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During the last two weeks of January, Nikki
Lastreto, a former CIIS staff member, and
I led a CIIS-sponsored trip to Auroville
and the Tamil Nadu region of South India
for 14 alumni and friends. Our group arrived
in Chennai just weeks after the tsunami
had hit. The destruction left behind by
the waves was quite visible in Chennai and
in the many fishing villages along the coast.
As we joined the relief efforts that were
underway, our trip itinerary shifted radically,
with “spirit in action” becoming
the centerpiece of our journey.
One morning we traveled by bus to nearby
fishing villages where we cleared roads
of fallen trees, broke apart brick and collapsed
concrete walls, and raked and burned vegetation
destroyed by the tsunami. The work was challenging
under the hot sun and in the 90-degree heat,
but it was rewarding to see the villagers
begin to reassemble their lives. As their
fear of the ocean subsided and they completed
repairs on their boats, many of the fisherfolk
returned to the sea for the first time in
more than a month.
In addition to this volunteer work, several
members of our group organized a fundraising
effort via e-mail, and raised thousands
of dollars. The money was divided up among
the families in the fishing villages near
Auroville. One group member spent several
days visiting other villages and raising
funds for repairing catamarans and buying
new fishing nets.
The remainder of our trip was also very
rich and meaningful. Our group visited Mahaballapuram,
a city on the Bay of Bengal with magnificent
7th century temples carved into the face
of massive boulders, and Kanchipuram, the
“Golden City of a Thousand Temples.”
In Mahaballapuram we relished the quiet—a
welcomed respite after the cacophony of
Chennai— while keeping our eyes open
for the mischievous rhesus monkeys who are
renowned for snatching plastic water bottles
out of the hands of unsuspecting tourists.
We spent about a week in Auroville, an
international township that like CIIS was
founded in 1968 on the integral vision of
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. In Auroville
we enjoyed morning yoga classes, toured
several intentional communities, and meditated
in the beautiful, golden Matrimandir, located
in the heart of the township.
We spent our last few days at the massive
temple in Tiruvannamalai, which is dedicated
to Shiva as God Incarnate of Fire. Nikki’s
knowledge and connection with the priests
there gave us entrance to the inner temple
sanctum where we witnessed the rituals with
fire and smoke and received blessings from
the priests. The next day we joined the
many other pilgrims circumambulating the
sacred mountain Arunachala with stops in
smaller temples for blessings by priests
and sadhus.
Even though I’ve been back in San
Francisco for months, my experience of traveling
in India is still very much with me and
my nighttime dreams are filled with images
of Tamil Nadu. I recall with great fondness
the warmth and openness of the people I
met there, and I remain humbled by the moving
experience of witnessing such courageous
resilience after such tragedy.
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By
Richard Buggs