop export rejects end up. Huge sacks of clothing are bought by the kilo and sold off at bargain prices. Often these places are just rooms full of piles of clothing where you have to check each item for stains, defective stitching etc, I saw plenty of recognised brands from home.

 

It's not something I feel totally comfortable with, especially since Auroville is meant to be a progressive, ecologically sound place but it's the trade off for supply and demand and is very big business here in India. Demand is big at Nandini especially amongst the Tamil community but to tailor make everything to people's needs would take too much time, labour etc and wouldn't be cost effective. Already a mens shirt costs 400rs which is an adults monthly contribution, add to the fact that they want shorts, a t-shirt, underwear maybe even a pair of trousers at the same time and you end up with a co-operative that isn't self sustaining. Anyway, I still don't feel right about it and didnt feel right about taking photos at those places either.

 

I did get a pic from the t-shirt shop however:

 

 

By 7pm we were done and with the taxi groaning under the weight of our bags and sacks of clothing we made our way home, getting back and unloading the car at 11pm. Phew!

 

The next day we did our best to get all the new stock priced and put in with the old stock ready for the onslaught of the Pongal shopping frenzy.

 

Sure enough the Friday and Saturday were manic, especially with just two of us. We closed on the final day of Pongal, the Thursday as did many other businesses which freed me, C and K up to attend the celebrations in Kuilapalayam, a nearby village. The main event being the cow race, which I saw during my first visit to India 6 years ago.

 

We arrived at 10am just as the market area was setting up - we had a look at the wares, mostly super cheap plasticy toys, plastic and stainless steel homewares and food stands.

 

 

Then we headed to the village square area and watched the place gradually fill up with people of all ages and races. People lined every available space on roofs, balconies, in trees etc. Kids clutching their new cheap plasticy toy, ladies in their finest sarees and punjabis with beautiful flowers in their hair, men in their jeans and shirts, hair slick and shiney with oil and baggy clothed backpacked tourists, camera in hand waiting for the spectacle. We recognised quite a few Aurovillians too, mostly those with kids, which was nice for K to have some partners in mischief.

 

 

Candy floss seller - a regular sight along the beach in Pondy:

 Bag seller, a regular sight everywhere you find tourists: 

 

Then came the cows, each one lead through the throng to a huge cheer by their owners/entourage. Nearly all were painted/decorated with baloons, bananas, flowers, bells etc

 

 

 

 

 

The only undecorated cow :)

 

Once most of the cows had passed by, C turned to me and said, "it's a shame that they're not having the usual banana fight", just as the first banana got thrown. It's not as bad as it sounds as the local bananas are tiny but they tend to spatter on impact. I got a rough film of the madness which you can see here: Pongal Banana Fight

 

Apologies for the poor quality, but you hopefully get the idea...

 

A shot of the usually empty square:

 

I'm ending today with a film of the race itself. Again apologies for the shakiness but maybe it just adds to the overall effect ;)

Cow Race!

 

Me and C are gearing up for a night away this coming Sunday when we head off to Bangalore whilst C's mum has K overnight for the first time. We're going to a gig featuring artists from UK label Twisted Records (Shpongle, Hallucinogen, Younger Brother and Prometheus). We're seen them all bar Prometheus before in London and at festivals but to see them here in India should be interesting, I'm especially interested to see how modern India does nightlife, surely it can't be like UK nightlife...can it??? Anyway, it'll be fun. A night out together is a very rare thing indeed and it's our 7 year anniversary the following week so it seems fitting we see artists we danced to when we first got together.

 

More soon.

 

Laura

ॐ